23 March 2017
Sustainability and Transformation Plans (STPs) are being rolled out across the NHS in England. The country has been divided into 44 areas, known as 'footprints' and here, in Nuneaton, we come under the Coventry and Warwickshire footprint. The STP for Coventry and Warwickshire was published on December 6th 2016 and, currently, it is very much just an outline and lacks any specific detail. Whilst greater collaboration between health and social services is to be welcomed, we are concerned that re-organisation, in the name of improvement, could lead to services being lost from our localities. The idea of the STP to focus on prevention and reducing the number of people who need hospital care can only work if the alternatives are in place and properly funded. This seems to be the stumbling block as both the County Council and NHS budgets are reducing and yet demand is increasing. The County Council funds social care,which is under increasing strain as we have an increasing older population, as well as Public Health.
We are continually told that there will be public engagement to get views before any proposals are made and put out to consultation, but as yet, there does not seem to have been much activity, at least not with the public at large. We have been attending the public meetings of the George Eliot Hospital (GEH) Board and the Warwickshire North Clinical Commissioning Group (WNCCG), since last summer to try and keep up with what is going on. We have also attended a public engagement event in Hinckley for the Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland STP as it is important that we also know what is happening in neighbouring areas. Up to 30% of maternity patients and 20% of 'turnover' at the GEH comes from Hinckley and Bosworth patients so any changes 'across the border' could potentially have a marked effect on the viability of services at GEH. We will continue to attend meetings to keep abreast of the situation and we will take an active role in any public engagement and consultation that takes place. We will campaign to help ensure that services are kept locally, which is evermore important with the increased number of houses coming to our area.
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