Tomorrow's Health: Tewkesbury - Let us know what you think.
08/05/2006
What do you expect from your local health services? Are you happy with your local arrangements or do you think that things could be improved? How can health services in Tewkesbury be developed to meet the needs of its growing population?
These are the questions Cheltenham and Tewkesbury Primary Care Trust (PCT) has been asking local people across the Tewkesbury area over the past few months in order to help us to develop services, which meet the needs of its growing population in Tewkesbury. Lots of people have given us their opinions, so now we need to make some decisions about where we should go from here. This is where you can get involved as Cheltenham and Tewkesbury Primary Care Trust is starting an eight week consultation this week.
Local people will have an opportunity to feedback their views on the consultation proposals through a variety of means such as drop-in sessions (Drop-in advertising poster attached), via the internet or by reading information on displays and picking up feedback forms from sites around the area such as GP practices and the community hospital. We will also be offering to visit specific groups if they would like to invite us to discuss the consultation with them.
Paul Edwards, the PCT’s Director of Service Provision and Chair of the Tomorrow’s Health: Tewkesbury Steering Group, explained:
“Now is the time to go back to local residents to make sure that we have got the priorities right. We want your opinions to help us to ensure that the three GP practices are accommodated in suitable premises that will allow them to expand (Jesmond House, Watledge Surgery and Church Street Surgery) to develop and extend joint working with all organisations that contribute to the health and well-being of Tewkesbury residents.”
He continued:
“Local residents might have expected us to be able to consult on possible locations for a new surgery at this time. This is not possible as we need to ensure that we can find a site that is both achievable and affordable. That is why it is important for us to test out criteria against which a site can be chosen.”
The main focus of our attention at this time is the service provided in primary care by our GPs and their teams. There will be opportunities later in the year for us to look more closely at how Tewkesbury Hospital can evolve to provide services, which complement the changes taking place across the country, and will see a wider range of services provided locally outside the larger district hospitals.
The consultation documents sets out the reasons why we think community health services in Tewkesbury will need to be provided in a different way in the future. It also includes information about what local people have told us so far. Finally it asks a series of questions that we would like you to answer and return to us on a feedback form.
Please let us know what you think…
