Health leaders in West Lancashire, Southport and Formby are inviting people to share their views and experiences of local healthcare by getting involved with Shaping Care Together, a programme of work designed to improve hospital services.
Like NHS services across the country, our local hospitals face significant challenges. Some have been with us for years while the urgency of others has been made clear during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Shaping Care Together will explore how health and care services are accessible, effective and operated by skilled staff to meet everyone’s needs. Care should be integrated with other services so that patients are supported by the services they need as quickly and safely as possible.
Views are being sought on what currently works well at Southport and Ormskirk hospitals as well as in primary and community healthcare services and in particular, what steps should be taken to improve the following:
- frail and elderly care
- when you have an urgent or emergency care need
- services for children including those who have complex needs
- services for women who are pregnant and for the new-born
- gynaecology – dealing with women’s reproductive system
- sexual health services for all genders
- planned care, such as follow-up outpatient and/or subsequent admissions as part of ongoing treatment.
Despite the challenges our hospitals face, local access to care has been improved by providing services in the community during the evenings and at weekends.
Shaping Care Together is the first stage of a process to understand patient views and experiences before any proposals to solve the challenges faced are considered. This programme will last throughout 2021 and there will be many opportunities for local people to have their say. No decisions have yet been made and they are seeking views which will inform their thinking and proposals for change.
Over the coming months there will be lots of different ways for people to get involved but first views can be shared on the dedicated website:
(If you would prefer a paper copy of the questionnaire, please call 01695 588025)
Shaping Care Together is led by NHS West Lancashire CCG, NHS Southport and Formby CCG, and Southport and Ormskirk Hospital NHS Trust.
Trish Armstrong-Child, Chief Executive of Southport and Ormskirk Hospital NHS Trust, said:
“We need to redefine how we provide hospital services, help people use them only when they need them, and ensure those services are safe, sustainable and high quality.
Shaping Care Together aims to do just that – shape, develop and improve future services for everyone by listening to the patients, carers and staff who use and deliver them.
We need to build on what we have in place now, understand what works well and how things can be made better.”
Dr Rob Caudwell, Chair of NHS Southport and Formby Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG), adds,
“We need to listen to local people to understand how we commission NHS health and care services and make sure that they meet patient needs. Local initiatives have been introduced which are helping to care for people at home and thereby avoiding admissions to hospital. For example, a new medical response car with a paramedic on board is being trialled in Southport, which has already started to have a beneficial impact on patient satisfaction, hospital admissions and length of hospital stay. We want to hear about how local services at the hospital and across health organisations are working and what can be improved.”
