Agenda item

The report seeks to provide an update to the Committee on the progress of the delivery of a new Integrated Care Centre in Trowbridge which will replace the Trowbridge Hospital and to provide assurance on the engagement approach being taken by the Integrated Care Board (ICB) on designing the future model, and how this aligns with the aspirations set out within the new Integrated Community Base Care Contract.

The Chairman outlined that Members had received a report introducing what was planned in the next 12 months in preparation of the Trowbridge Integrated Care Centre opening.

The Chairman invited Caroline Holmes (ICB Interim Executive Director for Wiltshire) to present an overview of the current situation:

• Trowbridge Integrated Care Centre would be a £16million development to replace the outdated Trowbridge Community Hospital and that many services would transfer to the new centre with the full list to be finalised. £3million of the budget had been provided by Wiltshire Council’s community infrastructure levy with completion set to be late 2025.
• The new centre would focus on supporting the integrated model of care, doing more for patients in the community and closer to their homes.
• It was noted that the new centre would help to address local inequalities with three of Wiltshire’s ten most deprived areas located in Trowbridge. The centre also aimed to make health care easier for residents with the population of Trowbridge set to increase over future years.
• The ambitions of the project were outlined, with the centre potentially set to act as a hub for multiple health organisations, employ the latest green technology and also to reduce travel times and relieve pressure on other health and care services.
• It was outlined that the Trowbridge Integrated Care Centre would be developed to align with the three key shifts expected within the NHS 10-year plan:
  • Making better use of technology
  • Moving more care from hospitals to communities
  • Preventing sickness, not just treating it
• The new approach to integrated community-based care was outlined with it noted that that a single provider, HCRG Care Group, had been appointed to take on the NHS community portfolio.
• The operational objectives of the centre were outlined which included but was not limited to:
  • To provide sufficient physical capacity to deliver core primary care services for a projected population of circa 62,000 in the Trowbridge Primary Care Network.
  • To improve access to same day urgent care for circa 30,500 patients per annum within Trowbridge through the development of additional capacity.
  • To provide capacity to enable delivery of an integrated and increased range/volume of activity of community health, acute outreach, mental health and social care services within the WWCHC locality/neighbourhood in order to reduce A&E and non-elective admissions.
• A list of potential services that would be provided as operational model
• development was outlined as well as a roadmap for the operational model.
• The next steps for the project were outlined with the core structure of the building set to begin to take shape in coming weeks and for community work to take place to enable the centre to be patient friendly.

The Committee asked the following questions which included but were not  

limited to whether the minor injury unit would be retained to which it was noted that there would be urgent care services located within the centre, however the exact make up of this was to be confirmed with it acknowledged that footfall into such units was vital in order to reduce people travelling to acute hospitals. Clarity was also provided that there were no planned changes on the catchment for minor injuries and that should any changes be made, the Committee would be informed.

Further clarity was provided that primary care facilities would be for the Primary Care Network (PCN) around Trowbridge, however the facility being built was for a larger catchment purely than the PCN, with an awareness that wider services would need to be accessed by people in the surrounding area such as Bradford-On-Avon, Melksham and Westbury. It was also noted that it had not yet been determined who would be invited to run clinics in the new centre, however this would be based on the most sense for the volume needed and would be worked through as part of the operational model with an evidence-based approach. Reassurance was provided that the centre aimed to have a broader footprint across the community and would potentially include people from Warminster.

It was acknowledged that the centre was an exciting prospect with it suggested that it would be good to see more facilities such as the centre coming closer to the homes of residents. Detail was also sought regarding the Wiltshire Council community infrastructure levy funding.

Resolved: 

That the Health Select Committee: 

• Note the progress being made in setting up the Integrated Care Centre.
• Receive an update report in July.