About Wirral GP Commissioning Consortium
Every GP practice on Wirral is a member of the Wirral Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG), a new organisation established as part of the reorganisation of NHS structures undertaken in response to the Health & Social Care Act 2012. Each practice is also a member of a local consortium of which there are 3: Wirral GP Commissioning Consortium (WGPCC), Wirral Health Commissioning Consortium (WHCC), and Wirral Alliance Commissioning Consortium (WACC).
Moreton Medical Centre is a member of the Wirral GP Commissioning Consortium (WGPCC), which represents 26 GP practices and a population of 125,000. WGPCC member practices have chosen to work together to commission or buy services that will improve the health and wellbeing of their patient population. Most of these practices have been working together as a group since 2006 and have developed a good knowledge of the needs of their patients, and an understanding of how healthcare locally can and should be improved.
From April 2013, WGPCC has been wholly responsible for designing local health services for the patient population we serve.
Our vision is to:
Improve the health and wellbeing of all our population and, in doing so, to reduce health inequalities. We will do this by assessing the needs of our population and commissioning high quality, value for money services that address those needs. We will work in partnership with patients, communities and local agencies to nurture innovation and achieve the best possible outcomes.
Some of our achievements to date include:
· Admissions Prevention and Discharge Facilitation Service – a nurse-led service that adopts a case management approach, working with a range of agencies to keep people out of hospital.
· Minor Injury and Illness Service – a drop-in service delivered across two community locations, offering access to a nurse without an appointment, seven days a week, for patients needing advice and treatment for minor injuries or illnesses.
· Teledermatology – an innovative new service to look at moles and skin lesions and get an expert opinion from a Consultant remotely, to avoid a patient having to go to hospital unnecessarily.
· Additional investment in primary care mental health, diagnostics, physiotherapy and podiatry in a range of GP practice locations.
· Patient Council established representing our GP practices, to enable representatives from practices’ patient groups to meet to learn more about, and have a say in commissioning local services.
Our priorities are to:
· Work with partners to maintain and develop effective, high quality services that deliver health and wellbeing improvement.
· Make services more accessible and closer to patients’ homes.
· Target inequalities through effective assessment and profiling of health need.
· Ensure commissioned services work together to provide a seamless journey for patients.
To find out more information about WGPCC, please visit our website: www.wirralccg.nhs.uk/gpcc
WGPCC patient engagement
Commissioning patient-centred care is a core objective of the WGPCC. In order to truly achieve the vision of ‘no decision about me, without me’, set out in the Health and Social Care Act, it is vital that we do all we can to:
· Involve our patients in decisions about commissioning services, ensuring that priorities and activities of the consortium are informed and driven by patients.
· Provide patients with the opportunity to tell us what they think.
· Ensure that key messages reach as many patients as possible by using a range of communication channels.
· Understand any issues that patients may have with healthcare locally, in order to identify solutions.
There are lots of ways in which you can become involved, including:
· Joining a practice patient group: Most WGPCC practices have their own patient group that mainly meets to discuss matters relating to the practice, but will also be interested in what is going on in the wider healthcare community. If you wish to learn more about your local practice patient group, please contact your GP practice.
· Becoming a virtual patient council member: Sign up to www.wirralccg.nhs.uk/gpcc and give us your email address so we can keep you informed of what’s going on with healthcare locally, and you can take part in surveys and share your views. This covers not only what your GP practice has to offer, but also hospital and community services.
· Joining the Patient Council: As well as being a virtual member, you can also attend our meetings with patients from other WGPCC practices. These take place every month and we discuss issues such as what healthcare priorities the consortium should focus on, any problems that patients and their families may be experiencing with local providers, or ways in which services or facilities could be changed or improved.
WGPCC has also provided your GP practice with ‘Get involved’ postcards, which will be displayed in your GP practice reception to enable you to provide us with your details if you wish to receive more information about the activities of the consortium, or get involved in one of the above groups. Please contact your GP practice about this.