Agenda item

Dr. Ian Turner, GP, Lead for Primary Care Quality and Efficiency, Clinical Commissioning Group, gave the following powerpoint presentation:-

 

Proposals

-     Right care, first time

Everything for urgent care in one place

-     Quality of care

Bringing together Primary Care skills with the skills and facilities of Accident and Emergency

-     Sustainable for the future

Re-investing in urgent care would make the whole NHS in Rotherham work better

 

By urgent care we mean

-          Treatment/advice for minor injuries or illnesses which cannot wait

Broken bones

Burns/scalds

Infections

Sprains

Wounds

 

Why re-invest in urgent care?

-          To improve the quality of care

Bringing together the skills of primary care and Accident and Emergency in one place

-          Because the current system was confusing

Patients with urgent care needs often do not know where to go or may access several services before they got the care they needed

-          To ensure the NHS in Rotherham was sustainable for the future

More and more patients would need urgent care

 

A new Urgent Care Centre for Rotherham

-          Open 24/7

-          Purpose-built at Rotherham Foundation Trust Hospital

-          Staffed by experienced and specially trained nurses and GPs

-          Joined up with Accident and Emergency

-          Reinvesting money from the Walk-in Centre into urgent care

-          Urgent care services currently provided at the Walk-in Centre would transfer to the Urgent Care Centre

-          The Walk-in Centre would close (but not the building)

-          New NHS111 service would provide advice and support for non-urgent care

 

How the proposals were developed

-          Based on best clinical practice

-          A review by local GPs

-          An assessment of local needs and all of the alternatives

-          Discussions with the clinical teams from the Walk-in Centre and A&E

-          Discussions with local Councillors, MPs and other stakeholders

-          The views of patients and local people

 

Where we are today

-          Hope that the Council would support the proposals and help to improve urgent care for local people

-          Recognise that for some the proposals would raise issues.  Feedback had already been received on some of the main concerns – would continue to listen and work to address over the coming months

 

What people were asking about the plans

-          Did closing the Walk-in Centre affect other services at the same location?

No.  All of the other NHS and Community Services would remain on site including Family Planning/Sexual Health Services, GP Surgery and clinics

-          Would public transport be an issue

There were already comprehensive public transport services to the hospital and consideration would be given as to how they might be improved with the transport providers and the Trust

-          Would car parking be an issue

Discussions with the Trust.  There were already plans for the development of car parking facilities at the hospital

 

Next Stage – Public Consultation

-          Full 12 weeks consultation – 6^th May-26^th July

-          Combination of online, traditional, social and media channels

-          Working through local networks of voluntary, community and patient groups

-          4 public meetings

 

Discussion ensued with the following issues raised/clarified:-

 

-          The Centre would be open 24/7 – longer hours than the Walk-in Centre

 

-          It would provide the same services for patients that required urgent care

 

-          Wanted to encourage people to attend the correct place for their needs.  It was known that sometimes the Walk-in Centre was used as a General Practice which was not the optimum place for a patient; it may be more convenient but they may not receive the quality of care required.  The GP surgery would remain on the site

 

-          Due to prudent financial planning, the CCG had some non-recurrent funds for the build of the new Centre.   Estimated costs were in the region of £1.5M but the full design process would take place once the consultation process has ended

 

-          Discussions were currently underway with the Foundation Trust and Care UK who were the 2 providers of Urgent Care in Rotherham as to the running of the Centre. 

 

-          There were no financial incentives not to refer people to A&E

 

-          The CCG had engaged with the Local Medical Council as part of the consultation process with regard to urgent care.  There was an agreement that most GPs should have some facility to see a patient within the same working day if they had urgent medical needs but it was acknowledged that there was an issue with regard to GP accessibility

 

-          There were advantages of having an Urgent Care Centre located at the hospital e.g. when someone had acute chest pains they could be transferred next door to the hospital but a child with a temperature would be better served at the Centre

 

-          Concern that from some parts of the Borough getting to the hospital site involved 2 buses or parking issues for those travelling by car.  The current Walk-in Centre was accessed by a free car park as well as being next to the bus station in a central location.  Research had shown that the overall maximum travelling time for a patient in Rotherham would remain unchanged and there would be more advantages than disadvantages

 

-          The issue of parking had been raised and, as part of the consultation on design, it would be ensured that there was an appropriate amount of accessible parking

 

-          The new 111 service was completely separate for this proposal.  The money currently spent in Rotherham for Rotherham patients would remain in Rotherham for Rotherham patients and would not transfer to 111

 

-          Use Parish Councils as part of the consultation process

 

-          The detail had yet to be finalised but probably some of the outpatient services accessed at the hospital would be re-located to the current Walk-in Centre.  This would also free up parking spaces at the hospital

 

-          The area around the hospital was already gridlocked at certain times of the day – the proposal would exacerbate the situation

 

-          Other areas of the country had closed Walk-In Centres without any consultation, however, that was not felt to be appropriate in Rotherham and wanted to ensure that patients were still able to access appropriate services.  It was a Primary-care lead patient care service which had been rolled out in many places across the country and viewed very positively.  A lot of work had been carried out with A&E and GPs working alongside  as their skill sets complimented each other

 

-          It was envisaged that there would be a skilled nurse triage system.  This system was currently operated at the Walk-in Centre and worked very well

 

-          The consultation ran from 6^th May-26^th June.  Hopefully there would then be a position that would enable the CCG to ensure that it was up and running by the end of 2014 if not the middle of 2015

 

The Chair thanked Dr. Turner for his presentation.  However, he felt that the Select Commission was not in a position to respond to the consultation as there was further information required:-

 

·           Statistics for patients journeys

·           Proposed opening times

·           Predicted costs

 

Resolved:-  That a sub-group, Chaired by Councillor Dalton,  be established to further discuss the proposal with particular reference to the above points.