keith.williams

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 [...]

In light of comments and questions circulating on social media following the publication of minutes from the recent Dorset HoSC meeting, we would like to clarify that plans for maternity and paediatric services in Dorset have not changed since those which were announced last December, where we set out our preferred option would be for consultant led paediatrics and maternity to remain in Dorchester. As stated at the Dorset HoSC, Somerset CCG has launched Fit for my Future programme where views are being sought on proposals for services in the county. If, following this process, there is a proposal for services [...]

The many benefits of having specialist hospitals in Dorset have been detailed in a report and summary document published by NHS Dorset Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG). Patient benefits resulting from creating a major emergency hospital and a major hospital for planned care – is available for download  in full along with a summary document. National studies show that better outcomes are achieved when people are treated in specialist centres, with senior specialist staff available on site. Having specialist roles for hospitals in  Poole and Bournemouth will mean: reduced waiting times for around 6,000 patients requiring planned care better care for around 3,500 inpatients who [...]

The Dorset Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) has agreed that the Freestyle Libre® device can be prescribed to monitor blood glucose levels for some children with type 1 diabetes aged four or older, who are under the care of specialist doctors and likely to benefit most from its use. The CCG’s Clinical Commissioning Committee met on 17 October 2018 and agreed the change after an application from the paediatric diabetes specialists in Dorset. As a result, the Clinical Commissioning Committee agreed to fund the use of the device, under the care of specialist doctors only, for the following groups of children: already [...]