NHS England have asked local areas to draw up plans (Sustainability and Transformation Plans – STP) to integrate health and care services in order to treat people closer to home, better manage demand on NHS services and keep better controls on health budgets.
Timeline
Autumn 2016
Derek launches a health inquiry in his West Cornwall constituency to feed into the Cornwall STP; over the course of several months, a panel of around a dozen local people, all of them passionate about health care, met with 25 clinicians, elected councillors and campaigners asking them their opinions on how services could and should be integrated.
April 2017
Following the meetings, a report was produced making recommendations to the Cornwall STP on four key issues:
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The integration of health and social care and how to ensure services are delivered close to home in West Cornwall.
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Care at home: how to integrate working practices and retain care and support workers.
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Raising public awareness of health services – signposting people to the right place and educating them in accessing the most appropriate pathway for their condition.
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Ensuring that health services in Cornwall are properly funded.
In addition to his work in compiling the report, Derek has been pro-active in fighting Cornwall’s corner at Government level. Following meetings between Derek and the Chancellor, Phil Hammond announced an extra £24 million for social care. He hopes the money will be used to improve pay for care and support workers but Cornwall Council have yet to agree how to spend the money.
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Andrew George has repeatedly stated that NHS funding in Cornwall is to be cut by £264 million by 2020. This is untrue – it refers to a figure produced by Pricewaterhouse Coopers. They say that if there is no change in the provision of health and social care in Cornwall and demand continues to grow at the same rate as previous years, the NHS in Cornwall will require a further £264 million over and above already committed increases.
To contact Derek about this campaign please click here.
