Roundup of changes in health and social care

GP merger

Your surgery may have joined forces with others this past year in a national move towards ‘local care networks’. This may affect the venue of appointments you’re offered:

• In Weston the Locality Health Centre has joined up with Clarence Park & Graham Rd.
• Stafford Place has closed.
• Riverbank Medical Centre in Worle is part of the Mendip Vale Medical Practice which include surgeries in Yatton, Wrington, St Georges, Langford and Congresbury, however Riverbank has begun consulting over possible closure.
• The Tyntesfield Group includes the surgeries in Backwell, Brockway, Tower House and Long Ashton.
• The Cedars Surgery and Worle Medical Practice merged as a group.
• The Village Surgery in Worle has now closed.

Weston Hospital

Weston General Hospital A&E department is closed 10pm to 8am in a temporary arrangement. People with life threatening emergencies should dial 999 for immediate assistance. If an ambulance is dispatched it will take you to A&E units in either in Bristol or Taunton. For urgent, non-emergency conditions that cannot wait until the morning dial 111 for immediate advice and guidance on local NHS out-of-hours services such as the out-of-hours GP. Click here for further information on temporary overnight closure of Weston A&E. You can read the draft document ‘Healthy Weston: Joining Up Services For Better Care In Weston’ by the Commissioning Group (CCG) provides future models for local services in the Weston area. 

Sustainability and Transformation Plan (STP)

The STP is part of a national strategy from NHS England in which each region plans how to reduce their spending over the next 5 years. North Somerset CCG is working with Bristol and South Gloucestershire to produce their STP. Healthwatch North Somerset are also working closely with other local Healthwatch. North Somerset CCG became one of 13 commissioning groups subjected to a Capped Expenditure Process which stops overspending in the future. The Sustainability and Transformation Plan was published in November 2016 and a summary can be found here. 

Proposed Merger of Clinical Commissioning Groups

Your local NHS Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) in North Somerset commissions local hospital and wider community services. In 2016 North Somerset CCG was rated inadequate by NHS England due to their financial deficit, their overall performance and how they were managing their ‘STP’.

In September 2017 a merger of the three CCGs, Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire was proposed to provide a long term solution in the face of increasing demand on services and a gap between what money is available and what money is needed to run current services. Click here to read the proposal. They argue this will ensure they can focus on delivering sustainable & resilient NHS services and delivering an overall better patient experience. The merger is expected to be fully in place by April 2018.

It will centralise all the administration & governance of the three commissioning groups at a central headquarters, probably in Bristol. There will continue to be a local CCG team but no venue for them has yet been confirmed. The CCG merger will create a commissioning group with a combined health budget of over £1.15 billion. They have said they will reduce the combined deficits of the three Commissioning groups by around £83 million in the year April 2017-2018.

Making changes to services

When the CCGs commission new services or they need to make changes to existing services they are obliged to work closely with the providers (such as GPs, hospital trusts or A&E units) to ensure that these services meet local health needs. They must also gather views and experiences of local people including patients and Carers to inform this work. If you are a Healthwatch North Somerset member we will let you know about these events. Otherwise keep an eye on our media feeds seen below.