Fit for the Future Phase 2 – Engagement underway

What have we done since the first phase of Fit for the Future?

In 2020 we delivered a comprehensive consultation for the first phase of Fit for the Future with colleagues, partners and the wider public and the major building works programme currently underway across Cheltenham General Hospital and Gloucestershire Royal hospital sites is the realisation of our Centres of Excellence vision, set out in the engagement.

To date we have invested £101m-plus in new buildings, equipment and enhanced practice across specialist services.

As you will be aware the NHS locally and nationally is going through the most challenging period of its 74 year history to date.

Gloucestershire’s health and care system, like other parts of the country, is in the process of recovering from the pressures that the COVID-19 pandemic placed on our services, staff and local communities.

We know we still have a long way to go but believe that the ideas to be explored in this Fit for the Future 2 conversation have potential to keep us moving in the right direction. We’re confident that the temporary service changes we made in response to the pandemic are starting to demonstrate that longer term benefits could be delivered.

What is Fit for the Future Phase 2 about?

From 17 May and 31 July 2022 there will an extensive programme of engagement with staff and the public, with a wide range of opportunities to actively get involved in the Phase Two of the Fit for the Future Programme.

Overall, the vision is for two thriving, vibrant hospital sites with strong identities and both providing world class, leading edge treatment.

In two areas, Diabetes and Frailty, we also want to discuss ideas for how community services could be further developed to improve the wider journey of care for local people.

The programme will involve you, patients and local people in discussing ideas for:

• Benign Gynaecology - day cases. Gynaecology is the medical speciality (area) dealing with the health of the female reproductive system and benign means non-cancerous. The service also provides surgical procedures, such as hysterectomies.
• Diabetes and Endocrinology - inpatient care for people with Diabetes and Endocrine conditions. Endocrine conditions are where a person’s endocrine system (that produces the body’s hormones) does not work correctly, causing hormonal imbalances in the body.
• Frailty/Care of the Elderly - hospital and community services. Frailty is where the ability to cope with physical trauma or illness and psychological stress is reduced, impacting on the ability to recover after illness.
• Non-interventional cardiology - inpatient care for cardiology patients, not requiring interventional cardiology i.e. not requiring special imaging tests or surgery. Cardiology is the treatment of disorders of the heart and blood vessels.
• Respiratory care - inpatient respiratory care, including the respiratory high care service. Respiratory Services provide treatment for breathing problems, including the lower airway (trachea), the lungs, the chest wall and the ventilatory control system.
• Stroke care - acute inpatient stroke services. A stroke is a serious medical condition that happens when the blood supply to part of the brain is cut off.

The ideas do not cover outpatient services which would continue to be available from multiple sites.

What are the aims of Fit for the Future?

The aims are to:

• Improve health outcomes for patients
• Reduce waiting times and limit the number of operations that are cancelled
• Make sure patients are always assessed by the right specialist with timely decisions about their treatment and care
• Ensure there are always safe staffing levels, including senior doctors available 24/7 and teams have the best equipment and facilities
• Support joint working between services to reduce the number of hospital visits people have to make
• Create flagship centres for research, training and learning - attracting and keeping the best staff in Gloucestershire
• Deliver more specialist services in Gloucestershire to enable people to receive care locally rather than travelling to Bristol, Birmingham and Oxford.

How can you get involved?

There are a number of ways in which people can get involved, from completing a survey, attending public workshops to taking part in our interactive Facebook Live events or visiting the information bus as it tours the county.

Full details can be found on the Get Involved in Gloucestershire (GIG) website Get Involved in Gloucestershire.

There will also be discussions with the voluntary and community sector and groups of people who might be more affected by any changes.

What will happen next?

Following the engagement, there will be a review period, where partner NHS organisations in Gloucestershire will carefully consider all the feedback to inform next steps. This will be held in public and meetings will be live streamed on the internet for anyone to watch and listen.

Decisions will then be made about the further development of any ideas and regular updates will be shared with staff and published on Get Involved in Gloucestershire