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Posted

I have used the Centre on several occasions, every time I have been there have always been people waiting.  It offers a great service for the community, with the reassurance that you will get seen by someone regardless of how long the queue is. 

 

It is already difficult trying to get Doctors appointments which are outside the standard 9 am to 5 pm times.  In my experience you have to give at least a weeks notice if you want an appointment after 5pm. 

 

I have signed and shared the petition but whatever happens we need to be assured that the community have a service that works for everyone.

Posted

i was contacted and interviewed this morning by an HT reporter asking for my comments on the closure of the walk-in centre.

 

I had a missed call and then a voicemail from Julie Tyler at BBC Hereford & Worcester requesting my comments but I have been in meetings for a few days so not had time to get back to her.

Posted

Letter received from Chris Chappell.

 

Hi,

What we really need are letters in support.  Experiences of visiting the walk in centre.  I have already received a few, but we need as many as possible.   Petitions have their place but when we go into negotiation it is the raw experience that will swing the decision.
 
Public consultation begins in March, so plenty of time to write these letters and if three copies can be made, one to CCG, one to MP and one to myself that would be useful.
Regards,
 
Cllr Chris Chappell.
Hinton & Hunderton Ward

 

Posted

Letter received from Chris Chappell.

Chris / Colin do you have the snail mail or email addresses to send the letter ? ( Will " they " accept email ? )

Posted

Chris / Colin do you have the snail mail or email addresses to send the letter ? ( Will " they " accept email ? )

 

I think Chris is suggesting that letters can be sent directly to him - cchappell@herefordshire.gov.uk failing that letters can be sent to me and I will pass them on.

Posted

I have been contacted by several people today having read my story in the press, to sign the petition, I told them its on this website, they said we do not have a computer so would I start a paper petition that they can sign, like I did before. I will read your comment now Greenknight. very good comment lets hope they listen. No one have left any comments on the story yet.

Posted

I have today received an update:

 

Screen Shot 2016-02-08.png

 

 
Herefordshire CCG update on urgent care services and 7-day GP services

Herefordshire Clinical Commissioning group is currently working with primary care (GP) colleagues, and NHS England to take forwards the development and implementation of seven day GP services. 
Whilst the timelines for this are currently unclear, it will include making GP practices the first point of call for unplanned or unexpected health events, in line with what patients and the public have told us.  

In December the Governing Body agreed in principle the case for change, to enable the work to develop these plans to proceed. In the interim, when the Prime Minister’s Challenge Fund (PMCF) pilot ends in April, the existing provision of 24/7 primary care will continue across the county. This will be through our practices, the extended hours services they provide at evening and weekends, the walk-in centre and our GP out of hours provider.

As the work programme develops over the coming months, we will be working with our GPs, acute hospital providers (Wye Valley NHS Trust) and with GP out-of-hours providers to integrate services more closely, in order to provide a co-ordinated response across NHS 111, A&E and GP services.  We will also continue to work to maintain patients’ connection with their own GP practices, through seven day services and other initiatives, enabling them to benefit from the full range of health and care services that are available through their own GP practice.  

This approach does mean that stand-alone provisions and services, such as minor injuries and walk in centres, will need to be re-evaluated.  The CCG is clear that this requires further work with the organisations that provide care, and that no decisions will be made without a comprehensive and robust consultation with the residents of Herefordshire. This would also include external review by relevant stakeholders such as NHS England and scrutiny committees. 

Dr Andrew Watts, Chair of Herefordshire CCG said: “I can confirm that both the walk in centre and Taurus hubs are continuing to provide services from April.  

“We are in the middle of a process of consultation and engagement to redesign our urgent care health system with the aim of creating a simpler and more effective local solution. In the fullness of time there may be changes to both of these services but this has not been determined as yet.”

The Governing Body will ensure that all stakeholders are actively engaged and consulted with through this work programme, and agreed the initial engagement plans at the January meeting. 
Further information on public engagement in the coming months will be widely publicised throughout the county to ensure people can get involved.

Posted

Perhaps it would be a good idea to find out the cost per appointment for Taurus and the ASDA walk in center, each Taurus hub offers a limited number of appointments and incurs significant cost to attract GPs to its service

Posted

I read in the Daily Telegraph that the CQC regulator for GP services who want to bring in the 7-day GP service is being investigated by MPs because they are falling down on their work to the public, and people are going to social media sites to complain.

  • 11 months later...
Posted

Colin, thank you for putting this back up after our conversation today. I was in Tesco Belmont today with a paper petition to stop the GP walk-in centre being closed and got nearly 200 signatures on my petition, bring the total so far with others I have received to 3,096. If anyone wishes to sign my petition I will be in Tesco Belmont again on Saturday18 February between 10am to 2pm. 

Posted

i have  used for last 2 years the Taurus health care services  in all three hubs and found the care fab, its appoitment only, and relable,  but  i have also had to use the walk in centre, when i cant get treatment anywhere else, i fine at the walk it has a long  waiting times between 3 to 4hrs,  not acceptable  in this day and age, it hasnt got enough gp or nurses on duty, 

 

maybe time to close it and get a larger 24hr better manned service  in place

Posted

Mike you are disillusioned if you think that's going to happen! We don't even have enough bed space in the hospital and planning won't allow expansion to increase potential.

 

The Access centre is plenty big enough and have rooms that are vacant. It's filling the vacancies that's one issue, and patients who do not need to be there in the first place. Most can be diagnosed & treated by over the counter medicinal products by calling 111.

Posted

Mike, you may or may not know this but Taurus is on the cards to be closed as well, so where else could the people of Herefordshire go other than A&E if the walk-in centre closes?  This is all being proposed because the CCG (Care commissioning Group) want doctors surgery's open 7-days a week, most surgeries you have to wait at least 3 weeks to get an appointment, doctors are leaving because of the hours they work now, and GP recruitment is very bad nobody wants to take up the vacancies!

Posted

Taurus Healthcare PLC are taking over and moving into the Asda Surgery in April of this year and will be joined by a subsidiary Surgery from Moorfields.

This is the result of a recent decision to shelve the plans to build the newly thought out Super Surgery that was going to be built down by the Railway Station and which would incorporate several other City practices. It's my understanding that the new Super Surgery idea has hit the buffers because someone who's still wired to Planet Earth has explained that it wouldn't work, cleverly pointing out that they'd end up with five Practice Managers, far to many Receptionists and Support staff and it'd be nigh on impossible to organise and run in anything like an efficient manner.

And round and round it goes as we slide ever closer to privatisation. One badly thought out plan followed by another bucket of rubbish.

Posted

Hello David old friend. You mention logic old soldier. There's no logically approach to anything that 'they' serve up and dish out to us. It's one badly thought out idea after another and whilst I've reported the above development, that's today and only today,dealt with.Tomorrow brings another chance for 'them' to revisit their latest decision, completely change their minds, continue to bugger it all up and waste even more of our money.

Whatever they decide to do, you can be sure of only one single thing! It'll be the wrong decision.

Posted

Surely " they " must of had plans to deal with all the excess staff - if they didn't it brings to mind that well known saying -

 

" Failing to plan is planning to fail "

 

Looking forward to your updates Bobby ...................

Posted

This is the 3rd or 4th time they have tried to close the Asda Walk-In Centre, it is clear to me what their goal is however, hopefully this petition may go some way to help prevent it's closure a little longer, we have almost 3000 signatures.

 

Regarding waiting times, I only used the centre once last year and I waited no more than 20 minutes to be seen by a doctor.

Posted

Colin, the problem of the Walk In Surgery is that the patient who walks in, registers, sits there, waits and then receives treatment from the Doctor or the Nurse, generates a cost to their home surgery. The Surgery you are registered wth gets the bill for your visit to Asda.

And that's it. That's why they want to close it. No other reason. It's simply about money and profits and the local Surgeries no longer want to foot the bill for the Walk In Centre.

Posted

Colin, the problem of the Walk In Surgery is that the patient who walks in, registers, sits there, waits and then receives treatment from the Doctor or the Nurse, generates a cost to their home surgery. The Surgery you are registered wth gets the bill for your visit to Asda.

And that's it. That's why they want to close it. No other reason. It's simply about money and profits and the local Surgeries no longer want to foot the bill for the Walk In Centre.

 

Which I appreciate however, if my surgery is unable to see me, which was the case on my only visit last year this is my only option? Either way ny surgery has a cost yes? If my surgery had been able to squeeze me in for example there would still have been a cost, so is this cost the same or does it cost my surgery more if I use the walk-in centre. 

 

Finally, they must have known this when the centre was originally set up I guess.

Posted

Colin, I'm on the same page as you. I agree! The Asda centre provides great value for money, a great public service and it produces a great deal of slack in an overstretched system which provides all the feeder surgeries much needed support.

Sadly, it ain't enough. They'll keep pushng on with Taurus Healthcare, and despite most within the local healthcare profession recognising that it's all been a waste of time and money, they'd sooner destroy Asda that clearly works for the people than ever face up to their avoidable mistake that was the creation of an arms length company that's in it to make money through privatisation.

One way or the other Asda will change and there's absolutely nothing the people can do to stop it. Too many former or retired NHS management suits have invested their futures on the creation of PLC's that are designed to meet the needs of transformation and Common Purpose within the NHS and are set up and designed to fully exploit outsourcing that eats away at the low hanging fruit of our public money.

As for Taurus, the biggest beneficiaries in this tragic tale of woe, eventually the NHS will cut the cord of public funding, set it adrift and sell it to an old close friend at a remarkably low price allowing a few to become very wealthy and providing no financial return to the paying public.

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