The Governing Body of NHS Dorset Clinical Commissioning Group have agreed changes to local healthcare to help ensure high quality and sustainable services are available for future generations. The options considered were subject to a public consultation between December 2016 and February 2017 which saw over 18,500 people give their views.
Before making final decisions, the Governing Body considered recommendations and feedback from clinicians, the public and local organisations.
The decisions will see specialist roles for both Poole Hospital and Royal Bournemouth Hospital along with significant investment in maternity services along with acute and community care and improved services for people experiencing mental health crisis.
Decisions made by the Governing Body of NHS Dorset CCG will see:
• investment of around £150m into local services
• planned care delivered from a specialist hospital in Poole
• urgent care available at all three acute hospitals 24 hours a day, seven days a week
• a new maternity unit developed in Bournemouth
• more care delivered closer to home
• improved services for people experiencing a mental health crisis
• an increase in community beds
Tim Goodson, Chief Officer NHS Dorset CCG said “The decisions made today give us a once in a lifetime opportunity to invest in, and make changes to services across the county, ensuring they are available for generations to come.
Whilst we recognise that some people will not agree with them, we would like to reassure everyone that they were not taken lightly and are the result of hundreds of hours of work by local clinicians and members of the public. We have taken into account a huge amount of feedback and I would also like to thank everyone who took the time to give their views on proposals during the public consultation.
The decisions made today will ultimately save lives and give local people the NHS they need.
Debbie Fleming, Chief Executive, Poole Hospital NHS Foundation Trust “Poole Hospital has always supported the case for change and we’re glad that the uncertainty is now over. This decision means that there is an exciting and positive future for both the hospital site and for its services.
“We now look forward to working with our partners to implement these plans with our partners, and in the meantime, continuing to provide safe, high quality care for our patients.”
Tony Spotswood, Chief Executive of The Royal Bournemouth and Christchurch Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust “The Clinical Services Review is a fantastic opportunity to plan ahead for the future health care needs of our region. The CSR will involve a huge investment across Dorset to ensure we can cope with increased demands on all our services in the future.
We have worked closely with colleagues from the CCG, Poole Hospital and across Dorset health services throughout the CSR process and we now look forward to planning how our services can develop to the benefit of our patients and communities. We shall also be working to ensure that our services are accessible to all from across Dorset and West Hampshire.”
Patricia Miller, Chief Executive Dorset County Hospital NHS Foundation Trust “We are looking forward to building on the collaboration work with our partners in health and social care to ensure we can provide high quality emergency and district general hospital services for our patients now and into the future.
The CSR outcome reflects and supports our drive to deliver outstanding care for people in ways which matter to them. It provides the foundation for a bright future for DCH, with some exciting developments on the
horizon, including the new radiotherapy centre and integrated community services hub.”
Ron Shields, Chief Executive Dorset Healthcare University NHS Foundation Trust “We fully support the ambition for high quality, integrated community services for the people of Dorset, and welcome the CCG’s decisions as a very positive step forward.
Today’s decisions are also very positive for the future of mental health services in Dorset and a commitment to delivering the very best quality of care. They are innovative, ambitious and a significant improvement on the current arrangements, based on what service users have told us they need.”
It is expected that changes will take around five years to implement. No job losses are expected; however, some members of staff may see changes to their working arrangements.
Dorset County Hospital will remain largely unchanged.