Reforms to the NHS to help deliver services designed more closely around the needs of patients and the local community have come into effect this week; following the legislation that we passed in parliament last year. Shortly before the Easter break I met with members of the new South Kent Coast Clinical Commissioning Group, which has taken over the responsibilities for primary care in our area from the Eastern and Coastal Kent primary care trust. What does this mean though in practice for the NHS in our community?
Firstly, it is about a more localised management of the NHS resources. Primary care, which people receive largely through visiting their GP, is being led by a governing body focused on the Shepway, Dover and Deal areas, instead of over an area covering most of Kent east of the Medway. This governing body is also led by local doctors and representatives of patients; our local members are Dr Bruce Cawdron from Dymchurch, Dr Brighton Chireka from Folkestone and Alistair Smith from Littlestone. The management of secondary care, which is the treatment people receive in hospital, will remain the same.
This more local management of the NHS will allow doctors in particular to consider the needs of our community when allocating resources. The Shepway area does not contain a large hospital, and people will frequently travel to Ashford or Canterbury for treatment. It would be more convenient if minor treatments that are currently delivered in hospital could instead be available to patients at their local surgery, or another nearby healthcare provider. Delivering these services in the community can not only be more convenient for patients, and reduce hospital transport costs, but can save the NHS money as well. Under this new commissioning structure, doctors will for example, have the power and resources to invest in local services to reduce the number of occasions when their patients might need to be referred to hospital. I know from meetings I have had with local GPs over the last year, that many are actively looking at how they can offer additional services to their patients through these reforms.
This new structure for our local NHS should also encourage and support more co-operations between health and social services which can lead to better care for some of the most vulnerable patients and can also save money, which can be used to improve treatments for other people. An excellent example of this has been the pioneering ‘Proactive Care Programme’ run by the Folkestone based GP, Dr Tuan Nguyen. The programme was launched in May last year and offered selected high-risk patients and people with long-term conditions 12 weeks of intensive support from a range of community services, led by their GP. This approach encourages closer working together by the different organisations which are already, or have the potential to, support these patients and the result is a care package designed around their needs. The initial assessment of this programme has not only been positive in terms of the care for the patients, but that it could save the NHS £2,000 per patient per year for those involved. I would like to congratulate everyone involved in this pioneering approach to health care.