As the needs of the population change, so must NHS services.
Patients want more say in their healthcare and how it is provided to them.
Today, more than ever before, there is greater opportunity for patients to be cared for closer to home, or even in their own home, by healthcare professionals supported by medical advances and technology. In the past, patients who suffered from respiratory disease needed multiple stays in hospital, but increasingly they can be cared for in their own homes by specialist nurses, trained specially to care for patients at home, supported by medical colleagues. There might be opportunities to extend this way of working to other areas too.
At the same time, medical advances mean that there are increasing opportunities and advantages for patients to receive care for more complicated care or specialist illness at larger centres. In specialist centres there is access to dedicated specialist medical teams, expert in dealing with the illness and disease experienced by patients. Specialist teams are easily accessible, often available on a 24/7 basis and able to provide immediate support to patients using the service. In specialist centres there is access to the very latest diagnostic and medical technology like MR scans and research into new advances is often at the core of service development. In many cases outcomes for patients treated at specialist centres is better than those treated at non-specialist centres. We have already started to provide cancer care and heart surgery at specialist centres, but there might be opportunity for us to do this in other areas too.
We will increasingly be able to provide:
- every day healthcare close to home
- specialist healthcare at centres providing the very best care
- a better experience for patients
This means that we, like health services in the rest of the country and the world, are looking at the options to provide health services that:
- provide the best clinical outcomes
- make the most of health technology and medical advances
- ensure we are spending tax payers money properly
In Yorkshire and the Humber a number of organisations have already begun looking at options and in some cases have begun to put proposals to the local population. The NHS has a duty to ensure that the public is fully consulted on the issue of substantial service change. Schemes in Yorkshire and the Humber will always engage with the local population and will be subject to a formal consultation period where overview and scrutiny committees recommend this should take place.
Please click on the link below for information on the service change assurance process that has been developed:
Service change assurance process
