We are working to ensure that children on the Isle of Wight are supported to get the best start in life that will lead to good health and wellbeing. This will provide the foundation to ensure they are able to achieve the best opportunities and keep as healthy and well as possible throughout their lives.
We want to ensure that families, individuals and communities are thriving and resilient with access to good jobs, affordable housing, leisure activities, lifelong training, education and learning, health and care services are are able to enjoy the place in which they live.
We want to ensure that people on the Isle of Wight are able to live independently in their own homes with appropriate care support. We want to make sure older residents are supported to play an active role in their communities and supported to maintain and develop their social and community networks.
Isle of Wight (IW) Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) is consulting on the future of services provided by GP practices between late December and mid-February. This follows a period of engagement during the Autumn as part of the My Life a Full Life programme and work by the CCG with GPs, Practice Managers, Practice staff and Practice Patient Participation Groups (PPGs).
The strategy recognises the challenges providing primary care on a small Island and sets out a vision for the future of General Practice including extending access to routine Primary Care seven days-a-week, implementing digital technologies enabling greater access and control, and developments in using new staff groups to work differently.
Caroline Morris, Assistant Director of Primary Care and Corporate Business at IW CCG said: “The challenges we face on the Island are well documented. People’s expectations of their Primary Care Service are changing, we have an increasingly elderly population[ and we cannot recruit sufficient qualified staff. We need to think creatively and work together to come up with the best solutions for the future. Patients have told us we must be braver and honest about these issues, and this document is a first step in engaging the public and professionals in tackling the issues we face.
“There are already some great examples, both here on the Island and further afield, showing how we can manage the challenges and create a system fit for the future. “Elsewhere in the UK, the use of digital technology in remote rural communities is enabling services to be provided more efficiently and at more convenient times for patients. For example, the use of Skype and online consultations with GP or other healthcare professionals is gaining in popularity”.
Ms Morris continued: “The majority of healthcare is carried out in a Primary Care setting so it is really important that we face up to the challenges that our GP practices are facing and put proper plans in place. Our aim is to make sure that the NHS continues to deliver great care to our patients for years to come. I hope people will respond to this consultation, letting us know what they think and help us find the answers to some of these difficult issues”. The Strategy document and email address for your feedback can be found here:
You can let us know what you think in a number of ways:
By post to: Primary Care Strategy Consultation,
Isle of Wight CCG,The Apex,St Cross Business Park, Newport PO30 5XG
By e-mail to: CCG@iow.nhs.uk
If you would like someone to come and present this strategy to a group that you run or are involved with, please e-mail emily.galt@iow.nhs.uk and we will see if we can arrange for someone to attend to talk to you.
If you are sending in feedback, please can you complete this quick online survey so that we can assess whether we are getting feedback from a broad section of the island community for our Equality Impact Assessment. http://www.smartsurvey.co.uk/s/PrimaryCareConsultation/
