A meeting of minds to improve Heywood & Middleton health services

John Saxby, Dr Jiva, Lesley Mort, MP Jim Dobbin & Stephen Netherwood

In the future many more hospital services are planned to be provided in the community thanks to a new government programme called Practice Based Commissioning (PBC).

GP practices across Heywood amp; Middleton have come together and formed the Heywood amp; Middleton PBC cluster that includes all the surgeries across the township of Heywood amp; Middleton.

Heywood amp; Middleton PBC cluster are working closely with Heywood, Middleton and Rochdale Primary Care Trust (PCT), Pennine Acute Hospitals Trust (PAHT), Social Services, local politicians and patients assessing patient needs, reviewing existing local health services and planning for the reorganisation of health services in the future.

Under Practice Based Commissioning, practices in Heywood amp; Middleton PBC cluster will be given an indicative budget by the PCT for which they will have the responsibility for using in order to provide local NHS services. PBC transfers responsibilities to primary care clinicians – effectively to local GP practices, with help and guidance from the PCT to provide safe, efficient and quality healthcare in more convenient community settings.

This will involve:

• identifying patient needs
• designing effective and appropriate health service solutions to meet those needs
• allocating resources appropriately

The Government believes Practice Based Commissioning will give local clinicians greater control over resources, helping them to respond better to local and individual need.

Practices across Rochdale Borough were asked by the PCT to draw up an agreement for how they intend to spend their budgets on improving local healthcare for patients.

Heywood amp; Middleton PBC Cluster are in the process of introducing over 20 services previously only available in the hospital into GP surgeries or community settings across Heywood amp; Middleton resulting in substantial savings which will be reinvested back into improving patient care.

New technology and clinical practices mean it is more feasible to provide services such as; minor surgery, anticoagulant therapy, Intravenous therapy, ophthalmology and many more in the community. There are plans for greater integration, not only between the NHS and social care services, but also between the council and other services such as those provided by the community and voluntary sectors.

Dr Jiva, Chairman of Heywood amp; Middleton PBC cluster, explained: “By enhancing services available at your local GP Surgery family doctors and nurses are able to have greater involvement in commissioning decisions based on the needs of the population we serve. As a cluster we are already making great progress towards piloting a variety of services and clinical practices right at the heart of our local community. In the future we hope more and more patients will benefit from shorter waiting times, faster treatment in convenient locations.”

Jim Dobbin, MP for Heywood and Middleton, said: “I’m happy to see that health professionals from all sectors are coming together to overcome existing barriers and improve health and social care for the patients of Heywood amp; Middleton. People do not care about organisational boundaries when seeking support or help, and it is great to see services beginning to reflect this. I fully support the work of the Heywood amp; Middleton PBC cluster and its vision to provide local people with high quality community healthcare.”

Lesley Mort, Executive Director of Delivery at Heywood, Middleton and Rochdale PCT added: “Practice Based Commissioning is an important part of the PCT’s long-term plans to improve community based primary care locally as part of the reorganisation of health services in the borough. A new drive to focus on self care and education with an aim to improve the health and wellbeing of local people has arisen due to the increased number of people with long term conditions. Ninety percent of patients’ contact with the NHS is already outside of hospital. We believe the strong partnerships created by PBC will help us achieve local NHS services in settings that are closer to home wherever possible for the benefit of all patients The work that the H amp; M cluster is doing includes clinical staff from our PCT community services which is much appreciated, and will make good use of their expertise in  helping to shape these new services in the community.”

John Saxby, Chief Executive of Pennine Acute Hospitals Trust said: “We believe PBC will provide our local NHS with a way of eliminating unnecessary hospital referrals and treatment. This will allow hospitals to concentrate on caring for and treating only those patients who require the specialist care that cannot be provided in primary care.”

Stephen Netherwood, Head of Adult Services for Rochdale Metropolitan Borough Council added: “An integrated approach to improving health and social care on the frontline is more likely to achieve positive outcomes by all organisations working together. I welcome the opportunity to form new working relationships with our health service partners.”

PBC clusters Rochdale East and Rochdale West are following suit and are developing their own plans based on the needs of their respective populations.