Pillar 3
Improving health and care services today
Why is this important?
We recognise that, in addition to looking ahead, we need to respond immediately to the challenges facing the health and care system today.
We will make the best use of the resources available to ensure that where we face pressures, services are both sustainable and safe. We are supporting General Practice, dental services, community pharmacy and maternity services to prioritise resilience, quality and safety.
Ensuring that people can be seen quickly when they need services the most is also important. We continue to tackle planned care waiting times for operations and procedures, including increased access to diagnostics, and waiting times for mental health services and cancer care.
We are making good progress across these areas but recognise that we still have more to do.
What have we done?
Pharmacy First is making NHS services easier and more accessible to patients across the county. Over the past 12 months, their expertise has helped over 35,000 local people to access assessment, advice and medications (where appropriate) for seven conditions and other minor illnesses. The most common presenting illnesses for adults include sore throats and uncomplicated urinary tract infections, and for children ear ache and impetigo.
Work continues to support the long-term sustainability of primary care through our work on delivering against an access plan. GP practices are offering more appointments than originally forecast, and in one month in 2024 offered the highest ever number of appointments in a single month. The number of same-day, urgent appointments has increased significantly.
Improving access to diagnostic tests and checks has been a key focus for us. 2024 saw the launch of a Community Diagnostic Centre which has allowed for thousands of additional tests to be delivered.
There is still more to do, but we are making good progress in reducing the number of people waiting the longest for treatment. We remain committed to meeting the national target of 92% of people receiving treatment within 18 weeks of referral by 2029.
We have been working hard as a system to implement improvements within maternity and neonatal services following the CQC inspection, which have resulted in reduced waiting times for scans and improved midwifery and obstetric recruitment into the service. Progress is being made, and we will continue to listen to and work with women and families to make further improvements.
Despite increasing demand, we have been looking at ways to support improvements in children’s mental health and eating disorder services, as well as neurodiversity services.
Read more about our work on the ground:
What are we doing next?
Continuing to support improvements in maternity and neonatal services.
Making the best use of available services to support people with minor injuries and illnesses as close to home as possible e.g. Pharmacy First, GP practices, Gloucester Health Access Centre, and Minor Injury and Illness Units.
Continuing to reduce waiting times for people waiting longest for treatment (planned care operations and procedures).
Improving Neurodiversity services including better assessment, diagnosis, and support for Autism and/or ADHD.