Kentish Gazette Canterbury & District
‘THE WHOLE POINT IS HOW WE RUN THE SYSTEM BETTER’
There are about 300 patients in hospitals at any one time who do not need to be there, say health chiefs.
They believe the answer is to expand services at GP surgeries, where a much wider range of treatments and support would be offered.
The proposal is being worked on alongside a scheme to redefine the roles of the three hospital sites in Margate, Canterbury and Ashford.
The trust estimates hundreds of thousands of pounds are being spent every week on hospital patients who could receive better care at home and from GPS if the right support was in place.
But hospital trust chief executive Matthew Kershaw insists the need for change is as much about providing better, more joined-up healthcare as making savings.
He said: “We can’t change the hospital part without working in complete tandem with primary and social care and community services. The whole point of this is how we run the system better.” The changes are being considered as part of the trust’s requirement to produce a “sustainability and transformation plan” by the government, which is being demanded of all 44 trusts across the country.
Chairman of the East Kent Delivery Board Dr Sarah Phillips said: “The way GPS work is going to have to change and we are working to bring a profound shift in where and how we deliver care.”
She predicted a much greater role for GPS in “extended” surgeries, who will be supported by other specialists to deliver more healthcare services in local communities, keeping people out of hospital.
Dr Phillips said: “Things need to change because we have a whole set-up that isn’t really fit to build around what a person might need. We have strain on our hospitals in resource and staffing, and we need to have a constructive conversation about it.
“So instead of just having a GP service where you might get X or Y service, we are going to have networks of GP surgeries looking after much bigger groups of people.
“By coming together we can offer more, like a team on call seven days a week, more specialist clinics that deal with things like diabetes, for example, and bringing specialists out from hospitals.”
She said it could mean patients going to different surgeries depending on their specific needs. Services that could be provided at the extended surgeries in the future include outpatient appointments for certain health issues, minor injuries like fractures and cuts, mental health screening, dementia diagnosis, end-of-life care, and social care.
Dr Phillips says the new model also needs to work much closer with social care.