GPs in Folkestone and Dover received a boost this week, with the granting of £1.89 million to improve access to their services for patients. The grant comes from Prime Minister David Cameron’s challenge fund, which has been set up to help give GPs the resources to offer a more flexible service to their communities. Folkestone and Dover GPs will be leading the way in Kent as one of the national pilot areas to receive a grant from this Challenge Fund.
This funding will give local GPs the opportunity to offer new services to their patients including; extended opening hours from 8am to 8pm, seven days a week; an urgent home visit service outside of core practice hours (8am-6.30pm); enhanced community care with short-term residential facilities in the community to avoid hospital admissions; and for patients with urgent mental health needs, a new rapid assessment service delivered by a primary care mental health specialist, either at a patient’s home or at their GP.
This is excellent news for our community and will allow the local NHS to offer more of the types of services that patients want; that starts in the community with access to their doctor and local GP practice. Extended opening hours will give greater flexibility for those who work, and enhanced community care and home visits will be of particular benefit to older residents who might not be easily able to attend an appointment at the surgery.
This investment will also help the local health service in general. Often there is extra pressure on hospital services out of hours and at weekends, because people are not able access NHS services elsewhere. With seven days a week access to a local GP surgery, there will now be greater opportunity to seek help without going to hospital.
The government's reforms to the health service are focused on delivering more care closer to where patients live, to avoid unnecessary trips to hospital, which take time and cost money. The local East Kent Hospital Trust is also working to improve the range of services available at the Royal Victoria in Folkestone. Cancer patients have also recently been able to use the new East Kent Mobile Chemotherapy Unit in Hythe, which has meant avoiding a lengthier trip to Canterbury or Ashford to receive the same treatment.
On Monday this week I was delighted to be able to attend the official opening of the refurbished Hawkinge Village Hall. This has been a fantastic community project, with local residents raising the money and carrying out much of the restoration work themselves. The Hall is certainly popular with the community and is already booked up to support a large number of events. It is a real example of the big society in action. The hall has also played an important part of the history of Hawkinge. The funds to build the hall in the 1930s were raised by the local Women’s Institute, and during the war it was used to hold dances for members of the RAF stationed at Hawkinge Aerodrome.