Let’s Make It will be heading up a series of campaigns over the coming months and beyond. We want to keep you in the loop with everything that is going on, get your thoughts and more importantly, make sure that health care in Bolton is the best it can possibly be.
Did you know things are changing at your GP practice? NHS Bolton Clinical Commissioning Group is working with GPs to make practices even better. You may have noticed some differences already.
There are now 60,000 more appointments available this year for you, your family, your friends, and your neighbours. This is because Bolton GP practices are now open all day from 8am to 6.30pm Monday to Friday, with no breaks for lunch. This even includes a full day on a Wednesday.
And that’s not all…
Do you prefer to see a male or a female GP? Just say when you book your appointment.
Not urgent? No problem, you can now book an appointment a month in advance.
Worried about one of the kids? Children under 12 will now be assessed by a doctor or nurse on the same day you call your GP practice. This might be a chat on the phone to begin with so you can tell them what’s wrong. You’ll get the reassurance of knowing it’s nothing to worry about, or you can pop your little one down to the surgery if needed. Don’t worry – if your child needs urgent hospital care the GP will sort this out for you.
It’s now even easier to see your GP, so think… your GP, not A&E!
Unused prescription medicines cost the NHS in Bolton a whopping £1.5 million every year! That’s a lot of medicines being prescribed for patients but not taken. Could some of them be yours?….
This is our NHS and we all need to do our bit. By working together, we can make sure NHS money is used to make our health services better, not wasted.
These are tough times for Bolton’s health and care services. More people are living longer, often with complicated health problems, so they need more help and support to stay well. This means that there is increasing pressure on essential local services and the cost of running them is going up and up each year. If we continue doing things in just the same way as we are now, by 2020 there will be a gap of £162 million between the cost of health and care and the money we have available to spend.
NHS Bolton Clinical Commissioning Group is working with Bolton Council, Bolton NHS Foundation Trust, and Greater Manchester West Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust , as well as local voluntary and community organisations to build a vision of a different future. Our vision is all about changing health and care so we spend less on hospital care and more community based services. We need to get in early – before someone gets so ill that they need to be rushed into hospital. We plan to focus on those who have the greatest need for extra help and support, to stay healthy and independent. This is likely to be older people with long terms conditions, like heart problems or diabetes. This means more screening, vaccinations, and more help to lead a healthier lifestyle such as stopping smoking or losing weight.
This isn’t just about physical health – improving the mental health and wellbeing of Bolton people is a big priority too. We want to provide greater support and better care for those with mental health problems. This means getting the right care when it’s needed – whether that’s urgent support in a crisis or counselling sessions for anxiety.
Put simply, we want everyone in Bolton to live longer and healthier lives.
To change things, we’ll need to work differently. This means services working in a more joined up way in Bolton, and right across Greater Manchester, with organisations working together much more closely.
The funding we have available will need to go further so we’ll have to find ways to do more with less. We need to look carefully at what the ‘Bolton pound’ can, and should, pay for. We believe public money should only be spent on treatments and services that have the most benefit for Bolton people.
We need to make big changes and we can’t do it alone – we need support from the whole Bolton family. This means local organisations, community groups, and of course Bolton people.
We want to change the way people and communities take charge of, and responsibility for, their own health and wellbeing – whether they are well or unwell. Could you do more to look after your health? This could be taking steps to stay healthy, managing a long term condition, or using health and care services appropriately.
Bolton Taking Charge is all about getting local people involved in thinking about and planning for the future of health and care in Bolton. We can all make a difference – what will you do?
Make your Bolton Taking Charge pledge:
Our shared vision for the future of health and care is set out in Bolton’s health and care locality plan. To find out more about our goals for the next five years take a look at the summary, or the full version of the plan. You can share your feedback on Bolton locality plan on social media to @LMI_Bolton using #BoltonTakingCharge, by email to letsmakeitbolton@nhs.net, or on the Let’s Make It online forum. Please let us know if you think we’ve missed anything out!
Bolton Taking Charge is part of the Greater Manchester wide Taking Charge Together campaign. You can share your struggles and successes in making healthy lifestyle choices by filling in a quick survey at www.takingchargetogether.org.uk.
As part of devolution in Greater Manchester, all parts of the region have produced a locality plan. Devolution in Greater Manchester has the potential to have a real impact on the health of the region. Local councils and NHS clinical commissioning groups in Greater Manchester have agreed with the Government to take control of the health and care budget, which amounts to £6 billion each year. This means that more decisions about Greater Manchester will be made here, instead of at national level.
The NHS comes under pressure all year round, especially A&E departments. We want all patients who go to A&E with serious illnesses or injuries to be seen and treated as quickly as possible. With your help we can achieve this. Think. Do you really need to go to A&E?