Plans for delivering a more joined-up and sustainable health and care system for Somerset were on display in Berrow Village Hall last week.
Members of the public from the Burnham-On-Sea area were invited to attend a drop-in session to see and discuss the reasons why Somerset’s health services must change if they are to meet the ever rising demand for health care from the county’s growing elderly population and people living with long-term health conditions.
Compounding the problem is a serious shortage of GPs, nurses, hospital specialists and therapists, resulting in longer waiting times for some routine GP, hospital and community health services.
Somerset’s senior doctors and health managers hope that a preventing ill health, particularly directed to the growing levels of Type II diabetes and smoking related heart and lung disease, combined with an eventual shift of resources from costly district hospital care to community and family doctor based services, could be the best way to deliver better outcomes for patients and release sufficient money to keep up with the annual growth in demand.
Dr Alex Murray, a Bridgwater GP and clinical advisor on mental health issues to Somerset CCG, told Burnham-On-Sea.com: “The NHS is still largely delivering healthcare based upon a model of service created in 1948. We need to modernise and embrace new ways of delivering health care if we are to keep up with demand.”
“As a doctor, I see the impact every day upon people’s health from a lifetime of smoking, drinking to excess and lack of exercise. We have got to learn to value our health and realise that unless we help everyone in our communities to stay healthy, and use the NHS responsibly, it will not be able to keep up with the demand from treating people, largely living with preventable health problems.”
“We want to hear the views and experiences of local people as part of our ‘Fit For My Future’ events and explain why we must change health care in coming years.”
NHS and local authority staff and clinicians are currently holding a number of public ‘Drop-in’ events across the county inviting people to share their views and experiences of local health and care service.
The plan, known as ‘Fit For My Future’, makes a case for change around six key health service themes: Urgent and emergency care; Planned care; Proactive care for long term conditions and frailty; Mental health and learning disabilities; Maternity and children’s services; and Promoting health and wellbeing.
Pictured: Dr Alex Murray, a Bridgwater GP and Clinical lead for Mental Health with Somerset Clinical Commissioning Group, talks to Cllr Bob Filmer, a Sedgemoor District and Somerset County Councillor, during the recent Fit For My Future public drop-in event in Berrow
