A presentation will be given at the Meeting
Minutes:
Dr Cathy Fines and David Latham from Bury CCG attended the meeting to report on the consultation that was currently being undertaken in relation to how urgent care was provided across the borough.
Urgent Care Services were described as those that are designed to assist patients with an illness or injury that does not appear to be an emergency, but is considered too urgent to wait for routine care
It was explained that there were a number of different options open to Bury residents from A & E to Out of Hours GP services and walk in Centres.
It was felt that there was currently a lot of duplication in services across the Bury area and patients were unsure of where to go to receive treatment. The Urgent Care System today has evolved over a number of years. Many patients attending A&E who are considered to have a primary care level of need. (National and Local issue)
Walk-In Centre attendances are recurrently reducing.
Current System pressures Nationally and Locally
A number of meetings had been held with stakeholders and other groups to review what the current offer was and to discuss how this could be updated to provide a better service to residents.
The vision was explained :
To realise an Integrated Urgent Care System with better connecting health and social care services which delivers the following principles:
• Delivers the best possible outcomes for the patients of Bury.
• Promotes self- care for patients where appropriate.
• Builds on NHS 111 as a single point of access.
• Reduce duplication and confusion for patients.
• Develops the concept of the clinical hub for Bury as described in recent guidance.
It was explained that patients would always be advised to telephone the NHS111 number in all instances except where an A & E visit was required. The 111 number gives access to appropriate advice and referral if necessary to one to one treatment.
It was also explained that the CCG would be looking to provide new services which would further extend the offer available to patients. These included:-
Vulnerable Patient Service
A & E Front End Model
Wound Care Service
Ambulatory Care
It was explained that Bury already provided GP extended working hours and additional GP appointments. Children aged 0 -12 were offered urgent appointments on the same day and there was an enhanced level of support elderly and frail patients.
Statistics had been reviewed from the patients attending the two walk in centres in Bury and it was reported that 41% had received self care advice, 29% were non Bury residents, 17% had received wound care and 4% had been directed to A & E. It was also explained that where walk in centre provision had been removed up to 25% of attendees had not presented elsewhere.
The consultation was running for 8 weeks and those present were asked to take part in the consultation which could be accessed online, via telephone or through the post.
Questions and comments were invited and the following points were raised:-
· Councillor Gunther asked how a patient could assess whether something was urgent or not.
It was explained that a telephone call the NHS111 number would help to assess the situation and allow for further advice to be given or an appointment to be made. If something seemed seriously wrong though the patient should telephone 999 or present at A & E.
· Mr Booth stated that he was aware that the NHS would be closing some pharmacies to save money.
It was stated that this was not something that the CCG were aware of.
· Mr Booth referred to the Moorgate NHS building and the site in Radcliffe and asked whether they were owned by the NHS and if the walk in centre were not at the Moorgate site then more people would attend A & E at Fairfield.
It was explained that the buildings were NHS facilities and would always be used as such. There would be more on offer to patients with regards to services available which would lead to fewer attendances at A & E.
· Mr Booth stated that he had been told that the A & E provision at Fairfield Hospital would be closed in the future and asked where Bury residents would go in an emergency if this was the case.
David reported that he was not aware of the A & E provision at Fairfield Hospital being closed.
· Councillor Wright asked if other GM towns had walk in centres.
It was reported that it was not a requirement to provide walk in centre facilities. Middleton was the only town in Greater Manchester other than Bury that had walk in centre facilities.
· Councillor Wright asked whether Bury CCG had learned from neighbouring CCGs with regard to what works well.
It was explained that Bury CCG worked closely and met regularly with other GM CCGs.
· Dr Falmai Binns asked how the 111 triage would work.
Dr Fines explained that there would be a range of social and health care professionals available to offer advice and book appointments if necessary which could be on the same day as the call if required.
· Councillor Hussain explained that diabetes and ischemic heart disease were common diseases amongst the Asian population. He explained that if a person were experiencing an ATI they may not have any pain and would have little time to make a decision on what to do. He asked what would happen in a case such as this.
Dr Fines explained that GPs should provide individual patient care plans to their patients which would explain what to do in these situations.
· Councillor Gartside stated that he had been informed that the two walk in centres would be replaced by six hubs and asked if this was correct.
It was explained that wound care would be located at six locations alongside other community services such as district nurses and some children’s services. Urgent care would not be provided at these sites. It was always recommended to telephone 111 to be directed to the most appropriate provision.
· Councillor Gunther asked if a patient telephoned 11 and was given a GP appointment would that be with a different GP than their own.
It was explained that that would be the case but any treatment given would be directed back to the patients’ own GP.
· A member of the public asked whether a patient’s records would be able to be accessed by the on call GP.
Dr Fines explained that due to the shared access across all GP practices it would be possible for all Doctors to access any patient’s records with their consent.
It was agreed:
That Dr Fines and David Latham be thanked for their presentation.