NHS chief executive Simon Stevens today revealed a £200 million scheme aimed at providing better care for the most vulnerable patients . Elderly and vulnerable patients will be offered longer GP appointments – including at weekends – in an attempt to reduce the chances of them ending up in hospital. They will have 30-minute in-depth appointments with a family doctor in the hope that any underlying problems will be picked up before they require emergency admission. As part of a £200million scheme aimed at providing better care for the most vulnerable, some patients will also undergo consultations with A&E nurses via webcams to establish whether it is really necessary for them to go to casualty. Simon Stevens, the NHS’s chief executive, yesterday announced the pilot scheme, which will be rolled out in 29 areas covering a total of five million patients. It is hoped the scheme will gradually expand across England with the aim of treating more patients at home, or at their GP surgery, rather than in hospital. The idea is to bring together hospitals, GPs, community services and care homes to provide more joined-up care. Mr Stevens said the set-up of the NHS is too ‘fragmented’, meaning patients are passed ‘from pillar to post’. Specialist doctors, GPs, nurses and physiotherapists do not work closely together nor spend enough time on preventative care, trying to avoid patients’ conditions deteriorating. The present system also means that patients with several long-term conditions may have to go to a different hospital outpatient clinic 20 or so miles away, several times a month. In an interview for BBC Radio 4’s World at One programme, he said: ‘In England we’ve got a growing population and an ageing population and one of the big tests is can we provide compassionate, high-quality care for older people who have several different health problems at once. ‘Too many parts of the service are quite fragmented. Increasingly that’s a problem. People aren’t getting preventative care they need. Often people are being passed from pillar to post, or ending up in accident and emergency departments when they could have avoided it.’ Eventually, Mr Stevens wants many of the complex procedures provided by hospitals to be routinely available at GP surgeries a few miles from patients’ homes. Each area involved in this first phase of the scheme offers slightly different services depending on the needs of the population. In Airedale, West Yorkshire, patients in care homes will be offered consultations via webcams with nurses in A&E units at any time of the day and night. If they suffer a fall, rather than calling an ambulance, staff at the care home will set up the internet consultation with a nurse at the hospital. The nurse will then liaise with a senior doctor and decide if the patient needs to come to A&E immediately or can wait for a GP home visit. In Northamptonshire, the 7 per cent of patients deemed to be the most vulnerable will be offered 30-minute appointments with their GP rather than the standard ten minutes. In West Yorkshire, patients in care homes will be offered consultations via webcams with medics working in A&E units at any time of the day or night, as part of the trial scheme announced today . These patients may have several long-term conditions such as dementia, diabetes and heart disease and doctors will use the time to make more thorough assessments. In Northumberland, patients are being offered GP appointments at the weekend to prevent them going to casualty. Surgeries will form local groups and ensure that at least one is open every Saturday and Sunday. Although the appointments will be offered to all patients, they will most benefit the elderly and those with underlying conditions who see their doctor more often.
Simon Stevens, NHS chief executive, announced £200 million scheme . Aimed at providing better care for the most vulnerable patients . Hope it will stop patients unnecessarily ending up in hospital A&E units . Complex procedures will be carried out at GP surgeries instead of hospital . Care home patients will be able to have web cam consultations with A&E . Most vulnerable will be given 30 minutes instead of 10 with their GPs .