Press Release
Rural Advocate visits Fens to ‘take the temperature’ of rural healthcare services
10 December 2007
In its work to understand the healthcare needs of people who live and work in rural communities, the Commission for Rural Communities’ guiding principle is that ‘no one should be disadvantaged by where they live in accessing healthcare services’.
On Monday 10 and Tuesday 11 December, Dr. Stuart Burgess the government’s Rural Advocate, and Chairman of the Commission for Rural Communities, is coming to rural Cambridgeshire to meet residents, patients and patient’s groups, healthcare providers, and volunteers. Dr. Burgess will be joined throughout his visit by the Improvement Foundation who helped to identify the setting for the visit.
Speaking about his visit Dr. Burgess said: “I am looking forward to my visit to the Fens and to meeting people involved in the day-to-day provision of healthcare, patients and voluntary groups. I shall be especially interested to learn about locally-developed solutions to rural healthcare challenges and opportunities for best practice to be promoted and shared across the country.
Dr. Burgess continued: “The government is undertaking a fundamental review of the way in which health services are planned and delivered across England. The Commission for Rural Communities (CRC) will be responding to this review and submitting a comprehensive dossier of evidence highlighting the specific challenges facing health service users and providers in rural areas. I will also be submitting a report to government based on my visits to rural healthcare projects and meetings with healthcare staff and patients, including my visit today. We shall also be taking the opportunity to meet with Lord Darzi’s NHS review team and Alan Johnson, Secretary of State for Health to reinforce our views on the healthcare needs of rural people.”
Michelle Webster, National Lead for Practice Based Commissioning (PBC) for the Improvement Foundation said: “When we were approached by the CRC to help identify locations within a rural setting which had successfully implemented PBC, an obvious choice for us was the innovative work by Dr. Luke Twelves and the Ramsey Health Centre, part of Cambridgeshire PCT, who have worked with the Improvement Foundation on our national PBC programme.”
Dr Luke Twelves, General Practitioner, said: “When improving services for our patients we are constantly mindful of the rural issues we face. Through our participation in the Improvement Foundation’s national PBC programme, we have effectively developed our service redesign approach to address issues specific to our rural setting. The great thing about the programme was the opportunity for us to meet with other similar practices from around the country to demonstrate our learning, experiences and plans for the benefit of local people. We are delighted that we have been identified as the setting to meet the Rural Advocate.”
Chris Banks, Chief Executive of Cambridgeshire Primary Care Trust, said: "We are delighted that the Prime Minister's Rural Advocate is putting the spotlight on the Fens. There are particular challenges to delivering high-quality healthcare in rural areas and we have long realised that we need to focus our attention on tackling these issues and health inequalities across Cambridgeshire generally. Stuart Burgess will be visiting local service providers, patients and managers who together deliver healthcare in the Fens. We have a firm belief that investing in improving healthcare in rural communities can have a huge impact on people's quality of life and on the NHS resources of the future.”
Dr. Burgess will begin his visit on Monday evening, meeting patients’ groups, the Cambridgeshire PPI Forum, and Liz Robin, Director of Public Health, Cambridgeshire Primary Care Trust and Cambridgeshire County Council. The visit continues on Tuesday 11 December when he will be visiting Doddington Community Hospital to see the management team and patients, meeting patients and GPs at a surgery in Ramsey, talking with staff and patients at the Princess of Wales Hospital in Ely and meeting Wimblington Parish Council.
On Tuesday evening, Dr. Burgess will conclude his visit meeting a wide range of regional and local stakeholders, including: Institute of Rural Health, East of England Ambulance Service NHS Trust, Cambridgeshire County Council, Fenland District Council, East of England Rural Affairs Forum, and Dr. Paul Cosford, Director of Public Health, NHS East of England.
The Commission for Rural Communities is grateful to Cambridgeshire PCT and the Improvement Foundation for their assistance in making the visit possible.
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