Now I can tell you!

I am now a GP Board Member of Wakefield Alliance - the Clinical Commissioning Group responsible for commissioning services for our patients. Just over a week ago I went to a top secret meeting with other board members from Wakefield Alliance and staff from Mid Yorks Hospital Trust. The meeting was to tell the Board about Mid Yorks plans for reshuffling hospital services across Wakefield, Pontefract and Dewsbury.

They are only just at the beginning of this project. They need to reshuffle their services because they need to substantially cut their budget over the next two years as well as continue to meet access targets (for patients referred for treatment and patients in A&E) and continue to improve the clinical quality of the services they provide - quite a few plates to juggle and keep in the air at the same time!

The meeting I went to outlined some of the criteria against which any changes options would be assessed. Their were a few things that the changes must do. The changes must make the savings they need to achieve and Pinderfields will remain the trauma centre for Trust. Aside from these givens, they had identified nine other non financial criteria. These included better clinical outcomes, delivering the 18 week to treatment target and of course 'safe an appropriate patient travelling times'.

The Trust is committed to continuing to run Out Patient and Diagnostic Services from all three sites but it is looking at centralising other services. But some of the options may mean that patients in Normanton may have to go to the Dewsbury for surgery (15 miles) instead of Pinderfields (6 miles). I got the impression that clinical safety and improvement trumped short travel times! I strongly believe that we need a clinically safe and financially viable local Trust so that my patients do not have to travel out of the area for emergency and routine treatments. They only way this is going to happen is if things are centralised and this will inevitably mean more travel for some patients and their relatives.

If you have any comments to make this then please let me know at DrBrown@GP-B87039.nhs.uk.

And of course I can break the promise to keep things secret now because this has been reported at the Trusts last board meeting which was open to the public and was reported in Fridays Wakefield Express - click here to read more!



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Stroke Connect

Hundreds of NHS patients have received personal, specialised care thanks to a new service set up during the coronavirus pandemic. Stroke Connect, a partnership with the NHS and the Stroke Association provides stroke survivors with support and advice in the early days following hospital discharge, without having to leave the house. Experts have said that the new offer is providing a ‘lifeline’ during the pandemic and has helped more than 500 people to rebuild their lives after having a stroke since it launched last month. Patients are contacted for an initial call within a few days of discharge from hospital, from a trained ‘Stroke Association Connector’, an expert in supporting people after stroke. The connector provides reassurance, support with immediate concerns and links the stroke survivor to support they can access in the long-term as part of their recovery journey as well as signposting them to other sources of support. A further call is offered within the month to check in
Read more

Welcome to Dr Siobhan Waldron

Dr Siobhan Waldron has joined us today for a six months training post. She is in her first year of a three year GP training scheme and was working in the Emergency Department at Dewsbury Hospital. Doctors who wish to become GPs have to undertaken a three year training programme and have attachments in an approved training general practice. We are an approved GP training practice - Dr Brown, Dr Walsh, Dr Harding and Dr Deeley are all approve GP Trainers and Dr Waldron joins three other trainees attached to the practice - Dr Javed, Dr Tai and Dr Turek, not forgetting Dr Sumara and Dr Timperley who are both on maternity leave! We give Dr Waldron a warm welcome and hope she enjoys her time with us.
Read more

Kings Medical Practice - Privacy Notice

How we use your information This privacy notice explains why the Kings Medical Practice collects information about you, and how that information may be used.  As data controllers, GPs have fair processing responsibilities under the Data Protection Act 1998.  This means ensuring that your personal confidential data (PCD) is handled in ways that are safe, transparent and what you would reasonably expect.  The Health and Social Care Act 2012 changed the way that personal confidential data is processed. Therefore it is important that patients are made aware of, and understand these changes and that you have an opportunity to object if you so wish and that you know how to do so. Health care professionals maintain records about your health and any treatment or care you have received within the NHS (e.g. NHS Hospital Trust, GP Surgery, Walk-in clinic, etc.).  These records help to provide the best possible healthcare. NHS health records may be processed electronically, on
Read more