Doctors hold purse for NHS By Dennis Fowle


LOCAL GPs are preparing under new Gov- ernment policy to take control of a £450m NHS budget from next April through the new NHSWest Kent Clinical Commission- ing Group. The board of 18 voting members will be dominated by 12 salaried doctors, elected locally by fellow GPs in their areas, with a combined population of about 450,000 (62 practices). They are: Maidstone/Malling (population 209,000 – five GPs)  Tonbridge, Tunbridge Wells and the Weald (population 174,000 – five GPs)  Sevenoaks (part) (population 77,000 – two GPs)


Maidstone and Malling area GPs were


well advanced in setting up their own in- dependent commissioning group, and sev- eral of these GPs and patient bodies criticised Strategic Health Authority pres- sure for forcing a merger with larger West Kent (Downs Mail, May). There were fears that the Maidstone


area’s local NHS voice would be subsumed again – and powerful locality influence was sought. The Maidstone chairman, Dr Garry Singh (Shepway practice), seeks election by local GPs toWest Kent Group. The West Kent Board will include six


other voting members: an appointed pa- tient representative, a consultant, nurse, fi- nance director, finance and audit lay member and an accountable officer. Non-votingmembers (observers) will in-


clude local government councillors, pub- lic health representatives and patients representing patient groups attached to GP practices. Working committees will be formed, in- volving additional area GPs and specialists as required, such as consultants, nurses, paediatricians, and practice managers.


Making things better THE group is already planning specific health- careandaccess improvementsandenhancing GP and practice nursing skills so that: More people with type two diabetes can be looked afterat theirGPpractice rather than at a hospital clinic. Everyone injured in a fall or at risk of falling can attend a newassessment clinic. Anewheart failure service can be provided.


Dr Bob Bowes, chairman ofWest Kent CCG, and Dr Garry Singh, chairman of Maidstone and Malling CCG


The group will be responsible for com- missioning the full range of planned and unplanned care in hospitals and by com- munity services for everyone living in the area. Thiswill also embrace the ambulance service, GP out-of-hours services andmen- tal health services. Some services will be commissioned with partners such as KCC or neighbouring groups. The group will not be responsible for services provided by GPs under the na- tional contract (which are still handled by the NHS Commissioning Board). Inaugural group chairman is Dr Robert


(Bob) Bowes, a Tunbridge Wells GP, who explained to Downs Mail that strategy will be set by the NHS, Kent Health and Well- being and the county’s HealthWatch. “We want to keep this as local as possible


to meet the needs of local population.” He understands fears that the publicwill


see new boards as a Government strategy to ration NHS services, but he believes this is a big opportunity to re-shape some serv- ices to make the NHS more cost-effective without impacting on quality patient care. The groupwill have a budget increasing by


just half a per cent above inflation during the first five years. He sees this as challenging, with an ageing population and demand for improving technology and drugs. “The wants will be high,” he forecasts.


Hospital complaints rise


THE number of hospital com- plaints to Maidstone and Tun- bridge Wells NHS Trust has increased since the new hospi- tal opened at Pembury. The board heard management


was focusing on the backlog and quality of responses. Chair- man Tony Jones told the board it was a long-standing issue. Chief executive Glenn Douglas


told the board meeting that the hospital move represented a huge effort by staff with training and orientation. He felt, in hindsight, the trust could have done more. The new Pembury A&E was


much bigger than at the old Kent & Sussex Hospital. The first month went well, but is- sues arose as attendances in- creased. He felt the trust was


18 Malling


late recognising the signs. Itwas these issues that led to an offi- cial warning by the Care Qual- ity Commission. Mr Douglas also reported there


was no pressure from manage- ment to take patients off waiting lists for operations. The trust’s primary interest was the safety and well-being of patients. The trust was paid for work it


did and had no incentive to take patients off lists. The primary care trusts did


have to allocate finite resources and patients were removed from lists where there was no clinical necessity for operations. Comments are welcome on the MASH (Maidstone Action for Services in Hospital) website at www.mashmaidstone.co.uk


Listening to patients THE group structurewill ensure patients and those interested in specific conditions and concerned with local NHS issues will have a place in decision-making before next April. There will be four locality patient represen-


tationgroups feeding viewsin to the mainpa- tient group.


“We live in an area of good health compar- atively, and we must maintain this within budget. We have to ensure health services meet local needs – including those patients with no one to speak on their behalf.” The largest part of the board’s budget is


for the two major hospitals (Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells), but he sees more serv- ices moving out of hospitals to patients’ own homes, by providing improved capac- ity and skills in primary care. Dr Bowes said he was excited by the prospects of much more patient involve- ment in making choices. “We welcome patient views. These will


be fed to us by the GP practice groups and will drive much of our group strategy.” The group is likely to be centred at cur-


rent Primary Care Trust offices in Wharf Road, Tonbridge, with about 20 full-time staff. It is hoped six board meetings a year will be held in public.


Get entries in for village show ADDINGTON and Trottiscliffe Flower, Fruit and Vegetable Show will be held on Saturday, September 1. The event alternates between the two villages and this year is


Trottiscliffe’s turn to host it. Take your entries to Trottiscliffe Village Hall between 9 and


11am. The show opens at 2pm and donated produce will be auc- tioned afterwards. A donation will be made toWater Aid.


Dog show success A CHARITY dog show at West Malling raised more than £2,000 for the Sarah Kitchener Perrow Fund and Support Adoption for Pets. About 300 people and 200


dogs turned out for Beth’s Dog Show at Greenways Field. Named after a rescued dog, the eventwas organised by Gemma Simmons following the death of her cousin, Sarah, from a brain tumour in 2010.


Harvest celebration THE Friends of Wateringbury Church will be holding a har- vest fayre on Saturday, Septem- ber 15. The event at Wateringbury School runs from noon to 4pm and will feature a hog roast, a children’s art competition, fruit, vegetable and baking competitions, antiques valua- tions and much more. Entry is free for children, and £1 for adults.


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