Dr Martin Foley will talk about how the new Clinical Commissioning Groups will impact upon health provision both nationally and locally.
Minutes:
The Area Board received a presentation from Dr Martin Foley from the Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG). The following issues were discussed:
What is the CCG?
• The CCG commissions services for Wiltshire.
• Commissioning is the process of specifying, securing and the monitoring of services to meet people’s needs at a strategic level.
• The CCG is clinically led
• Seven GPs sit on the governing body
• Membership comprises 57 practices
• There are three locality groups
• The aims of the CCG are:
• To prepare strategic plans
• To address growing needs
• To Improve health and wellbeing
• To ensure sustainability
• To communicate effectively
Key Priorities
The following issues are key priorities for the CCG:
• Staying healthy and preventing ill health
• Unplanned care and frail elderly
• Long term conditions (Including dementia)
• Community services and integrated care
• Planned care
• Mental health
• End of life care
Roles
Dr Foley outlined the various roles on the CCG:
Lay Member – Patient and Public Involvement
• Brings specific expertise and experience about involvement, as well as their knowledge as a member of the local community, to the work of the governing body.
• Helps ensure that, in all aspects of the CCG’s business the public voice of the local population is heard and that opportunities are created and protected for patient and public empowerment in the work of the CCG
Lay Member – Audit
• Brings specific expertise and experience to the finance and governance work of the governing body
• Focus will be strategic and impartial, providing an external view of the work of the CCG that is removed from the day to day running of the organisation
• Oversees key elements of governance including, audit, remuneration and managing conflicts of interest
• Chairs the audit committee
Role of Secondary Care Doctor
• Shares responsibilities with other members for all aspects of the CCG governing body business
• Brings a broader view on health and care issues to underpin the work of the CCG
• Brings an understanding of patient care in the secondary care setting
Role of Registered Nurse Member
• Shares response
• Shares responsibilities with other members for all aspects of the CCG governing body business
• Ensures CCG has strategic focus on high quality care and patient safety
• Ensures CCG is promoting excellence in professional practice and leading quality improvement across pathways and organisations boundaries
How to be Involved
There will be opportunities to get involved in the following:
– Patient/Involvement group
– Stakeholder events
– Consultations
– Through local practice’s patient participation group
– Complete the feedback form
• It was noted that there were problems with patients not turning up for their appointments. On average this happens between 120 and 145 times per month.
• If the town population grew then it was the responsibility of the GPs to extend and employ more doctors as required.
• It was noted that some patients had difficulty with transport to primary care facilities.
• A primary care centre was no longer a priority for the CCG.
• There was unlikely to be a minor injuries unit in the town – triage and minor injuries could be dealt with by individual practices.
• The intention was to use Devizes Hospital as much as possible along with the RUH in Bath and Great Western Hospital in Swindon. There would not be any new build facility in the town.