Primary Care Trust

My main public role outside of East Acton is as non-executive director of Ealing Borough NHS Primary Care Trust (PCT). Today was our Board meeting – with a very substantial agenda, dominated as is usually the case by financial and performance issues. The good news for the Primary Care Trust over the summer was that we achieved a two star rating from the Heathcare Commission – up from a previous no star rating. This big jump in rating reflects very real and visible improvements in local GP services over the last few years.

However, ironically, this will be the last set of star ratings, and we now have to prepare for a new set of measures called Standards for Better Health (SfBH). This is part of a wide agenda of planned change in NHS structures and systems, designed to give more power to doctors to commission healthcare and for patients to have more choice in their care. The principles appear to be sound but making all this work will be a real challenge. The Government's approach is outlined in “Commissioning a Patient-Led NHS”, which can be seen on the Department of Health website at
http://www.dh.gov.uk/PublicationsAndStatistics/Publications/PublicationsPolicyAndGuidance/PublicationsPolicyAndGuidanceArticle/fs/en?CONTENT_ID=4116716&chk=/%2Bb2QD

The biggest difficulty currently facing the Primary Care Trust is the extreme pressure on local maternity services – particularly at Ealing Hospital – which reflects a significantly increasing birth rate and a relative shortage of relevant medical staff. This is less of a problem for us in East Acton, given that Hammersmith and Queen Charlotte’s Hospitals are on our doorstep.

On a very positive note, we agreed proposals to create a ‘one stop shop’ to combine services that both the NHS and the Council provide for children with disabilities. This will be in a building with very good bus links in West Ealing. Crucially, this will end the understandable frustration that parents experience when being sent from pillar to post or rather from Town Hall to clinic, by ensuring that in future they can get all the help they need in one place.