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Building Better Health for Bolton Consultation

 

Welcome to the Building Better Health for Bolton Consultation web pages. Here you can find out about the background to our largest ever public consultation, read people’s responses to it and see what we will do as a result. It also invites you to get involved in future consultations about health centres in your area.

The consultation closed in March 2008. However, you can click on this link to the original website to see the background documents for this consultation. These were:

  • The Annual Public Health Report 2006 – Does Wealth mean Health?
  • Bolton Community Strategy – Bolton: Our Vision 2007-2017
  • Better Health for Bolton – Consultation
  • The Review of Urgent Care Services in Bolton
  • The Review of Bolton PCT’s Estates Strategy
  • Diagnostic and Treatment Centre Outline Business Case

 

 

 

 

What was the consultation?

Between December 2007 and March 2008 Bolton Primary Care Trust (PCT) held a public consultation on its Strategic Service Development Plan to develop health services and buildings in Bolton.

Building Better Health for Bolton explained our plans to modernise health centres to improve health services.

The big changes put forward were:

  • To reorganise urgent care services and create an Urgent Care Treatment and Diagnostic centre in the town centre.
  • To create 10 new health centres which will help our drive to intervene early and locally and reduce health inequalities.

Why was change necessary?

Building Better Health for Bolton explained why change was necessary.

  • It brought together existing strategies for developing health and care services in Bolton to improve health, reduce health inequalities and improve quality and access to services.
  • It recommended an affordable way to pay for the development.
  • It described how this consultation followed earlier work involving and listening to stakeholders.

Who did the Primary Care Trust consult?

We distributed over 10,000 consultation documents to staff, community organisations, local councillors, MPs and MEPs, social care and health organisations, and the general public. We also attended 71 public and staff meetings to listen to your views.

Who replied?

We listened to staff and people at public meetings (attended by an estimated 800 people) and recorded the 546 consultation response forms and other correspondence we received.

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What were their key themes?

Overall people supported our plans. Most felt that our proposals would help the PCT to achieve our 5 aims:

  1. To reduce health inequalities (52%).
  2. To improve access to local health services (76%).
  3. To improve access to urgent care (69%).
  4. To improve health service accommodation (78%).
  5. To improve overall health in Bolton (59%).

88% agreed that we had chosen the right locations for the health centres
89% agreed that we had planned the right services for each centre
89% agreed that the Urgent Care, Treatment and Diagnostic Centre should be in the town centre.

 

You also told us how you thought our plans would affect:

  • Access to the centres.
  • The relationship between patients and GPs.
  • Getting a NHS dentist.
  • When the centres would open.
  • How they would be staffed.

These key themes are published in our Building Better Health for Bolton – Public Consultation Findings report. Here you can find out about the groups of people who responded and what they said.

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What have we done as a result?

We have also published Building Better Health for Bolton – Bolton PCT’s Response to Issues Raised in the Public Consultation which gives our response to the common themes raised and whether or not they have resulted in changes to the plan.

This explains how we have amended our plan to:

  • Give a greater commitment to ensure that people can access our services.
  • Try to maintain the special relationship between GP and patient.
  • Encourage dentists, pharmacists and optometrists into the new centres.
  • Allow more time to listen to local people as each health centre is built. This means timescales for completion have been extended by 12 months.
  • Engage with staff in the planning and designing of new centres and help them to manage the changes.

You can see the revised Strategic Service Development Plan, June 2008.

What are the next steps?

  • We will engage with partners and stakeholders to shape the Urgent Care Centre.
  • We will involve local communities and stakeholders to find suitable sites for the developments and in the design of new buildings.
  • We will continue to lobby Greater Manchester Passenger Transport Executive to provide improved public transport services to health centres.
  • We will consult and involve staff in planning the delivery of services in the community.
  • We will run postal and online surveys and hold focus groups with groups which are seldom heard.

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How to get involved in future consultation about buildings in your area.

For more information please contact:

Sam Bruce,
Communication and Public Engagement Officer,
01204 46 2027

or email the team at  talk@bolton.nhs.uk