NHS Agrees First Deal To Remedy Local GP Shortages, UK
Care UK, a company specialising in the delivery of community and primary care, will run a 7,000-patient GP practice and 100-patient-per-day walk-in centre under a contract with Barking and Dagenham Primary Care Trust (PCT).
NHS patients will benefit from extended GP opening hours, including evening and Saturday morning surgeries, while the walk-in centre will open seven days a week.
Care UK will provide three GPs and seven nurse practitioners and services are expected to open in July.
Health Minister Lord Warner said:
"We are determined to tackle persistent and particular problems in deprived areas which have been under-served for too long. Contracts like the one in Barking and Dagenham will improve GP access for thousands of people living in places with the poorest cover.
"We made it quite clear that where NHS patients could not rely on existing GP practices to provide them with a good standard of service, we would turn to new providers. This new competition can only be good news for NHS patients as it will deliver a wider range of services open at more convenient times."
Paul Sinden, Director of Commissioning Barking and Dagenham PCT said:
"Barking and Dagenham is recognised as an under doctored area, with a high need for primary and community based services. This new model at Broad Street will provide both additional access to GPs and extended primary care through the walk-in-centre. From April 2007, the centre at Broad Street will provide a one-stop-shop for patients through access to a greater range of diagnostic services."
Mike Parish, Chief Executive of Care UK said:
"This groundbreaking project demonstrates how the independent sector can assist PCTs in improving access to vital primary care services. By integrating a GP practice and an unscheduled care centre on one site we will be providing the local community with much-needed services.
"Care UK brings a wealth of experience in operating community-based health and social care services to the project, including the provision of innovative, patient-focused primary care services to a number of PCTs throughout the UK."
Similar contracts that will see independent and voluntary providers challenge the existing monopoly of independent GPs are close to agreement in five other areas hardest hit by poor access, including Hackney, Liverpool, Lancashire, Plymouth and Yorkshire.
The contracts include plans for new 'breakfast' and 'tea-time' surgeries, with practices open as early as 7am and as late as 10pm; direct access to medical tests and local care for diabetes, asthma and arthritis in a community setting; and, nurse and GP visitors for nursing and residential home patients.
The Government's white paper, 'Our health, our care, our say', includes a commitment to help all PCTs in under doctored areas fill gaps in service provision. Future waves of the Innovation in Primary Care Contracting programme will be announced in the coming months to assist communities with the poorest levels of GP provision. 1. The Innovation in Primary Care Contracting pilots are a national programme aimed at improving and expanding local NHS services in areas where it has been difficult to recruit GPs. It aims to deliver:
- User friendly and culturally sensitive primary medical services provided by a multidisciplinary workforce with extended skills, responsibilities and training
- Greater integration between primary, community and social services service provision
- An increase in the range of healthcare services provided in community settings
- Promotion of healthy living with close links with schools and local businesses aiming to tackle the underlying causes of ill health 2. The Wave One projects were announced on 26 July 2005. PCTs taking part in the programme are:
- Barking and Dagenham - walk-in service and a GP practice with a list size of 7,200
- City and Hackney Teaching - a new five GP practice and NHS walk-in centre
- Hyndburn and Ribble Valley - walk-in service
- Plymouth Teaching - dedicated nurse-led practice for nursing and care home patients
- South Sefton - additional GPs
- Bradford City Teaching - additional GPs, nurse practitioner, healthcare assistant
3. The schemes are being led by PCTs, supported by the department to ensure that the PCTs make full use of existing contractual features to commission new services from primary care providers.
4. The PCTs have received tailor-made practical support through the department, including technical advice on procurement, resources to allow clinicians to develop proposals, business planning skills, legal advice and support for communication.
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NHS acord Prima Deal pentru a remedia penuria Local GP, Marea Britanie - NHS Agrees First Deal To Remedy Local GP Shortages, UK - articole medicale engleza - startsanatate