Practice Based Commissioning
Test Valley South Locality
Abbey Mead, Alma Road, Nightingale & North Baddesley GP surgeries
Quarter 4 Newsletter Early Summer 2010
Following the departure of Bill Jenssen we have now merged with the Eastleigh North locality and Simon Potter is our locality manager.
Much like the political parties we will have our differing opinions but the coalition should work in such a way that we compliment each other and are able to share resources and ideas. The merger has been welcomed by the PCT.
The next newsletter will be from the newly formed group and a website for the greater locality is currently under construction.
Romsey Hospital
A walk-in service for all x-rays was introduced on 4 May at Romsey Hospital. The service operates on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays between 8.45am and 12.15pm and 1pm and 4pm.
We are hopeful that Eastleigh North practices will take advantage of this service.
APAC has agreed the ultrasound proposal, so provision of this service at Romsey Hospital is imminent.
Clinical Leads
Project Clinical Leads have been agreed for each Practice and the locality (see attachment)
Nursing Home Project
Simon Potter will use his project management experience to pull together the nursing home project ready for a commissioning intention in the very near future. Hopefully the added patient numbers from Eastleigh North will convince the PCT that this is a worthwhile project for all concerned.
Romsey Midwives
Following a meeting with Sarah Schofield, the Romsey Midwives have met with some of the locality surgeries and have been in contact with the others to arrange meetings. We are now hopeful that they will take up the offer of rooms in the surgeries to use as additional clinical space to see their patients. The Practice Managers have agreed to allocate rooms on an adhoc basis.
Virtual Wards
Sue York and Glynis McWilliam presented the Virtual Ward concept to the commissioning group, and are now rolling this out across the locality.
Practices will receive information into a generic mailbox and a further generic mailbox has been created for Sue and Glynis to receive information from the GPs.
Cryotherapy
All Practices have agreed to cease cryotherapy for warts and veruccas. The decision was made to stop freezing warts due to the lack of benefit, time constraints and cost. A patient information leaflet has been produced for each Practice to give to patients, extolling the benefits of over the counter treatments. Cryotherapy will continue for solar keretosis.
Community Diabetes Service
The new community diabetes service was launched in April and patients normally seen under secondary care have been referred back to Practice Diabetic leads. A support service is available and will be rolled out to Practices during the coming months.
End of Life Care
Following the end of life care review, areas that could be doing more to assist patients in their last stage of life will be identified and services will be put in place to improve the process. It is anticipated the review will be repeated at the end of the year to see what improvements have been made.
If you would like further information about any of the details in this newsletter please contact Janice Combs on 01794 528517. If you would like to comment on any other aspect of health or social care services, please contact the Local Involvement Network (LINk) at www.hampshire-link,co.uk or on 0845 6015859.
Quarter 3 Spring Newsletter
There have been changes afoot since our last newsletter and the PBC team have been working very hard to ensure things continue smoothly.
Bill Jenssen
Our Locality Manager Bill Jenssen sadly left us in March to take up an appointment in Berkshire. Bill worked extremely hard on behalf of the practices during his time with us and we wish him all the best for the future in his new role.
Merger with Eastleigh
Following the departure of Bill Jenssen, we decided that we would like to join with another local group, and Eastleigh PBC kindly agreed for us to join them. We look forward to working with them over the coming months.
Romsey Hospital
Out-Patients (clinics). Statistics are currently being sought to help review the balance and utilisation of clinics and services at Romsey Hospital.
Diagnostics (tests). The new walk-in blood test (phlebotomy) clinic has been popular and continues to work well from the Romsey Hospital outpatient department. The service continues to operate on a Tuesday and Wednesday morning from 7.30-10.30 and a Saturday morning from 9.00-12.00. Further to our last newsletter, Ultrasound is now at the procurement stage and we are seeking tenders from interested parties. Further news on this should be available in our Summer newsletter.
Other Healthcare Services
We continue to focus on how our patients in Nursing Homes access their healthcare services. We are currently working on a new system of assessment and review for co-ordinating services in Nursing Homes. This will include gathering data on hospital admissions and putting a case forward to the PCT. We are hoping to reach an agreement so that a local pilot programme can be instigated.
Diabetes Tier 2 Service
This service commenced on the 1st April. The aim is to provide support to practices in providing full diabetic provision to patients as there will be no longer be adult diabetes services provided in acute trusts from that date. Patients will be seen in their localities with the primary care clinicians in attendance with specialist clinicians to maximise learning opportunities. Patients will receive appointments from their surgeries in due course.
Pulmonary Rehab
There has been a proposal for a new Pulmonary Rehabilitation service at Romsey Rapids which is going through procurement on 24th February, and should be jointly funded by both the Council and Health departments. This would be a great addition to the services that we are currently able to offer our patients.
End of Life Care
We are currently looking at the pathways involved in carrying out end of life care for patients, and practices will be undertaking an audit in May to look at this in detail. It’s planned that practices will work more closely with the community matrons to reduce the amount of repetitive work currently being carried out.
There has also been greater provision made for end of life care locally, as St John’s Nursing Home in Rownhams will be undergoing an extension in June/July 2010.
Latest Developments
Dermatology (skin conditions). The Tele-dermatology pilot project has been very well received, and ended it’s 4 month pilot in March 2010. The response time for GP’s receiving a response back from the team of Dermatologists has been very quick, and we are currently awaiting the full evaluation of the project.
If you would like further information about any of the details in this newsletter please contact simonpotter@nhs.net. If you would like to comment on any other aspect of health or social care services, please contact the Local Involvement Network (LINk) at www.hampshire-link,co.uk or on 0845 6015859.
Autumn Newsletter
Over the summer months, the representatives of the GP surgeries have focused on a review of services at the Romsey Hospital site. The purpose of the review is to identify what works well for local patients, and where there are any gaps in medical services provision. We have received valuable contributions from patient representatives and organisations who provide these services. We have started to make changes, and we hope that patients will start to notice a wider variety of medical services provided locally and more appropriately.
Romsey Hospital
In-Patients (hospital beds). The locality has worked closely with NHS colleagues to ensure that there is a robust procedure for patients who need the in-patient beds at the Hospital. This process has allowed patients to be safely discharged back to their homes, freeing up beds for other patients who might have otherwise had to go to either Southampton or Winchester for their hospital care.
Out-Patients (clinics). The locality has reviewed the number and the type of out-patient clinics that are run from hospital. Some of these clinics have long waiting times, whilst others appear to be under-used. The locality is currently discussing with the visiting consultants how best to re-organise the out-patient clinics and it is hoped that by reducing the number of unnecessary clinics the hospital consultants will be able to offer a greater variety of clinics that match the needs of the local population.
Diagnostics (tests). The locality has worked with Southampton General Hospital to open Romsey Hospital for walk-in blood test (phlebotomy) clinics. These clinics are run when GP surgeries are closed, but when many patients would like to access them – early mornings on 3 days of the working week from 7.30am and on Saturday mornings. Patients will need a ‘blood form’ from their GP practice, but the clinics are open access, with no need to book an appointment. We are working also to ensure smoother access to the X-ray facility during the week, which is currently open 3 days a week, but with some clinics offering fewer appointments than others. We are also reviewing the possibility of getting a comprehensive ultrasound service based at the Hospital.
Other Healthcare Services
As well as continuing our involvement with patient services provide at the Romsey Hospital site, a principle focus of the PBC locality group will be on how health services are accessed by patients in Nursing Homes. National & local evidence suggests that admissions to hospitals from nursing homes are more frequent and lengthier than from anywhere else (including similarly aged patients outside nursing homes). The Locality GPs are therefore looking to work with homes, and the NHS organisations involved in their residents’ healthcare, to ensure a more co-ordinated delivery of services in the local area. We recognise that this is a big challenge for all involved – patients, carers, nursing home staff, GPs & other health and social services professionals - but one that we feel is important.
In addition to nursing homes, we recognise that mental health problems contribute significantly to a wide range of age groups, and can be very damaging, particularly for children and teenagers as well as their parents. We have begun investigating what services exist, how they are used and what they cost, as well as where any gaps in the service are. We are keen to work with the organisations to ensure that the local population benefits from an impending Hampshire-wide change in the provision of Child & Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) services.
Latest Developments
Dermatology (skin conditions).
The locality is taking part in a pilot Tele-dermatology project. This will involve staff at GP surgeries being trained to take photographs of patients’ skin complaints. These will then be sent securely to a team of dermatology consultants who will advise the GP of the diagnosis and management plan, or recommendation for a referral within 48hrs of receiving the details. It is hoped that this will reduce the need for patients to wait several weeks, and a time-consuming trip to either Southampton or Winchester hospitals to see a consultant in this speciality. The pilot is expected to start in November 2009 and run, initially, until March 2010, when a full evaluation will be conducted.
Rheumatology (Arthritis).
Arthritis affects lots of people. Rheumatology services are particularly for people with conditions like rheumatoid arthritis, psoriatic arthritis and other "auto-immune" and inflammatory conditions, rather than osteoarthritis ("wear and tear" arthritis most common in older people). Seeing a specialist at the right time has been problematic over the years. The NHS have now re-launched a popular specialist nurse service, based at Romsey Hospital. Your GP can refer you into this service and you will be seen and treated within a matter of days. The nurse works closely with the hospital consultant, so if she is unable to manage your arthritis attack, she will ensure you are seen by the consultant in his next available clinic. This timely service will go along way to alleviate the suffering so many people suffer from this debilitating condition.
If you would like further information about any of the details in this newsletter please contact bill.jenssen@nhs.net or on 07796 987050 . If you would like to comment on any other aspect of health or social care services, please contact the Local Involvement Network (LINk) at http://www.hampshire-link,co.uk/ or on 0845 6015859.