Why things needed to change
Local people asked for better access to joined up services. Local health and care staff asked for organisations to work together to make it easier for them do their jobs well and talk to each other.
There were some big challenges facing the NHS and care providers that needed our combined efforts to tackle. These challenges meant we had to act together. In doing so we could create better, local services which were fit for the future. The big challenges for us were:
Demand is increasing, but resources are limited
A lot of these resources are used by providing care in a big hospital. We believe that you should not go into hospital unless you absolutely need to and services should not be based in the hospital unless they absolutely have to. It makes much more sense to invest in services outside of the hospital, give Dudley people more support sooner; in their homes and communities so they don’t need to go to hospital in the first place.
We are living longer
In two decades time there will be another 25,100 people aged 65+ and 9,900 aged 85+ living in the Dudley Borough. This is the success of modern healthcare but as we get older, more of us develop health problems and need care to help us live our lives. Current services needed to change to provide this long term support for such a huge number of people.
GPs are approaching crisis point
Local doctors are the first port of call for many people who use the NHS, and as demand is rising they are seeing more and more patients with more complex problems.
This in turn leads to delays and other frustrations. It also makes being a GP very difficult and stressful, which explains why there are currently more GPs retiring than joining the profession and why practices in Dudley are closing their doors altogether.
