Dorset County Hospital NHS Foundation Trust is calling on the community to help shape the future of local healthcare services.
The Trust is publicly launching its strategic plan for the next few years at its Hospital Open Day on Saturday (4 October), which runs from 2pm to 5pm.
The plan centres around bringing hospital and community services together under a single ‘healthcare hub’ to improve access for patients.
The Trust is hosting a series of public events following the Open Day to talk about the plan in more detail and get feedback from local people about what would make health services work better for them.
Led by clinicians, the events are being held in Dorchester, Weymouth and Bridport as follows:
Monday 13 October 2014, 5pm to 7pm, Children’s Centre, Dorset County Hospital (Damers Road entrance)
Wednesday 22 October, 6pm to 8pm, Children’s Centre, Dorset County Hospital (Damers Road entrance)
Monday 3 November 2014, 2pm to 4pm, Bridport Town Hall
Monday 10 November 2014, 2pm to 4pm, Weymouth Pavilion Ocean Room
Dorset County Hospital’s new Chief Executive Patricia Miller said she hoped as many local people as possible would attend the events.
She said: “We want to simplify the health system for local people so that their care is delivered at the right place at the right time.
“Our plan is to join up hospital and community services so that patients can access all the services they need without the need for multiple referrals to different organisations. We want to co-ordinate services so that patients are looked after by the same team throughout their treatment in a setting that suits them, be that their own home or in hospital.
“There is recognition at a national level in the NHS that this ‘integrated’ approach provides a much better service to patients. What we need now is input from our local community to make sure we get our system right so it works best for local people’s needs. It’s often simple things which can make a big difference and we want to capture as many ideas as we can to feed into the detail of our plan.
“I’m really looking forward to this opportunity to outline our plan in greater detail and listen to what local people have to say.”
There is no need to book a place at these events, but if you would like more information please call the hospital’s communications team on 01305 254683 or email [email protected]
Susie Palmer
