Service improvements
The pace of change within the NHS is fast to keep up with growing demands on our services, technological and medical advances, and new treatment programmes. This means there continues to be a number of initiatives, both national and local, to change how we deliver health services, helping us to become more efficient and ultimately improve our patients’ experiences.
2009/10 has been a very significant year for NHS Buckinghamshire, which has successfully increased access to community services, further developed services and met its financial obligations.
Ed Macalister-Smith, Chief Executive of NHS Buckinghamshire, said: “Despite a very busy year and tough challenges, the Trust has performed well. It is to the great credit of staff across the healthcare system that access to community services is growing and that the speed and quality of treatment continues to increase.”
“Over the past year the local NHS has delivered some really notable achievements – some of which are listed below.”
- Local people are now benefitting from bowel cancer screening. As part of the NHS Bowel Cancer Screening Programme, everyone between 60-69 will be invited to be screened every two years. The programme aims to detect bowel cancer at an early stage in people with no symptoms, when treatment is more likely to be effective. Regular bowel cancer screening has been shown to reduce the risk of dying from bowel cancer by 16%.
- For the first time for many years, NHS Buckinghamshire is forecasting financial break-even (to be confirmed in June), meaning that the local NHS now has the opportunity to really focus on quality improvement.
- Over 2009/10 NHS Buckinghamshire, working with local GPs and Buckinghamshire Hospitals NHS Trust, has launched several new initiatives to increase access to, and further develop, services in the community:
- 50 GP practices in Buckinghamshire (83%) now provide extended hours, making it far easier for people to get an appointment at a convenient time.
- A new GP out of hours service, launched in November 2009, uses Buckinghamshire GPs to provide the service. The partnership between experienced out of hours provider and local GPs, which is known as Buckinghamshire Urgent Care, is helping to ensure that local people receive the right care at the right time, and in the right place.
- In March 2010 an innovative new GP-led Health Centre opened on the Wycombe Hospital site. Wycombe GP Health Centre provides bookable and walk-in GP services for patients from 8am to 8pm, whether or not they are registered with a doctor.
- Access to NHS dentistry continues to improve. Over the past two years, new NHS dental practices have opened in Buckingham and in Thame, offering access to treatment for an additional 12,500 patients. Over the next year, NHS Buckinghamshire will be working to develop more dental services.
- NHS Buckinghamshire has been working hard to ensure an 18 week wait is the maximum for almost all patients who need non-urgent treatment. Managers and clinicians have successfully embraced the chance to look at new ways of working to eliminate delays and offer patients faster access to treatment locally.
- Cases of healthcare associated infections continue to decrease. A total of only 11 cases of MRSA bacteraemia have been recorded in Buckinghamshire (with a population of 515,000) over the past year (provisional data). While this is 11 cases too many, and efforts continue to eliminate MRSA, it is less than the maximum number of cases set as a target by the Department of Health. The latest figures also show that there is a year on year reduction in the number of Clostridium difficile (C.diff) cases in Buckinghamshire, and that Buckinghamshire Hospitals NHS Trust is one of the best performing hospitals in the region for the reduction of cases.
- A recent survey about public attitudes towards local health services revealed that 85% of local people are satisfied with their NHS (higher than the regional average). The survey also showed that local people are increasingly satisfied with Buckinghamshire hospitals (83%), NHS GPs/Doctors (92%) and NHS dentistry in Buckinghamshire (90%). (ICM Government & Social Research, October 2009).
Ed Macalister-Smith added: “We face the future knowing that we have overcome many challenges in the past and that NHS staff have the skills and experience to continue to implement improvements”
“Feedback from local people and patients is highly valued and continuously used to inform our planning and buying of health services. Later in 2010, we will be working with local people to develop extended plans to provide innovative and modern healthcare closer to people’s homes.”
For information on our Operational Plan please click on the links below.
| 1 | NHS Buckinghamshire Operating Plan | 566KB | 50 Seconds |
| 2 | Operating Plan Appendix 1 | 652KB | 60 Seconds |
| 3 | Operating Plan Appendix 2 | 429KB | 40 Seconds |
| 4 | Operating Plan Appendix 3 | 207KB | 30 Seconds |
| 5 | Operating Plan Appendix 4 | 163KB | 17 Seconds |
