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Developments
Activity has continued apace over the summer to keep things moving
forward at Assura Hampshire Health. We are hopefully close to winning
our first contract to provide a service. This will be for flexible
sigmoidoscopies. This service is currently run by GPSIs Steve Colley and
David Knight., from Tadley Surgery or The Chase in Bordon. Local GPs are
familiar with the quality of service
that they provide and will be reassured to know that under the auspices
of Assura Hampshire Health the same clinicians will continue to provide
that service. The location may be different, and because we have the
opportunity to take a fresh look at how things are done, we can use the
the expertise and resources available to design a first-rate service for
patients. Current activity in this service is around
700 cases a year.
Premises
As everyone will know, Church Grange and Bramblys
Grange surgeries are finally escaping from their decrepit old premises
to sparkling new accommodation at Crown Heights. We wish them all the
best for their moves. One very important decision for the CMC at Assura
Hampshire Health concerns where our services will be provided from. A
sizeable clinical space is available at
Crown Heights which could be fitted out to our specification and which
would provide an identifying focal point for the organisation. The CMC
are looking very closely (and with professional advice) at the logistics
of taking the lease on this space. An alternative would be to rent space
as required. At least initially,
Health Service contracts would not fully occupy it so to rent may seem
attractive, but taking a lease would give us much more influence. The
possibility of doing this and perhaps subletting unused space is being
very carefully considered. Also the possibility of finding other
accommodation within the town is being investigated. If any LLP members
have views on this, do let us know.
Other work in progress
Assura Medical are continuing to help with important aspects of
commencing service provision such as policies and procedures which must
be formally stated and documented in order to ensure HCC compliance for
any new service. Also extensive modelling is being done for proposed
services to assess their viability. Assura are also providing some
training
for CMC members to help enhance the committee’s effectiveness.
The Assura Hampshire Health website is having the finishing touches
applied- this will be accessible by all LLP members and will provide up
to date information about our services.
A lot of discussion and negotiation is going on between the Foundation
Trust, the Practice Based Commissioners and ourselves over how to move
services forward. We are enthusiastic that in these changing and
challenging times for the Health Service, Assura Hampshire Health will
provide a mechanism that enables local clinicians to have a say in how
at least some aspects of Health Service care are delivered to their
patients.
Your feedback is important- do email a CMC member with any thoughts or
queries about |
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Assura Medical are our partners in the LLP. Formerly known as The Medical
Property Investment Fund, Assura group was renamed
and now operates through three business divisions: Assura Property, Assura
Pharmacy and Assura Medical. Assura provides
the infrastructure and resources to launch new services.
Assura have one of the
six seats on the Clinical Management Committee
(the others being four local GPs and the Business Manager who is employed by the
LLP). They are forming similar liaisons with other
groups of GPs around the country and are hoping to be one of the major players
in delivering health care in the NHS of tomorrow.
Assura are 50/50 partners in the LLP and will therefore take 50% of any profits.
However the start up capital they are providing is
non returnable if the venture does not succeed thus protecting member GPs from
financial risk. GPs are also reassured that
should they feel unhappy with the Partnership, they can leave it without
difficulty.
Although it may seem intimidating to be linked
with a large commercial organisation, remember that it is the CMC that makes the
decisions about local clinical services, and GPs
are in the majority on that committee.
To find out more about Assura, visit
their website at
http://www.assuragroup.co.uk .
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