Series of drop-ins planned to develop Shropshire's out of hospital services

In parallel to the Future Fit emergency and planned hospital care proposals, Shropshire Clinical Commissioning Group plans to launch a five year programme to improve and modernise out of hospital services.

Out of hospital covers the wide-range of services that support patients to stay well, avoid hospital admission and support them with care closer to home.

As part of the programme Shropshire CCG is organising a series of drop-in community roadshows to gather feedback and ideas from patients, and their carers, to help shape the future services.

Dr Julian Povey, chairman of Shropshire CCG, said: “We know that to deliver better care for our patients and reduce demand on our acute hospitals, we need to think differently about the way we deliver health care.

"Our focus needs to shift towards preventing ill-health, giving patients far greater control of their own care and supporting patients to be treated at home.

“This is an ambitious programme for the CCG, and our partners, and we recognise it will take us several years to design and develop the right model for delivering services out of hospital.

"We want to work with clinicians, staff and patients, throughout this journey, to understand how we can deliver our aspirations and ultimately give patients better care."

If agreed by the governing body on Wednesday, the CCG will start working with staff, clinicians, patients to listen to views, understand what needs to change and develop a clear plan.

One of the earliest pieces of work to be carried out is an in-depth clinical review into existing community services such as minor injury units and community beds.

Dr Simon Freeman, accountable officer for Shropshire CCG, said: “This clinically led review is about strengthening and improving our community services for local people.

“Our data shows that there is real variation in the way these services operate across the county, with differences in opening times, staffing, and services provided. We want to develop a consistent and fair offer across the county that importantly meets patients’ clinical needs now and in the future.

“I would like to reassure everyone that no decisions have been made on any services and our review is in the early stages.

“Over the coming weeks we want to listen to local patients, staff and interested groups to understand what is working well and what can be improved.

“This feedback will help us to consider how services will look in the future.”