Strong progress in Herefordshire’s review of health and wellbeing

Professionals in health and social care services have come together from across Herefordshire to work on a local vision for how those services could be better managed and provided for the future.

Several meetings in support of the Shaping Health and Wellbeing in Herefordshire project have resulted in proposals for new care models and criteria for appraising them. And service users, carers and employees in health and social care are also being asked to contribute their views.

The last ten years have seen the NHS increase capacity and the next stage review by Health Minister Lord Darzi is focusing on improving the quality and personalisation of services, to give more power to patients and clinicians.

In November 2007, local health professionals came together to give their views. And in June 2008, those professionals met again together with colleagues from social care to share progress, in the light of the national and regional vision for future services.

Participants focused on specialist areas in eight workgroups. The groups worked on: end of life care; long term conditions; planned care; acute or emergency care; mental health; staying healthy and independent; children's health and maternity and newborn.

Membership consisted of staff from Herefordshire Primary Care Trust, Hereford Hospitals Trust and Herefordshire Council.

The groups were asked to think ahead and prepare a headline description of health and care provision in 2013 and throughout June the groups met to develop care models to support their vision, and identify where there were key changes in service delivery. These new models had to ensure high quality care for the Herefordshire population and optimal use of health and social care resources. Each group had a clinical lead and voluntary sector and patient/user participation where appropriate.

Although the working groups cover a diverse range of care they identified common themes around the need for more health promotion and education, and for appropriate information to be shared across organisations so that patients do not have to provide information more than once.

On 4 July, a workshop was held to determine the success criteria by which any future service or provider configurations will be appraised. Apart from the steering group set up to oversee the strategic review of provider services, the workshop involved a wider stakeholder advisory group, which included representatives from the voluntary sector, members of the Expert Patients Programme, members of the Hereford Hospitals Trust and staff representatives.

Following this meeting, draft criteria were prepared and sent to members of the groups for comment.

A further event on 17 July enabled the working groups to present their visions for future models of care to the steering group and the wider stakeholder advisory group, and from this a picture of how the overarching strategic model of care is taking shape.

In September, the proposals for how future services could be provided will be judged and further work identified if necessary. In the meantime, service users and carers will be asked about their experiences and what could be better or changed about how services are provided.

Progress is being logged on the Shaping Health and Wellbeing in Herefordshire web site, which can be accessed via:
www.myherefordshire.com/shapinghealthandwellbeing/