Major review of health services

4:06pm Thursday 11th September 2008

ONE of the widest reviews ever undertaken of health and social care services in Herefordshire is underway.

It is seeking to propose new ways of providing high quality, joined- up packages of care and services to meet the individual needs of local people for the next 15 years.

‘This is not about closing hospitals, nor saving money but about bringing health care closer and equally to the whole community’

Joanna Newton, chairman of Herefordshire Primary Care Trust

But Joanna Newton, chairman of Herefordshire Primary Care Trust, which commissioned the review, said although there would be changes, people had nothing to fear.

“This is not about closing hospitals, nor saving money but about bringing health care closer and equally to the whole community, reflecting how health care is delivered, looking at prevention rather than cure and delivering the best services possible,” she said.

The Primary Care Trust, with a budget of £240 million a year for all NHS services in Herefordshire, had a duty and a responsibility to ensure the right services were available to the community in the future.

As the leader of the NHS in the county it was stepping back to appraise how it could be accomplished in the county, she said.

The PCT is working alongside Herefordshire Council, Hereford Hospitals Trust and a large number of local groups and professionals to chart a way forward.

Called Shaping Health and Wellbeing in Herefordshire the review includes the County Hospital, the ring of community hospitals, care centres and mental health services and all county council social care services.

Working groups have been set up to look at services from scratch and decide how they could best be delivered to the community in the future.

Among those being considered are maternity and newborn, children’s health, urgent and emergency care, staying healthy and independent, mental health and the care of people towards the end of their lives.

The groups are setting out a number of potential options for improving and organising these services in the future and these will be considered later this month to see if they meet the right criteria and could be sustainable.

Mrs Newton said the main aims of the encompassing review were to ensure clinical excellence and efficiency was sustained and safeguarded in sparsely populated rural Herefordshire.

It would examine how the County Hospital and other providers were viable elements in health provision in the future, that all services were planned, purchased, designed and delivered in an efficient way for local people, there was fair and equal access to health and social care across Herefordshire, that people with specific illnesses had clear, detailed and audited packages of care that linked essential services in that care and people had a greater voice and choice in their own health and social care.

New models are expected to be developed in line with Health Minister Lord Darzi’s national request that services be improved in quality and personalised to give more power to patients and clinicians.

Mrs Newton said there would be no immediate changes, some would take years to implement but the message for the way ahead was positive and progressive, not one of fear.

A special web site has been set up for people to track the review and its findings.

It is myherefordshire.com/ shapinghealthandwellbeing/