Healthcare in Kent
Healthcare in Kent is now the responsibility of eight Clinical Commissioning Groups: Canterbury and Coastal; Dartford Gravesham and Swanley; Medway; South Kent Coast;Swale; Thanet; West Kent; Ashford.
Contents
History
From 1947 to 1965 NHS services in Kent were managed by the South-East Metropolitan Regional Hospital Board. In 1974 the Boards were abolished and replaced by Regional Health Authorities. The whole of Kent came under the South East Metropolitan RHA. Regions were reorganised in 1996 and Kent came under the South Thames Regional Health Authority. Kent had an Area Health Authority from 1974 until 1982 when it was divided into five District Authorities: Canterbury and Thanet; Dartford and Gravesham; Maidstone; Medway; South East Kent;Tunbridge Wells. in 1993 these were amalgamated into two - West Kent and East Kent. Regional Health Authorities were reorganised and renamed Strategic Health Authorities in 2002. Kent was under Kent and Medway SHA. In 2006 regions were again reorganised and Kent came under NHS South East Coast until that was abolished in 2013. There were three Primary Care Trusts for the area: NHS Eastern and Coastal Kent; NHS West Kent; NHS Medway up until April 2013.
Kent (and Medway) formed a sustainability and transformation plan area in March 2016 with Glenn Douglas, the Chief Executive of Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust as its leader.[1]
Commissioning
Community services are provided by Kent Community Health NHS Foundation Trust and Medway Community Healthcare. Community services in north Kent were transferred to Virgin Care by Swale CCG and Dartford, Gravesham and Swanley CCG in January 2016 in a contract for £18 million a year for the next seven years from April 2016 with an option to extend by a further three years. [2] Kent Community Health NHS Foundation Trust started proceedings for a judicial review of the decision in February 2016. They claim that Virgin cannot deliver the contract.[3]
Primary and community care
There are 262 GP practices in the county. Out-of-hours services are provided by IC24.
Whitstable is one of the areas selected to pilot Multispecialty community providers, under the Five Year Forward View. [4] Whitstable Medical Practice, with 53,000 patients, is one of the largest in England and is proposing to build a new community hospital and a “teaching nursing home".[5] The practice already has an ambulance response base, a minor injury clinic, a fracture clinic and acommunity pharmacy. It employs 25 consultants, and the local acute trust also rents space for outpatients.[6] The multispecialty community provider is to develop into a super-practice of 17 practices and 125 GPs, with a population of 160,000 patients.[7]
Palliative care is provided by Demelza Hospice Care for Children.
Virgin Care secured a seven year £126 million contract to run services in community hospitals in Dartford, Gravesham, Swanley and Swale in January 2016. These services were formerly provided by Kent Community Health NHS Foundation Trust.[8]
Acute care
The main providers of NHS acute hospital care in the county are East Kent Hospitals University NHS Foundation Trust, Medway NHS Foundation Trust, and Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust. In September 2015 the South Kent Coast Clinical Commissioning Group set up a contract with the Centre Hospitalier de Calais for patients to travel to France for general surgery, gynaecology, cataract surgery, pain management and orthopaedics. The French hospital had been arranging English classes for nurses. Patients would have to meet their own travel costs. [9]
Mental health
NHS Mental Health services are provided by Oxleas NHS Foundation Trust and Kent and Medway NHS and Social Care Partnership Trust.
In December the CCGs, the NHS Trusts, the police and the local councils signed up to the Kent and Medway Mental Health Crisis Concordat whereby they all agreed to: *make early interventions to prevent people reaching crisis point.
- ensure a multi-agency response for people in crisis so needs are met appropriately in a healthcare setting.
- provide a plan that supports the recovery and prevents reoccurrence for those for people who have experienced a crisis.[10]
Healthwatch Kent is an organisation set up under the Health and Social Care Act 2012 to act as a voice for patients.
See also
References
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