Issue 5, July 2012
Welcome to the fifth update on the Worcestershire Joint Services Review.
Over the last few weeks we have been asking you, Worcestershire’s public, patients and health service users, to give us your views on providing high quality, safe and affordable hospital services across the county for the future.The personal viewpoints shared at this early stage of the review will all be taken into account as discussions progress.
We have run a series of seven community events across the county to discuss the need for change, the models of care that might be considered and how we should make decisions.
No decisions have been made at this stage. We have concentrated on the clinical factors first. Demand for healthcare is rising every year, with increasing numbers of people living with long term conditions. Alongside this, our funding will remain static for the next few years. We can and should deliver more care in the community, whilst the quality and safety of care will improve if we concentrate specialist resources in one facility.
The next stage in the review will be to assess and compare the different models to make sure that we make the best decisions for Worcestershire. The models will also need to be affordable. A full public consultation is planned to start in November.
Around 400 people took part in a series of seven discussion events. Those attending the events learnt more about the review and the need for changes to be made to the way healthcare is delivered across Worcestershire. They discussed their views and opinions and had the opportunity to raise their concerns around the potential changes.
As participants discussed the reasons given for change by local GPs and clinicians, there was a significant change in opinions. The proportion of those who agreed that changes were needed rose from 31 per cent before the discussions to 55 per cent afterwards, compared with 26 per cent who still disagreed at the end of the discussions. People's knowledge of the review also grew strongly from 18 per cent to 51 per cent over the course of the events.
Common themes emerging from the discussions
A number of themes were common to discussions across the county, including concerns around access and transport, the need to recruit and train high quality staff and the suggestion to seek other sources of government funding to meet future gaps.
Discussions highlighted people’s concern around accessibility issues in the event of services changing or moving away from existing acute facilities, with people considering the road networks and public transport systems currently being unable to provide good links to Worcester. The availability of car parking at the Worcestershire Royal was also seen as an issue.
The need to recruit, retain and train high quality acute staff was also a key area of concern. Discussions highlighted that clarity on why this is a national and regional issue would enable people to make informed comment.
Further clarity was also requested on the funding gap and the financial impact of the PFI arrangements at the Worcestershire Royal and the potential impact any service change may have on finances, efficiencies, patient access, use of resources/staff etc. Although it was understood that it is an early stage of engagement, those attending felt that more information would help them to make an informed decision.
Potential models for future hospital services
Over the last few months, local doctors, nurses and other health and social care professionals have discussed a range of six models for how hospital services might be arranged in the future to meet quality and financial challenges, including how hospital care could be better integrated with primary and community care.
The models look at different ways to provide high quality, safe and affordable services, particularly focusing on accident and emergency, surgical services and women’s and children’s services. All the models include facilities to treat minor injuries, as well as outpatients and diagnostic services in the town where they are currently located, to ensure local access is maintained as far as possible. Read more about each model.
People attending the community events felt that they needed more information before they could consider their preference for any one model of care, especially in terms of the definition of treatments and what exact services would be provided at each site.
Read the report.
The short listing criteria
Public and patient representatives, along with local doctors, nurses and other health and social care professionals, have developed a set of criteria that will be used at the short-listing stage to assess and compare the different models to make sure that we make the best decisions for Worcestershire. They have weighted the criteria according to how important they think they are. The models will also be subject to a financial assessment to make sure they are affordable.
We asked people to consider the relative importance of these criteria and to calculate their own weightings. There were some differences in these weightings from those recommended by the working group, and between locations across the county, with Redditch respondents scoring access to services more highly than respondents at other locations.
Read the report.
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Criteria
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Recommended Weights
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Participant Weights*
|
|
1
|
Improved, more sustainable clinical quality
|
30
|
27
|
|
2
|
Better access to services for patients and families
|
16
|
23
|
|
3
|
Improved strategic fit of services
|
13.5
|
12
|
|
4
|
Meeting training, teaching and human resource needs
|
11.5
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12
|
|
5
|
Making more effective use of resources
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16
|
12
|
|
6
|
Deliverability
|
13
|
13
|
*Results averaged and rounded to whole number
Feedback questionnaires
We have also received comments and feedback from over 100 members of the public, via post and email, which have also been collated and will be taken into account as discussions progress.
These respondents identified a similar range of concerns, including increased journey times in the event of a centralisation of A&E services, concerns about parking at the Worcestershire Royal and the suitability of public transport networks. It was also highlighted that there is also a perceived emphasis on finance rather than clinical quality and a lack of detailed financial information provided so far. Questions were raised about the potential for efficiencies elsewhere in the health economy and whether this might avoid the necessity for a reconfiguration of hospital services.
Find out more and have your say
There are a number of other ways to ‘have your say’:
Join in the debate at http://www.worcestershirehealth.nhs.uk
Follow us on Twitter @worcsnhsjsr
Join the debate on Facebook/worcsnhsjsr
Email us at worcsnhsjsr@worcestershire.nhs.uk
Write to us at:
Freepost RRXY-RKTX-GBXT
Joint Services Review
Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust
Worcestershire Royal Hospital
Charles Hastings Way
Worcester, WR5 1DD
Spread the word
We want to hear from as many people as possible. If you know someone who would be interested in the Review, please feel free to forward this newsletter to them.
If you have been forwarded this newsletter and would like to receive further information bulletins and invitations to take part in the review, please email us at worcsnhsjsr@worcestershire.nhs.uk
