Development of health services in Crawley

Overview

Have your say

We would like to hear your views on our proposals for local health services in Crawley.

NHS Crawley Clinical Commissioning Group and NHS England are committed to making sure that local health services meet the needs of our patients and local community. We are responsible for ensuring that services are good quality, safe and value for money for the tax payer, making the best use of NHS resources.

The current contract for services provided at Crawley Health Centre, at Cross Keys House in Crawley, is due to come to an end in September 2015. This includes GP services for registered patients as well as a walk-in service between 8am and 8pm seven days a week.

This is an opportunity to review existing services at Crawley Health Centre to determine the best way for local people to access the high quality care they need.

We are recommending that the walk-in service should in future be delivered as part of the services already available at Crawley Hospital, where patients already have access to a range of treatments for minor illnesses and injuries in the Urgent Treatment Centre.

We are also recommending that patients currently registered at Cross Keys House are supported to re-register at another local GP practice of their choice. Patients do not need to take any action at this stage, as Crawley Health Centre will continue to provide services until the current contract expires on 30 September 2015.

We are asking for local people’s views on how to ensure patients continue getting the best possible care as a result of these proposals, which we believe will bring the following benefits:

• less confusion about where to access services – Crawley Hospital is well-known and easy to find, with good access by public transport;
• better use of limited NHS resources, avoiding the duplication of two walk-in services within half a mile of one another, meaning we can do more for Crawley patients with the same funding
• access to an enhanced Urgent Treatment Centre at Crawley Hospital, with a greater range of treatments for minor illnesses and injuries available in one place, which is open 24 hours 7 days a week
• the immediate area is well served for GP practices, with 12 other practices within around two miles of Crawley Health Centre.

The proposals described above are set out in more detail in a Case for Change and accompanying document, which is available online at http://www.crawleyccg.nhs.uk/get-involved/engagement-opportunities/  and to download below:

• Crawley Health Centre case for change
• Reference pack for Crawley Health Centre case for change

Copies are also available on request at Crawley Health Centre.

Key points are summarised below:

The Urgent Treatment Centre
Patients attending a walk-in service as part of the Urgent Treatment Centre at Crawley Hospital would be able to access a wider range of services for more conditions than are available at Crawley Health Centre. This service would be available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

The Urgent Treatment Centre is currently designed to treat patients with minor injuries or illnesses that are urgent but not serious enough to need Accident and Emergency Services. The walk-in service in Crawley Health Centre is designed for patients with minor care needs that may or may not be urgent.

The existing duplication of walk-in services in Crawley can be confusing for patients who may be unsure where to find the best services for their needs. Currently around 38 per cent of patients attending the Urgent Treatment Centre have less urgent needs that could have been met by a GP, and patients attend both Crawley Health Centre and the Urgent Treatment Centre with a range of needs.

Currently, the hospital’s Urgent Treatment Centre has services designed only for patients with urgent care needs, but we want to expand this to provide non-urgent care from within the hospital as there is the capacity and flexibility to treat more walk-in patients. Crawley Hospital can also cope with the projected increase in the local population of the town.

This proposal is in line with NHS England Medical Director Sir Bruce Keogh’s review of urgent and emergency care, which recommended that community-based urgent care services should be co-located in Urgent Treatment Centres, to provide greater clarity for patients about how to access urgent care.

The GP Practice

Crawley Health Centre is currently the smallest GP practice in Crawley, with around 3,310 registered patients, and the cost to the NHS per registered patient there is high in comparison with other practices in the town and the average price across Surrey & Sussex - see the full Case for Change for more details.

The immediate area is well served for GP practices, with 12 other practices within around two miles of Crawley Health Centre, with easy access from Crawley town centre either by foot or public transport (see map below). The majority of these practices have capacity to take on new patients, and all offer a similar range of services for registered patients as Crawley Health Centre, with most offering some extended hours in the early morning, evening and Saturday mornings.

Give us your views
Please take the time to complete the following survey to let us know what you think about our proposals. You can complete the survey any time in the consultation period, which will run from 3 November 2014 to 1 February 2015.

All the responses will be anonymous.  All responses we receive will be recorded and we will arrange for an independent organisation to summarise and report on the feedback received.  This report will be considered by NHS England and NHS Crawley CCG so that all feedback is taken into account before any changes to local services.

We will keep you updated about the outcome of this consultation on our websites: http://www.crawleyccg.nhs.uk/get-involved/engagement-opportunities/ and www.engage.england.nhs.uk

We will also be holding drop in information sessions for patients at Crawley Health Centre on the following days:

• Wednesday 12th November, 9.30am to 12.30pm
• Wednesday 19th November,1.30pm to 4.00pm
• Thursday 11th December, 5.30pm to 8.00pm
• Saturday 17th January, 10.00am to 1.00pm

What happens next

All responses will be recorded and analysed and will be considered by NHS England and NHS Crawley CCG. The changes will be made taking into account all feedback from the consultation. We will keep you updated about the outcome of this consultation on our website.