CEO's blog: patient voices and the future of the NHS
The resident feedback we receive about local health and care services often praises the dedicated and compassionate professionals in Milton Keynes who have provided great care and treatment.
Whether that's at a planned hospital appointment or at a GP practice, we regularly hear examples of nurses, support staff and doctors going above and beyond for their patients.
However, on the flip side we also hear many experiences of rushed care, perceptions of staff who are too overwhelmed to provide high-quality care, and underfunded services that are not meeting the needs of our community.
It is against this backdrop that the Government has launched their Ten-Year Plan for the NHS, and they want your views and experiences to help shape our future NHS. You can feed back as a patient and/or a healthcare professional, and every response will help healthcare leaders to identify what is working, what isn't, where reform is needed, and where the gaps and barriers are.
The Chair of Healthwatch Milton Keynes and I attended a Healthwatch England session this week to hear from Sally Warren, Director General for the 10 year plan. Sally stressed the NHS's need to develop the 10 year plan through engagement with the public.
The survey asks for:
- Ideas about how the NHS could change to deliver high quality care more effectively, and what works well that should be shared.
- Ideas about how other parts of the health and care system and other organisations could promote better health and/or improve the way health and care services work together.
- Ideas about how individuals and communities could do things differently in future to improve people’s health.
The consultation process is well underway, and huge numbers have already contributed.
Here's what some have had to say already:
"Make Doctors work at least five years for the NHS after training."
"Set up an NHS branded pharmaceutical company."
"Improve social care provision."
"Please make all digital records accessible everywhere."
"Scrap university fees for nurses and medical training."
"If a patient is under two or more consultants then they should have a conversation about symptoms, management, overlaps."
So many talking points and so many patient voices; we are currently monitoring how this progresses, and of course contributing from our perspective as your local Healthwatch.
