People from Bury are being asked for their views on proposals to improve urgent care services in Bury.
A public consultation is under way until Sunday 8 March.
Urgent care services are for things that are not an emergency, but at the same time can’t wait; for example a person might be looking for some urgent advice, an urgent GP appointment or a walk-in service to help with a minor ailment or injury.
The current arrangements for urgent care are confusing and, as a result, people often don’t know where to go for the most appropriate care. Many people go to A&E or a Walk-in Centre and wait a few hours to be seen, when another service may have been more suitable to meet their needs.
Local people say that services are complicated to find their way around and they sometimes have to go to more than one place or make more than one call before they get the right care. People also value the option to ‘walk in’ to a service.
A number of options have been put forward for people to share their views on, the preferred option being put forward proposes:
The redesign of urgent care at Fairfield General Hospital including building a new and enhanced Urgent Treatment Centre (UTC) open 24/7. This would mean relocating Bury Walk-in Centre (currently open 7am – 3pm), to be part of an integrated and enhanced service with a walk in option. The UTC would also include mental health services, GP out of hours services and the treatment of less serious cases that are currently seen in A&E. The service would be run by a team of nurses, GPs, mental health and other health and care professionals who can manage wound care, and there would be access to tests like bloods and X-rays, which are currently not available at Bury Walk-in Centre.Simplifying primary care (GP) access during the day and out of hours through community triage so that people can access the most appropriate service, in the best place at the right time, whilst using new technology to make it easier to get an appointment.Offering patients the opportunity to speak to a local health care professional by phone if they ring 999, NHS 111, or if North West Ambulance Service feel they don’t need to go to hospital.Providing clear information so that people know what their choices are and where is best to go to meet their needs.Dr Jeff Schryer, local GP and Chair of NHS Bury Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG), said: “Our proposal aims to make it easier for people to find their way around urgent care services and to support them to access care outside of normal working hours and at weekends. A&E services should only be for patients with life-threatening conditions and severe trauma. We need to have a more integrated, simpler and accessible urgent care system that is better value for the money that we invest in our health services.
“I’d encourage people to get involved and have their say, either through our survey or by coming along to one of our meetings, it’s really important that we make the best possible decision for Bury and that this is based on feedback from local people.”
Councillor Andrea Simpson, deputy leader of Bury Council and cabinet member for health and wellbeing, added: “By working in collaboration with our local health and care providers, our proposal secures the future of a walk-in facility, with longer opening hours, connections to more professionals and access to diagnostics like X-ray and blood tests. Through our proposal, we hope to make the urgent care system easier for patients to navigate. There is no doubt that the new system needs to secure better value for the Bury pound, but we also want to ensure that it improves the quality of our services too.”
How to have your say:
Read our consultation document (at https://www.buryccg.nhs.uk/download/document_library/were_here_to_help/get_involved/Final-consultation-doc-for-WEB.pdf) and complete our survey (at https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/WXCJ8B3) to share your views: Available online and in hard copy format in locations such as GP practices and Walk-in Centres. Hard copies can be sent out by post by requesting a copy: 0161 253 7636.Come to one of our public meetings taking place on: Tuesday 25 February at 12.30pm, or on Wed 4 March at 6pm - both in the Main Hall, Elizabethan Suite, Bury Town Hall.Requests for presentations to specific groups or meetings can be sent by e-mail to: buccg.communications@nhs.net or by calling 0161 253 7636.Views can be sent by letter or e-mail: by letter to: NHS Bury Clinical Commissioning Group, Communications and Engagement Team (Urgent Care), Townside Primary Care Centre, 1 Knowsley Place, Knowsley Street, Bury, BL9 0SN; or by email to buccg.communications@nhs.netENDSIssued: 18 February 2020.
