RESIDENTS of the Camelford Community Network were invited to the network’s most recent quarterly meeting, held on?Wednesday, March 21, to hear from the NHS’ Shaping our Future representatives present and put forward questions and concerns to them, writes Rosie Cripps.

The meeting was opened by chair, Cllr Dominic Fairman, Cornwall Councillor for St Teath and St Breward, who introduced Dr Ellen Wilkinson, medical director of the Cornwall Foundation Trust, and Karen Kay, executive system lead for urgent and emergency care, to the board, who were present to talk through the Shaping our Future initiative, which is hoped will change the way in which medical services are provided to people in Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly.

Shaping our Future is a result of a national sustainability programme, which came about in 2016 after all the public sector health and care organisations published outline plans to improve their services as part of a five-year programme with NHS England. Shaping our Future is hoped to improve the health and wellbeing of the local population, improve the quality of services and deliver financial stability in the health and care system.

Ms Kay said: “The positives of Shaping our Future is that it has encouraged all of the organisations and services to work together as a system. So the benefits are that we’ve got together — the NHS and the local authority, who provide housing and other services.”

The meeting heard that an important factor of Shaping our Future is how services are bought together, including care home placements.

Dr Wilkinson said: “Shaping our Future very much sits beside the increase in demand, and the increasing complexities of health. I know this is a very unpopular thing to say, but quite a lot of this is caused by choices and personal behaviours.”

Ms Kay said that, for a long time, services have been competing with one another, adding: “This really hasn’t been efficient.”

Dr Wilkinson said: “There have been a lot of disputes about care, but services are now working closely together.”

She said that people very often find that they are in ‘the wrong bed’ when seeking medical help, and that Shaping our Future is ‘working on more care at home and more care from home’.

A series of workshops have taken place across Cornwall, including one that took place recently, where the team behind Shaping our Future was able to tell the community how they can get access to urgent care.

Ms Kay said: “People go to their GP often, because they know the appointments will be available on the day. In developing this model, we have got to the point where we’re coming out to say, where do you need urgent care? We need to get clear about what members of the public think is really important to their services.”

Dr Wilkinson added that, very often, the need for urgent care is different from the place, where, in one area there could be more children and families, and in another more elderly people.

Cllr Fairman started the discussion of keeping active, noting that two representatives from Camelford Leisure Centre were present among the members of the public. He said: “If you’re going to join things up, surely this is where you should start (working with leisure centres).”

Dr Wilkinson said: “We put in a bid on behalf of Shaping our Future for suicide prevention. This is definitely the sort of thing we need to look at more, and we should be more creative with it. Instead of people receiving a prescription for their medication for anxiety and depression, perhaps they could get a prescription for exercise.”

One of the representatives from the leisure centre said: “We’ve tried with local GPs, but not got very far — but this is definitely something we want to do.”

Ms Kay said: “With Shaping our Future, we have been able to introduce a preventative work stream, which has been set out to maintain health and wellbeing. Money follows the patient, and we have been spending money at where people would describe as unnecessary. This is one of our biggest challenges, and perhaps where the external funding could come in.”

Another member of the public said: “I think this is a great thing to try, but it has always failed. Good luck, because I think you’re pushing water up a hill.

“My concern is that people who are seriously ill, who may be fearing for their lives or for the people they may be leaving — they find that, within this bureaucracy, people are finding it very hard to deal with. They need quick access to an advocacy service, which can steer them through and give them some hope and support. It doesn’t seem to be available in the community.”

Dr Wilkinson noted that rurality and travel can make this particularly difficult for people to access an advocacy service.

Cllr Rob Rotchell, Lib Dem Cornwall Councillor for Camelford and portfolio holder for adults — covering health and social care — said that for people not directy suffering from a health issue, they can be pointed in the right direction.

He said a second conversation involves healthier lifestyles, and the money being ‘ploughed’ into Treliske. The meeting heard that Treliske is currently in ‘gold command’, and has been for over two weeks, almost being declared as a ‘crisis’.

Cllr Rotchell said: “Having a healthier population would require people to take responsibility for themselves. In Cornwall, people are living longer, but not living healthier. Instead of living longer and sitting in an ambulance outside Treliske because the services inside are full, we could live healthier and prevent that. We need to do this now.”

Ms Kay said: “It isn’t rocket science, but your point is well made in where we spend our money. This is the thing we’ve got to get upstream and spend money on prevention, which is vital to making this work.”

Conservative Cornwall Councillor for the Tintagel ward, Barry Jordan, pointed out that many people in his area are unable to afford the internet, and so use a telephone. “People who are ill can’t sit on the end of the telephone that long, so give up. There needs to be a service where people can get in straight away and speak to someone.”

Camelford town councillor, Andy Shaw, said: “I have no fault with the NHS. A fortnight ago, my grandson was taken to Bodmin and then shot down to Truro because of a very rare virus. If you’re sick, the NHS will look after you. If you’ve got a pain in your ear, sit it out, it will be cured.”

In response, Ms Kay explained that over 50% of people now get a chance to speak to a clinician, whether that’s a face-to-face appointment or a call-back. There is also a high chance that someone will get an answer to a query straight away via NHS 111, who can direct the patient in regards to seeking treatment or help.

“The demand goes up, the building doesn’t grow and there’s only so many people you can fit into an emergency room. This is very much about promoting self-help, and making sure people understand where to go, so when you do need the emergency service, you can use it without it being full where people could have been somewhere else.”

For further information about Shaping our Future, visit www.shapingourfuture.info