Herefordshire Primary Care Trust has commissioned an important review of how health and social care services are managed and provided for the benefit of local people.
Called Shaping Health and Wellbeing in Herefordshire, the review is being undertaken alongside Herefordshire Council, Hereford Hospital NHS Trust and a large number of local groups and professionals.
A special web site has been set up so that people can track the
progress of the review and its findings. The web address is:
http://www.myherefordshire.com/shapinghealthandwellbeing/
The review includes the county hospital in Hereford as well as all of the primary care trust's community services, community hospitals, care centres and mental health services, as well as the council's social care services.
A project steering group has been established and a wider group of stakeholders identified. Working groups have been set up around a number of themes, including: maternity and newborn; children's health; urgent and emergency care; staying health and independent; mental health and 'end of life' care. The groups are setting out a number of potential options for how these services can be improved upon and organised for the future.
In parallel, a wider group of stakeholders is determining success criteria to help assess those possible options for how services could be provided. In September, the criteria will be used to appraise the options put forward by the working groups.
Joanna Newton, chair of Herefordshire Primary Care Trust, said: "The review is all part of our vision for health, social care and mental health services.
"This is all about the primary care trust fulfilling its leadership role on local health and working with our partners to provide high quality, joined up packages of care and services, which are designed around the individual needs of local people so that we help people to stay healthier for longer".
The aims of Shaping Health and Wellbeing in Herefordshire are to ensure that:
· Clinical excellence and efficiency is sustained and safeguarded in the rural and sparsely populated county of Herefordshire
· Herefordshire's District General Hospital and other providers, are viable elements in health provision in the county for the future
· Health and social care services are planned, purchased, designed and delivered in a joined up and efficient way around the individual needs of local people
· There is fair and equal access to health and social care services for all the diverse communities of Herefordshire
· Patients with specific illnesses or requirements for care will have clear, detailed and audited packages of care that join up essential services and steps in their care and treatment (these are often called 'integrated care pathways').
· People will have a greater voice and choice in the way health and social care is managed and provided by local organisations in their local area
· Health and social care professionals are recruited, retained, supported and trained to bring the best mix of skills for the services provided
· Services are responsive, innovative, financially-viable and support local and national public health initiatives
The review is involving and informing a wide range of current health and social care providers and includes general practices, community nursing, health visitors, health centres, services for homeless people and people with learning difficulties, community hospitals and care centres, all social care services, voluntary sector providers, providers in the private sector and Hereford Hospitals NHS Trust and the West Midlands Ambulance Trust.