MEMBERS of the public are being invited to have their say on plans for primary care provision in Warrington – including the creation of a “Warrington brand” of primary care.
NHS Warrington Clinical Commissioning Group has today (Friday) launched a public consultation to gather public and patient views on their vision for the future of Primary Care in the town.
The CCG has drafted a Primary Care strategy and wants the views of members of the public, patients, doctors, nurses and other health professionals on the changes they are proposing.
Primary Care provides the first point of contact in the health care system. In the NHS, the main source of Primary Care is general practice, which is the treatment delivered from doctors’ surgeries in local communities.
Ninety per cent of patient interaction happens in a Primary Care setting, which means demand for Primary Care services has increased significantly over the last decade which has created a number of challenges.
The demand on health and social care services is rising due to more people living longer, often with multiple long-term conditions. The Primary Care strategy formal consultation aims to show how the CCG plans to overcome some of those challenges.
A number of health inequalities have emerged in Warrington, for example, those on lower income or living in a more deprived area are more likely to be affected by a long-term condition.
Working with health and social care providers from across the town, NHS Warrington CCG want to try and reduce these inequalities. One of the proposals they are consulting on is the creation of a Warrington ‘brand’ of primary care.
Andrew Davies
NHS Warrington CCG Clinical Chief Officer, Dr Andrew Davies, said “The Warrington ‘brand’ seeks to reduce inequality of service across Warrington, helping to ensure that every registered patient has the same access to the same services in each GP practice.
“People in Warrington receive good quality Primary Care from the practices in the town. The Primary Care strategy is being put in place to improve consistency of the care and services offered by the practices and support the practices to work more closely together.”
“It will ensure there is a quality benchmark for all GP practices across the town which will be monitored by the CCG to ensure patients are receiving the same level of good quality care.”
Another proposal in the draft strategy is the implementation of health services being delivered in clusters. This would mean surgeries would work together with neighbouring practices, sharing best practice and resources. This could mean accessing some healthcare services in other locations as well as in your usual practice.
Dr Davies added, “The collaborative cluster groups will bring together specialist services, social care and mental health to provide a more holistic approach to care.”
The formal consultation will run for 90 days from today, Friday, August 7, 2015 until Thursday, November 5, 2015.
Throughout the consultation process, the CCG team will be attending a number of voluntary sector and community groups in Warrington to hear their views, or, residents can attend one of the CCG’s public meetings to discuss the proposals.
Katie Lightfoot, CCG Engagement Manager said, “If members of the public would like us to attend a community group to discuss the draft Primary Care strategy, we would be more than happy to attend. The team can be contacted on 01925 843 774, email [email protected], or use twitter, @WarringtonCCG or Facebook.”
At NHS Warrington CCGs ‘Get Engaged’ Event at Orford Jubilee Neighbourhood Hub, on Wednesday, September 9, the team will be running workshops on the draft primary care strategy to get views from those attending.
Dr Davies continued, “We want to ensure that local people, doctors, nurses, community health service providers and the wider health and social care system are fully involved in this formal 90 day consultation. We want to get our plans right to ensure we continue commissioning excellence for Warrington.”
