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29th June 2010 - Open in Hastings: our Second GP Led Health Centre
To maximise access, the centre will be open from 8am to 8pm seven days a week, for both walk-in patients and those with appointments.
Set up to increase access to primary care services, in an area with some of the worst rates of deprivation in the country, the Hastings GPLHC is run under a joint management and clinical partnership between South East Health and a well-established Hastings GP practice, headed by Dr Hannah Hughes and Dr Paul Seal.
Nic Gowers, who has been successfully managing the Eastbourne GPLHC, will also be business manager of the Hastings centre, with Deborah May as patient services manager.
When fully staffed by SEH, the centre will have the equivalent of three full-time GPs, seven admin staff, three nurses and two health care assistants. Most are local and many of the admin staff have customer service backgrounds. With a main waiting room, sub-waiting area, three large consulting rooms, two treatment rooms, admin room, staff room, toilets and utility rooms, the centre has plenty of space. Shared rooms on the top floor of Station Plaza are available for training and meetings whilst an area within the GPLHC has been designated as a diagnostics suite with X-ray facilities.
The centre team has been given a target of registering 3,500 patients in five years. However, team members will be working to a monthly rotation system for registration with all the GP practices at Station Plaza.
“The big challenge is to get ourselves known in the area as an approachable service,” says Nic. “We need to be able to deal with whoever comes through the door in a welcoming and professional manner, so that people who haven’t visited a doctor for a long time will trust us.”
Because of its location, the GPLHC will clearly be a useful resource for commuters who find it difficult to fit in with regular GP surgery hours. Deborah is also hoping to build relationships with the adjoining Hastings College, and with organisations such as the Salvation Army. “We will be complementing the work of the GP practices on site by providing services for walk-in and out of hours patients, as well as for patients who would not otherwise seek medical advice,” she says.
For GPs Hannah Hughes and Paul Seal, the partnership with SEH is an opportunity to expand the interest of their practice in helping vulnerable patients. “Hastings has a lot of health issues, including early mortality rates, poor cancer survival rates and childhood obesity,” says Hannah. “Patients are often unaware of the importance of a healthy diet. They also tend to present late with symptoms of serious illnesses, such as cancer.
“A number of Hastings GP practices”, she adds, “are too small to address these issues alone. By joining with a larger organisation, we hope to be more effective in highlighting the need for targeted health services and programmes. The GPLHC will also act as a signpost for people with social or medical needs who need to be referred on to an appropriate agency.” 23/07/2010
On 1st July 2010, the new Faversham Minor Injuries Unit run by South East Health opened its doors to patients. The local community will benefit from the opening hours of 8am to 8pm, 7 days a week. The unit is located within the Faversham Cottage Hospital, Stone Street, Faversham, Kent, ME13 8PS.
Highly qualified Nurse Practitioners will staff the unit together with a dedicated receptionist. The MIU can see and treat minor injuries and minor illness and provide advice on a large variety of health issues. The contract will run until March 2011.
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