New GP services vital to improve local health says Trust

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Bringing more GP’s into the Rochdale Borough is essential to improving the health of the local people, say bosses at Heywood, Middleton and Rochdale Primary Care Trust (HMRPCT).

Earlier this year the PCT announced that it will be funding for three new GP Practices to be located in Heywood, Central Rochdale and Smallbridge & Wardle, as well as a new GP-led Health Centre in Middleton.

These new GP services are in addition to the 35 practices currently in operation within the Rochdale Borough. The PCT recognises the high standard of work currently being provided by local GP’s and the new services are being introduced to provide more health care in the Borough. They will not act as a replacement for practices already in operation.

“We have chosen to locate the new GP services in the areas that have the poorest health and are significantly low numbers of doctors,” says Vivienne Ben-David, head of Primary Care at HMRPCT.

“The Borough has a number of health inequalities that we must address. A person living in Central Rochdale today will die 13 years younger than somebody living in Norden. Around 22,000 people in the Borough have undiagnosed high blood pressure which can cause cardiovascular disease. These are just some of the health issues that we need to tackle and having additional manpower will make a big difference.

“The reality is that the Rochdale Borough has one of the lowest numbers of doctors in the country and findings from the GP Patients Survey show that our patients feel that they cannot access GP services easily. International evidence shows that with more doctors, quality of care increases and less patients are admitted to hospital. Therefore, the new GP services we plan to provide are essential to boosting existing services and reduce the number of patients each doctor needs to see. This means all of our doctors- existing and new- will have more time to identify health problems and treat patients, tackling the key health issues we have in the Borough.

”As well as treating illness, we want to work towards preventing ill health and improving people’s lifestyles. We will do this by working with local GP’s and the Council to help people live longer and healthier in all areas.”

Rochdale Council's Cabinet member for Health and Social Care, Councillor Dale Mulgrew is supporting the PCT's plans and is involved with the project. He said: "The new GP services will be going into the areas which really need them so there is no need for people to worry about what might happen to existing GP practices - we need as many GPs as we can get. It is a real boost for the Rochdale Borough and RMBC will continue to work in partnership and collaboratively with the PCT to find ways of improving the health of our population."

The new GP surgeries and health centre will offer all of the regular services you would expect from a GP practice. The main difference is that they will also provide a range of additional services tailored to the needs of the local population, and will be open for longer. A range of organisations are eligible to run these new services and the PCT is currently undertaking a detailed tendering process to choose the most suitable provider.

To ensure the needs of the local population are met, the PCT is inviting patients and the public to take part in its biggest ever consultation to help decide what these additional services should be, how the practices should be managed and how patients can use and access the services.

John Pierce, chairman of HMRPCT, added: “The Rochdale Borough has some of the poorest health in the UK. If we really are going to improve the health of the local people then we definitely need new GPs and services to help us do it. If the existing services were enough, then we wouldn’t have the massive health issues we have today.

“I urge local people to get involved in the consultation and tell us what would make a difference to their health so that the new services are as effective as possible.”

You can take part in the consultation by completing the postal feedback form distributed to households, completing the feedback form online by email or by post.

Email: patient.publicinvolvement@hmrpct.nhs.uk

Web: www.hmrpct.nhs.uk/your_services/new_gp_practices/feedback_form.asp

Tel: 0800 121 4406

Or write to:
PALS
HMRPCT
Freepost NEA15390
Rochdale
OL16 1ZZ