A 10 POINT PLAN FOR HEALTH CARE - SEFTON EAST PARISHES
This 10-point plan is a short, medium and long-term document, which is intended
to form the basis of Lib Dem Primary health care campaigning over the 5 years to
December 2011 for the area of Sefton Borough covered by the Sefton East Parishes
Area Committee. It is based on the experiences of Parish, Town and Borough
councillors who have fought for improved Primary Health Care facilities over
a number of years.
The following 10 points need to be addressed by relevant health partners and we call
upon the Sefton East Parishes Area Committee to monitor progress towards these objectives.
- Only one contact with a GP surgery to gain an appointment -
We want to see all local GP practices being able to offer a 'one contact' appointment
system as soon as possible. It should only be necessary for a patient to contact
their practice once to gain an appointment with a doctor.
- GP availability for appointments outside normal 9am to 5.00pm working hours and
particularly on Saturday mornings - Working residents in particular sometimes find
it difficult to get time off work for weekday daytime appointments so GP practices
locally need to be able to offer a greater range of appointment times so that working
people can gain easier access to a GP. We appreciate that some GP's will be unable to
work outside of the Monday to Friday 9.00am to 5.00pm time period (they have family
and social lives just like anyone else) but we would like to see local practices
offering a greater range of evening and/or Saturday morning appointments.
- More diagnostic and minor procedures to be available within GP practices to avoid
hospital visits - This should lead to more convenient treatment for patients, reduce
unnecessary journeys that damage the environment and help address inadequate transport
links and car parking facilities at hospitals.
- Better transport links to Fazakerley Hospital and other local health care destinations -
For example, the present 236-bus service to Fazakerley Hospital has recently had its
frequency decreased to only one bus every 75 minutes from what was previously an hourly service.
The evening 134 service is also being withdrawn by cash strapped Merseytravel. On top of that car
parking costs at hospitals are a burden to many.
- A Primary Care presence to be established within Lydiate Parish - This is the only major
community in the Sefton East Parishes area without a GP surgery and we call upon Sefton
PCT to seriously examine the options to redress this imbalance.
- Modern, accessible and appropriately re-sited GP facilities to be provided in
Aintree Village - We want Sefton PCT to proactively work in partnership with North
Liverpool PCT and other health partners to successfully resolve the long-standing
impasse regarding the necessary re-location of the present Oriel Drive GP surgery
within Aintree Village.
- The development of locally based NHS 'Drop-In' facilities, with sufficient capacity,
needs to be addressed so that simple injuries and illnesses can be dealt with without
the need for an appointment - The Litherland Town Hall NHS 'Drop-In' Centre is not
considered to be an appropriate facility for Sefton East Parishes residents, as it
has no reasonably accessible public transport links.
- Long term local primary health care to be fully planned for - Removals of patients
from GP practice rolls due to GP retirements, GP recruitment problems or other
predictable factors must be brought to an end where at all possible. Experience
locally shows that patient removals from GP rolls is a traumatic process that
should be very much a last resort.
- Sefton PCT to take a positive and proactive lead in future primary health planning
- To do this the PCT should bring Hospital Trusts, the public and local councillors
into an open and transparent process. This should lead to genuine engagement with
the public, as health partners try to shape the future of primary health care services
and facilities in Sefton East Parishes.
- Underpinning all these individual issues our determined view is that all NHS
services be they delivered by Primary Care or Hospital Trusts have to remain free
at the point of use for patients - Should this principle be put at risk we give
clear notice that Parish, Town and Borough Councillors will oppose such threats.
We welcome comments on this Lib Dem Primary Health Care agenda for Sefton East Parishes, which was adopted by the Sefton East Parishes Area Committee in January 2007. Please e-mail any comments to Tony Robertson at t3robertson@tiscali.co.uk.
Thank you
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