keith.williams

With local hospitals coming under increasing pressure after the festive break, people are being asked to help stop the spread of the flu and norovirus bugs and help minimise disruption to local services. Make sure you get your flu jab The flu virus strikes in winter and it can be far more serious than you think. Flu can lead to serious complications such as bronchitis and pneumonia, and it can be deadly, that’s why the flu vaccine is offered free of charge on the NHS to people who are at risk. You can find more information at www.nhs.uk/getflujab. Having the vaccination will [...]

Following the announcement in October that Abbotsbury Road Surgery will close at the end of March 2019, all patients registered with the surgery will receive a letter by 11th January 2019 advising them which local practice will be responsible for providing them with primary care services in the future and when the new arrangements will start. Patients’ new practices will have full access to both their health record and any repeat medication that they currently receive. The process of transferring patient information has been scheduled outside of practice working hours however in a few cases it may mean that some services [...]

In his most recent letter which was published in the Daily Echo on 19 December Mr Jeff Williams suggests that there is a reduction in funding for the NHS in Dorset to the tune of £147m. This could not be further from the truth as the £147m to which he refers is in fact an additional national investment that has been allocated to Dorset. The funding was announced in July 2017 as part of a national investment, with Dorset being allocated the largest share of a total £325 million. This funding will be used to develop the major planned hospital in Poole and the major emergency hospital in Bournemouth, including new facilities for a maternity [...]

Earlier this year the local health community (GP practices, providers and NHS Dorset CCG) organised a number of events in Weymouth and Portland following the announcement that Abbotsbury Road Surgery was to close. The events were designed to inform local people including those registered at the practice about a range of subjects and get their views about how they would like to be kept informed about future developments. It was felt that a regular written update would be useful and we are pleased to be able to send out the first of these with subsequent updates being sent out every few weeks.

An expert review of 34 cases by Dorset’s most senior doctors and paramedics has concluded that increased travel times by ambulance would not have changed the outcomes for these patients at potentially higher risk. The comprehensive review was carried out by a panel of clinicians, which included senior A and E consultants and medical directors from each of Dorset’s acute hospitals, leading paramedics from South Western Ambulance Services Trust (SWAST) and a Director of Nursing. The aim was to re-investigate whether or not extended journey times resulting from changes to hospital services may increase clinical risk and could affect the potential [...]

NHS Dorset CCG have today issued the following statement in response to the comment from Healthwatch Dorset on the use of Freestyle Libre sensors for people in Dorset. The guidance from NHS England states that from April 2019, patients will be able to receive it on prescription from their local GP or diabetes team helping them to better manage their blood sugar levels. We also made this position clear at the public session of the CCG governing body meeting on the 20th November. We have expressed our concern to Healthwatch Dorset that they are seeming to suggest something is not available [...]

It has been announced today that primary and community healthcare in England will receive additional funding. Earlier this year local partners agreed a multi-million-pound investment which will help those people in Dorset who have complex health needs and long term conditions to receive more care at home and receive the care they need earlier, reducing their need to be admitted unnecessarily to hospital. The investment was agreed by members of the Dorset Integrated Care System – Our Dorset. The money will be invested in a number of areas including More healthcare professionals working in primary and community teams (Multidisciplinary Team or [...]

With the winter months just around the corner, local health and care partners are reassuring people that plans are in place to cope with seasonal pressures. Dr Simon Watkins is a local GP and chair of the Urgent Care Group “As a healthcare system we never stop planning for winter because we know we are going to face increased attendances to all of our NHS establishments, for example through increased respiratory illnesses, or people having trips and falls due to the bad weather. Throughout the year we carry out exercises to test out situations that may occur, such as shortage of [...]

The announcement from NHS England today refers to the availability of glucose monitors for Type 1 diabetes patients from April 2019. We will be making an announcement nearer to this date.

This week is Self Care week and local organisations are encouraging people living in Dorset to be more aware of what they can do to care for themselves and make the best use of local health services. Use your local pharmacy Many people are not aware that they can get advice on minor ailments from their local community pharmacy service. Expert help can be provided to people for them to manage their long-term conditions or for ailments such as a bad cough, wheezing, a cold or sore throat. Many pharmacies have longer opening hours than the average GP practice, and most [...]