challenge fund nhs

Background

The Prime Minister’s Challenge Fund NHS was launched in 2013 to improve patient access. We are working in our locality to improve access for GP services. Here is an outline of what we plan to do. We are currently working on a plan and will consult patients when this is ready.

North West London as been successful in a pilot to improve access to general practice. This is across all 8 boroughs covering a population of over 2 millions patients. We plan to do this in a number of ways. Quicker access, longer appointments. We also used more technology and opened for longer. 

Hounslow we have 5 localities, or groups of GP practice. In 2014 localities had met 44 times since being set up and have discussed nearly 200 complex cases. In addition GP practice carried out over 4,000 care plans for their complex patients.

Our priorities for Great West Road Locality

The 4  main themes that we plan to work to deliver some of these aims in Great West Road Locality. 

1. Work more closely with patients 
2. the 11 GP practices in Great West Road working more closely together. 
3. Working more closely with the other 4 localities in Hounslow
4. Finally working more closely with other healthcare professionals, such as consultants, mental health teams and social workers. 

We have agreed 3 key priorities which are around patient education, self management and developing an expert patient. 

Our practice project

In our practice we wanted to support patients with most complex needs who needed support to get online. We bought ipads and arranged training to use online healthcare services and use social media. This helped to reduce social isolation and improved the knowledge, skills and confidence of the complex patients with most need to manage their health.

The NHS Challenge Fund is great opportunity to improve access in NW London, we’re up for the challenge!