Over the last five months clinicians from across Dorset have come together to look at how local health services can be improved. Dorset Clinical Commissioning Group, the GP-led organisation responsible for identifying health needs in the county and securing the services to meet them, launched a review of Dorset’s NHS care in October last year to meet critical challenges facing our local NHS:
· by 2023 the population of Dorset is expected to grow to over 800,000, with 30% of the growth being in the 70+ age group. This means an increasing – and changing – demand on health services, as more people are living with long-term conditions such as diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure and arthritis;
· although most patients in Dorset currently receive good care, there is a need to make sure that national quality standards are met consistently across the county;
· a struggle to fill key specialist posts, so that services are forced to rely on expensive agency staff and are unable to provide round the clock consultant care;
· and an increasing financial gap between the predicted future money needed and the money available that could see Dorset’s health system as much as £200 million in the red within five years, if things stay as they are now.
Stage one of the review, which covers most NHS care in Dorset, finishes towards the end of March and local clinicians, with input from health and care leaders, patients, carers and the public, have developed a vision for better care for Dorset, including:
· specialist consultant care onsite around the clock, seven days a week for the most urgent cases. Currently none of the acute hospitals in Dorset is able to provide this;
· staff working more effectively together to provide more seamless care for patients;
· more day-to-day care delivered out of an acute hospital setting and closer to people’s homes;
· better access to GP services. Currently access at weekends and evenings varies considerably.
Local GP and Chair of Dorset CCG, Dr Forbes Watson, explains “Dorset’s NHS services need to change so that local health services consistently meet national quality standards and more people with the most severe conditions and illnesses – such as stroke, heart attack and those requiring emergency surgery – can be treated within the county by specialist teams working 24/7. Care out of acute hospital also needs to change. We need to ensure that resources are in the right place so that we can focus on helping people to stay healthy and manage their conditions, so that they avoid unplanned emergency admissions into hospital, and wherever possible can receive their care out of an acute hospital setting and closer to home.”
The review has been led by GPs, nurses, hospital consultants, paramedics and other clinicians to ensure that high quality patient care remains at its heart. The next stage is for Dorset CCG’s Governing Body to agree proposals to put to public consultation later in the summer. No changes will be made until patients, carers and the public have had their say.
Debbie Fleming, Chief Executive at Poole Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, said “It is important that, as a whole health community, we work together to deliver the best services for the people of Dorset. We need to make sure we organise our services more efficiently and effectively: that we have the right people, with the right skills and use our technology and money in the right way in the right place across the county to make sure everyone has access to the best health services for their needs now and in the future.”
National Patient Leader, Anya de Iongh, also commented “Being Chair of the Patient and Public Engagement Group for this review is a privilege. To date, we have helped develop a Case for Change document as an accessible guide to why things need to change for the public. We have also commented and fed into the work led by clinicians at each stage in their discussions. For example we have highlighted the importance of effective mental health care as well as physical healthcare services in Dorset. We have helped develop from a patient and carer perspective the criteria that will be used to assess various options for the future pattern of services in the county. We have also advised the CCG on the principles and design of their consultation plans. All this is credit to the experience and skills of the members of the group and the openness of the CCG team to both support our meetings through their staff, and then accept and incorporate our work.”
Anyone who wants to keep up to date on developments is encouraged to join the Health Involvement Network by visiting: www.dorsetsvision.nhs.uk.
