Current population estimate: 179,000
Number of GP practices: 30
Local authority partners:
Southend-on-Sea Borough Council (provides social care and housing)
Current annual budget:
£243m million for community, mental health, ambulance, hospital services, continuing healthcare and prescribed medicines.
Creating local networks of joined up services
We want to see better collaboration between GP practices within defined neighbourhoods so that we can offer a more flexible and responsive service to patients, as well as reduce duplication. We are developing four localities: in (a) West, (b) West Central (c) East Central (d) East Southend.
Each locality has population of more than 30,000.
Over the next few years, you will see joined up GP services, community services pharmacy, social care and voluntary services. In some places this could be in a single health centre (a ‘hub’), whilst other localities may have several centres.
Extending the range of your local services
- GPs, community nurses, therapists, social workers and mental health specialists working together at your local GP surgery, in order to create more time for your GP consultation when you need it
- New and extended roles for pharmacists, advance nurse practitioners, physiotherapists based at your GP surgery, that can help to manage long term conditions and home visiting services
- GP partnerships will be able to extend opening hours and offer appointments at evenings, weekends and on bank holidays. In 2017/18, we are offering additional GP and nurse appointments from two weekend centres, one in Shoebury and one in central Southend
- Moving some hospital tests and outpatient appointments into each of our localities, for example, for skin problems, stroke recovery, pain control
Examples of current progress
Care co-ordination service for people living with frailty
Each locality now has a team designed that:
- works with GPs to find our most vulnerable frail patients
- assesses and develops a personalised plan of care
- manages those the care of people that are considered to be at high risk of developing serious illness
We now have the ability to identify people with severe and moderate frailty and make sure with our Care Coordination service that these people are getting the care they need.
Better access to mental health care
Southend is part of an Essex-wide partnership to develop local services in a way that will make a real difference to the lives of children, young people and adults with a learning disability and/or autism who display challenging behaviour, including those with a mental health condition. Our plans aim to improve community services so people can live near their family and friends, with the right staff in place to support them.
Over the next five years we are also working on:
- More support to help manage conditions like dementia, which would help you to improve your quality of life and stay independent for as long as possible
- Better care for people with long term conditions, such as diabetes, heart disease and other health risks. This means understanding mental and physical issues, as well as health and social needs. Local teams would know patients and be ready to act quickly to prevent problems
- More services locally, including online and telephone help linked to services and specialist teams that can act quickly, without the need for an ambulance journey to hospital
More information can be found at www.southendccg.nhs.uk