The Future of Healthcare in Gloucestershire Consultation Meeting in Winchcombe

11/07/2006

A public meeting will be held in Winchcombe next week as part of a twelve week consultation on the future of healthcare in Gloucestershire.

The consultation will describe how services need to change if the NHS locally is to continue to provide good quality healthcare for patients within the funds available.

The meetings are:

*The first hour of the sessions is an informal ‘drop in’ with presentations at 2pm and 6pm. A question and answer time will follow both presentations.

At the beginning of the consultation meetings, the PCT will set out the developing model of care which describes the NHS in Gloucestershire’s commitment to provide services as close to the patient’s home as possible, where it is clinically appropriate and cost effective to do so.

Caroline Fowles, Chief Executive of Cheltenham and Tewkesbury Primary Care Trust, said:

“As part of the consultation about the proposed changes, the NHS wants to work with local people to look to the future and explore options for NHS services in and around the town of Winchcombe.”

Current service

Winchcombe Hospital currently provides inpatient services to support rehabilitation – including physiotherapy and occupational therapy – and a number of outpatient clinics including gynaecology, urology, orthopaedics and paediatrics.

The hospital has 22 beds. In the year to March 2006, approximately 350 inpatients and 1300 outpatients were treated at the hospital. Less than a quarter of these patients came from the Winchcombe area: most came from the Cheltenham area. Patients admitted to Winchcombe Hospital are usually patients transferring from Cheltenham General or Delancey Hospitals.

The Hospital also provides a minor injuries and illness service staffed by nurses from the wards. In the year to March 2006, the service treated an average of two people a day. The Hospital’s annual running costs are just under £1m.

The Hospital building is old and maintenance costs for the next few years are estimated at close to £500,000 a year. The building design and structural problems do not allow for sensible alteration to meet appropriate standards for the future delivery of healthcare.

Proposals

We therefore propose to provide services in an alternative way in other locations in the Winchcombe area. This would include:

• Reinvestment in community services to provide more rehabilitation and support in the home
  
• The new provision of beds in the area to meet rehabilitation and palliative care needs working in partnership with our social care partners and an independent sector provider
  
• Enhancing services at Tewkesbury Hospital to provide increased levels of rehabilitation services for those needing high intensity care in a hospital setting
  
• Relocating outpatient and therapy services within the Winchcombe area

After reinvestment in services, the closure of the hospital would provide an annual saving of £240,000.

Have you say

Printed copies of the consultation document ‘The Future of Healthcare in Gloucestershire’ (including a feedback form) can be obtained by contacting the Consultation Team at Cheltenham and Tewkesbury Primary Care Trust on 01242 548827.

The document is also available at www.healthingloucestershire.nhs.uk with an online feedback form.

Anyone wishing to express their views in writing can fill in the feedback form (details above), email: consultation@glos.nhs.uk, or write to the Consultation Coordinator at Cheltenham and Tewkesbury Primary Care Trust, Unit 43, Central Way, Arle Road, Cheltenham GL51 8LX.