Our campaign – helping patients to make the right choice for their healthcare needs. Recognising patients are often confused about where to go when they feel unwell during evening and weekends when their GP practice is closed, the CCG is launching a campaign to help patients make the right choice.
We know sometimes people go to A&E for things that really they should see their doctor or pharmacist for, and this puts pressure on the system. We want people to know what to do to help themselves and the NHS.
The campaign will promote clear messages about what to do and where to go if unwell at all times of the day.
Key messages that you can help us promote
If your GP practice is closed and you have a same day health need which is not a life-threatening emergency, call NHS 111 to be directed to the most appropriate care.
1. What is the issue? When people feel unwell and need to be seen that day but their GP practice is closed we know people are confused about what services are available and how to access them. A&E is only for life threatening emergencies and going there with ailments that your doctor can treat puts pressure on the system. We want people to know what to do to help themselves and the NHS.
2. If patients think they have a same day health need what do they do?
Always think GP practice first if you feel unwell. GP practices are open 8am – 6pm Monday to Friday. If you need to be seen that day you’ll be offered an appointment either at your own GP practice or a ‘hub’. A hub is a group of neighbouring GP practices working together to provide extra patient appointments.
If your need health need is outside of GP practice hours, ring NHS 111. They will offer advice and book you into a hub appointment or other appropriate service based on your clinical need.
3. What happens when you call NHS 111?
You will speak to a trained health adviser from the NHS 111 team. They will ask questions to find out what medical help you need. They can give advice, book appointments at GP practices, hubs, urgent treatment centres or even transfer your call so you can speak directly to a GP or clinician.
Transport an issue?
Throughout the recent consultation lack of transport was raised as a concern, especially for people who had a long distance to travel. DDES CCG listened to the concerns and acted by removing the requirement for people to have a clinical need to receive NHS funded transport to and from hub appointments. This means if you have been assessed as needing a same day appointment and have been booked into one of the hubs, we can organise return transport for you.
The NHS belongs to us all. Let’s use it responsibly. The way you use your NHS matters – using it wisely means we can develop and invest in local services to make your NHS fit for the future.
Implementation of the ‘Improving 7 day access findings’ – following formal public consultation
A number of areas were highlighted during the consultation, these included, the need for greater awareness of NHS 111, what to do when you have a same day health care need and also support with transport to and from services.
A communication and engagement plan was written which emphasised areas of focus and this included:
- Engaging and involving patient groups and local councillors on the design and wording of the poster and leaflet for transport and a poster explaining ‘what to do when you have a same day health care need’
- Distributing the posters across the local area in key sites, GP practices, local shops, libraries etc
- Visiting rural areas, in particular Weardale, where it was raised that people weren’t sure what to do when they had a same day health care need and to discuss NHS 111
- Involving schools in Weardale to help promote messages around what to do if you have a same day health care need, as a result their pupils were invited to take part in a competition to design a poster to highlight NHS 111 which is now being used by the CCG. This was done in conjunction with the Teesdale Mercury
- Social media posts on Facebook and Twitter promoting key messages
- Adverts in local newspapers which again advise people what to do if the needed to see a health care professional that day – simple clear messaging to try and cut through some of the confusion that has built up in recent years around the availability of services, where to go and when.
DDES NHS 111 poster comp winner FINAL
DDES NHS 111 poster competition
Communication plan (Primary Care Service) – mobilisation
DDES Cowshill Leaflet Distribution
A PRIMARY school pupil has put health in the picture after designing a poster to help patients get the right access to medical care – press release
Joint statement to clarify that there is not a secondary care out of hours service delivered from the Richardson Hospital
Durham Dales, Easington and Sedgefield Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) and County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust (CDDFT) have both received a number of queries from our patient population regarding the secondary care out of hours service delivered from the Richardson Hospital.
As partners, both the CCG and CDDFT would like to jointly clarify that there is not a secondary care out of hours service delivered from the Richardson Hospital.
The service delivered from the Richardson Hospital building which is being mistaken for a secondary care out of hours service, is an extended access to primary care service offering additional hours where a patient with a same-day health needs to be seen by a health care professional.
The service is not a walk in service, it operates on appointments only which can be booked by NHS111 and GP practices. It currently operates 6pm – 8pm (2 hours) Monday to Friday and 8am – 1pm (5 hours) weekends.
The service is one of the nine CCG primary care hubs which are all GP services not hospital out of hour’s services. A hub is a group of neighbouring GP practices working together to provide extra appointments for patients with a same-day need.
We believe the confusion has arisen because the hub service delivered from the Richardson Hospital building should have been delivered from the Barnard Castle GP practice. However due to last minute unforeseen circumstances the GP practice were unable to deliver the service from their premises.
The CCG was dedicated to providing an extended GP access service in Barnard Castle to ensure service provision for patients so space within the Richardson Hospital building was rented from CDDFT.
The CCG and CDDFT would like patients to always think GP practice first if you feel unwell. GP practices are open 8am – 6pm Monday to Friday. If you need to be seen that day you’ll be offered an appointment either at your own GP practice or a hub. If your GP practice is closed and you have a same day health need which is not a life-threatening emergency, call NHS111 to be directed to the most appropriate care.
MP Queries and Responses
CCG responses to letters from Durham County Council Overview and Scrutiny Committee
Durham County Council Adults, Wellbeing and Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee 11 June 2019
Post consultation press release
Patients in Durham Dales, Easington and Sedgefield will still be able to access services during the evening and weekends in a GP ‘hub’ near to where they live, following a 12 week public consultation.
The CCG has announced the decision to implement changes to ‘7 day services’ following support received at the Durham Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee held on 11 June 2019. The CCGs Governing Body approved the recommendations presented in an independent report in a meeting held in public on 28 May.
Changes to the service providing additional appointments during evening and weekends via GP ‘hubs’ have been agreed and will be in place in September/ October this year.
Additional appointments will be available at the following ‘hubs’ but it is important to note these services are not walk in services and can only be accessed via your own GP practice or NHS111.
In the Durham Dales additional appointments will be available from 12 noon – 8 pm during the week and 10am – 2pm on a weekend in Bishop Auckland.
In the Easington area, appointments will be available from 12 noon – 8 pm during the week and 8am – 1pm on a weekend in Peterlee and in Seaham from 6-8pm during the week and 8am – 1pm on a weekend.
In Sedgefield area, additional appointments will be available 12 noon – 8pm during the week and 10am-2pm on weekends from Newton Aycliffe, In addition, Spennymoor will provide appointments from 6 – 8pm during the week and 10am-2pm on a weekend and in Sedgefield from 10am-2pm on a weekend only.
There have been changes to the number of hubs available, but patients in these areas will still be able to access the service from a neighbouring ‘hub’.
We will provide more support to access transport for those who need it, especially to towns that no longer have a ‘hub’. In addition more pre- booked appointments out of hours for those patients who struggle to access normal GP services will be provided and enhanced services for frail and housebound patients.
The CCG wants to remind people that they should think GP surgery first during the day between 8am-6pm, Monday-Friday and contact NHS 111 at all other times where clinical staff will signpost you to the most appropriate service based on your clinical need.
Please see the final independent report below which outlines key recommendations that were approved by the CCG Governing Body in a meeting held in public on Tuesday 28th May 2019.
THE CONSULTATION IS NOW CLOSED
Background
NHS Durham Dales, Easington and Sedgefield Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) has taken the decision to extend its formal public consultation ‘Changing 7-Day Access to Primary Care Services’ for an additional six weeks. During this time we will be linking into existing community groups to gain further feedback on our proposals. The survey will also be available to complete at Have Your Say
Rather than finishing on the 19th December 2018, the consultation will now run until Wednesday 30th January 2019. All information gathered during this extended time period will be fed into the overall consultation.
In Spring 2016, we undertook a public consultation about urgent care services. During that consultation, we also asked the public and clinicians to tell us where we should locate primary care services that provide additional evening and weekend appointments. Nine hubs (practices working together) across the DDES area were chosen as the preferred option by the public.
It was agreed to implement and then review these changes after six and then 12 months of operation. This was to ensure the service covered the full winter period to truly understand the impact. In this review, we looked at who used primary care services, when and why.
The need to change was established after we reviewed public and clinician feedback, including patient views, activity, capacity, impact on other services, practice requirements, value for money, transport and pharmacy provision.
The review highlighted that the hubs were valued but some were significantly underused. This consultation is about our proposals to address these issues and to improve 7-day access to primary care services in the DDES area.
Have your say – Consultation between Wednesday 7th November to Wednesday 19th December 2018 (extended until Wednesday 30th January 2019)
NHS Durham Dales, Easington and Sedgefield Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) has taken the decision to extend its formal public consultation ‘Changing 7-Day Access to Primary Care Services’ for an additional six weeks. During this time we will be linking into existing community groups to gain further feedback on our proposals. The survey will also be available to complete at https://www.haveasay.org.uk/
Rather than finishing on the 19th December 2018, the consultation will now run until Wednesday 30th January 2019. All information gathered during this extended time period will be fed into the overall consultation.
In Spring 2016, we undertook a public consultation about urgent care services. During that consultation, we also asked the public and clinicians to tell us where we should locate primary care services that provide additional evening and weekend appointments. Nine hubs (practices working together) across the DDES area were chosen as the preferred option by the public.
It was agreed to implement and then review these changes after six and then 12 months of operation. This was to ensure the service covered the full winter period to truly understand the impact. In this review, we looked at who used primary care services, when and why.
The need to change was established after we reviewed public and clinician feedback, including patient views, activity, capacity, impact on other services, practice requirements, value for money, transport and pharmacy provision.
The review highlighted that the hubs were valued but some were significantly underused. This consultation is about our proposals to address these issues and to improve 7-day access to primary care services in the DDES area.
How you can get involved
Come along to one of our public engagement events
The times and dates of our public consultation events are shown in the table below. If you wish to attend one of the public events, please register via Booking Links or by telephoning 0191 371 3222. Please let us know at the time of registering if you have any special requirements.
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Complete the survey
More information
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Communication and Engagement Plan
Consultation Plan (appendices)
PCS Business case version 7 – finance updated
HWCD 7 Day Access to Primary Care Services Independent Observations Rep.._
GP extended access – mapping to new model v3
EPCA – Briefing for the Richardson Hospital Group_Oct18
Copy of Report – Extended access business case – supporting data v3