“Forgotten village” residents campaigning for better GP services

RESIDENTS in Burtonwood are campaigning for better GP services, claiming they have become the “forgotten village!”

Last week residents packed into a public meeting to discuss their concerns and hear what was being done to address issues surrounding a lack of resources to have face-face appointments with a doctor.

Spokesperson Jan White said: “The villagers are campaigning to retain the satellite facility due to the difficulties for an aging population to travel to Newton-Le-Willows. There are no buses and many of the residents don’t drive. We have started to develop a Residents Association, it is in its infancy but there are a number of concerns within the ‘forgotten village’ – not just Surgery facilities!
She said that although Burtonwood was under Warrington Borough Council for Council Tax etc, local residents receive their GP services from St Helens.
Two key Newton-Le-Willows practices had satellite locations based in the village until Covid. Vista Road had a purpose-built unit at Kinnock Park, a Reception/Waiting Area/Nurses Room and GP Room and a toilet. The other Patterdale Lodge uses a small bungalow in the village.
Both satellites services only offered part-time cover and both requested that they closed the satellite surgeries during Covid.
Patterdale Lodge re-opened the bungalow and is now operating Monday & Tuesday mornings and alternate Wednesday mornings, which they are hoping to extend.

Meanwhile, Kinnock Park has failed a Health & Safety inspection by the CQC, which residents believe is “absurd that a bungalow can function, but a purpose-built facility can’t!”
The GP practices are now saying the facility is stretching services and manpower beyond their resources and Kinnock Park, having been condemned, should close permanently.
Jan added: “We held a village meeting in August 2022 called Sort Our Surgeries, around 120 residents attended, mostly the demographic was ‘mature’. This covered both facilities as at the time face to face appointments were rare as hen’s teeth!
“Around 90% of those attending suggested they had given up trying to access GP surgeries due to queueing on the telephone for inordinate amounts of time, often to be cut off as you reach the front of the queue – or if getting through told there are no appointments left and to try again 08:00 the next day – akin to Groundhog Day!
“There are no facilities to book in advance (even if you are asked to see a GP in ‘x’ weeks’ time) all must be same-day appointments.
“The residents then take to the pharmacy to try and get medicines to help whatever ails them.
Jan added: “My biggest concern is that of outcomes, Covid has already led to delays in diagnosis and treatments, telephone consultations could easily miss vital symptoms and therefore early interventions – this may result in spikes in illness in a few years’ time.
“I am a patient rep on St Helens PLACE committee and aware that the NHS was issued a diktat by the Government to cease face-to-face consultations during Covid – sensible and we agree waiting rooms would be an ideal breeding ground for the virus, plus many medical staff were seconded to deliver the vaccine. This diktat was then extended to accommodate the known shortfall in medical staff.”

At the meeting on Monday 11th December various issues were raised:
o The telephone system holds you in a queue, but often truncates the call as you near the front, requiring you to dial again. The surgery and Contracts team volunteered to check if it was a system or capacity issue.
o Face to Face appointments were raised, and the GPs suggested it was now 50:50, however, no-one in the meeting had managed to see a GP – often since before Covid (only calls)
o Transport to the surgery is problematic, buses run every two hours and regularly fail to show. This has been an ongoing issue for well over a decade and raised to both St Helens & Warrington.
o There is a Community Bus facility but needs to be booked well in advance as it is used for many purposes and is run by volunteers – so cannot be relied upon. Leaving the expense of a taxi for many.
o The surgery requires one email per patient for prescription services and bookings (although the online facility has been withdrawn) which is a problem for many, as they only have one account per family, and children would need a proxy account.
o The group suggested that the pharmacy could hold a supply of surgery-purchased specimen pots etc, they could be despatched in the same way as a prescription (i.e., an instruction to issue to Mr X, etc, so they only go to patients – the pharmacy do have some specimen pots etc to purchase)
o ICE system for prescriptions needs to be printed by a clinician, so could not be done remotely (i.e., by the pharmacist), so still needs to be dropped off and collected.
o A second meeting is due to be held tonight Monday (19th) @ 7.00 pm Wargrave Community Hub, 143 Alder Street, WA12 8HR.
o The practice is now part of a wider PCN (Primary Care Network) which offers extended bookings and out-of-hours cover – you would however still need to get to the surgery offering the service on that particular day. It was suggested that this agreement could be extended to offer some slack for Burtonwood attendance, even if a nurse-led solution maybe within the Patterdale Lodge bungalow – removing the Kinnock Park unsuitability issue.

Local Cllr Cathy Mitchell said there had been an important update re GP services in Burtonwood.
Cllr. Mitchell said: “I’ve been working in the background for some time with the newly formed Integrated Care Boards.
“NHS Cheshire & Merseyside Integrated Care Board (ICB) are in the process of procuring an independent review of the health care services provided to the residents of Burtonwood.”
She said: The aims of the review are to:
• Understand the current provision of health care in Burtonwood
• Define the issues facing residents in Burtonwood, including where there are differences for Burtonwood residents compared to neighbouring wards
• Identify where change is needed and the case for change
• Set out a vision for the future
• Look at developing primary care and community services out of hospitals, particularly the provision of GP registrations to Burtonwood residents
• Make recommendations on how to deliver change, building on the positive aspects of the current system

Next Steps and Timescales
• Terms of Refence for the review have been agreed by the ICB Warrington Place Team
• Expressions of interest from potential providers to be received in December
• Expected appointment of the organisation to undertake the review by the beginning of January 2023
• Expected fieldwork to take place from the end January to the end of April 2023
• Report back to ICB Warrington Place Team May/June 2023

Cllr Mitchell added: “Some of the timescales above may be subject to change depending on the response to terms of reference by providers and any additional work that is deemed necessary as part of fieldwork.
“The ICB will be expecting the delivering organisation to gather evidence and feedback from all local stakeholders including ward councillors, further information will be shared once the ICB has made that appointment.”