You and your GP
Under the reformed NHS General Practitioners will carry a lot of responsibility.
Dr Jonathon Tomlinson suggests some questions you can ask your GP
Below he's written an explanation of how patients can participate.
- What is your opinion of the Health Bill?
- Do you support the BMA, the RCGP, the RCN and the Royal College of Midwifes in their opposition?
- If not why not?
- How do you think the Health bill will affect your practice and your patients?
- The government says that you are going to be in charge of the NHS budget instead of bureaucrats. This sounds good, but what does it really mean?
- Do you have a patient participation group that I could join?
- How do patients contribute to the local GP commissioning group?
My commissioning group believes that the best way to protect Hackney from having private providers forced on us is to have patients on the Health & Wellbeing Board.
The structure is a little complicated:
At the lowest level patients join their GP pratice patient-participation group (PPG) (not all practices have them, but all should)
A representative from the practice PPG joins the Local Involvement Network (LINKs) though you may join LINKs without being on a PPG
LINKS are being abolished by April 2013 and replaced with Local HealthWatch.
The Health and Social Care Bill 2011 currently establishes health and wellbeing boards as committees in upper-tier local authorities, responsible for encouraging integrated working and developing Joint Strategic Needs Assessments and joint health and wellbeing strategies. The proposed health and wellbeing board membership includes:
• at least one councillor from the local authority
• the director of adult social services
• the director of children’s services
• the director of public health
• a representative of the local HealthWatch
• a representative of each relevant clinical commissioning group
• other persons or representatives the local authority or health and wellbeing board thinks appropriate.
The director of public health will be the principal advisor on health and well-being to elected members and officials in the local authority.
From April 2013, Local Authorities and CCGs, together with local HealthWatch, will be required to prepare the Joint Strategic Needs Assessment through the Health and Wellbeing Board. This will require groups to undertake a comprehensive analysis of the local needs of their population.
SO, PATIENTS CAN, IF THEY ARE LUCK/ PUSHY/ TALENTED/ CONNECTED OR A COMBINATION OF ALL THESE THINGS, GET PERHAPS ONE PERSON ON A LOCAL AUTHORITY HWB BY APRIL 2013.
Patients can also become members, and possibly Governors, of NHS Foundation Trusts .