Health system revamp agreed despite no new funds
The NHS 10 Year Plan will see more services delivered closer to home
- Published
Leaders from a county's health and social care organisations have agreed to work together to create a new neighbourhood health and care system, despite there being no funds for the project.
Oxfordshire's NHS and council partners will draw up designated "neighbourhoods", each having their own services, as part of the area's NHS 10 Year Plan.
The areas would have a population of between 50,000 to 100,000 people, based on the geography of where people live and work, rather than current NHS services.
Dan Leveson, director of places and communities at Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire West Integrated Care Board (BOB ICB), said he thought it was a move "in the right direction".
Existing facilities and NHS buildings will be evaluated to see how much they are being used and in some cases repurposed, bringing more services under one roof, including more traditional outpatient services.
Mr Leveson said it would be a move away from the traditional NHS as we know it, but with no additional funds for the programme, partners would need to use existing resources more creatively.
"It's a lot about coordinating the stuff that we haven't always coordinated in a much better way," he said.
"I think we underestimate what good stuff we've got in communities, so things like leisure centres, our libraries, our citizens advice bureaus, the youth centres that we have".
'Working better together'
But with BOB ICB reducing its running costs by 50%, while transitioning to become a Thames Valley ICB "cluster", there are concerns that the immediate needs to develop an initial five-year strategy by December are unrealistic.
Mr Leveson said the needs were "greater than they've ever been and the financial constraints still exist".
"But I do think this is the right direction and I do think we'll see improvements," he said.
"If you look at waiting lists, they're coming down. It will take time.
"The danger is we rush it. What's fundamental to all of this is the people in the system working better together."