This report provides the committee with details of the proposed relocation of the out of hours general practice service for Herefordshire. NHS Herefordshire and Worcestershire Integrated Care Board (ICB) have agreed to this relocation, subject to approval by Herefordshire Council’s Health, Care and Wellbeing Scrutiny Committee.

The committee considered a report on the proposed relocation of the general practice (GP) out of hours service for Herefordshire.

The slide pack was published as part of Supplement 1 to the agenda: Link to the presentation 'Consideration of the proposed move of GP Out of Hours Service'.  The Director of Planning and Delivery (Taurus Healthcare) identified the following principal points:

i.             Feedback was invited from the committee on the proposed relocation of the service from the Station Medical Centre, Station Approach, Hereford to the Nelson Building, Whitecross Road, Hereford.

ii.            The service operated 6.30 pm to 8.00 am on weekdays and 24 hours at weekends, and it was accessed through the NHS non-emergency line on 111.

iii.          The Nelson Building was considered a good, central location and dedicated patient parking would be provided.

iv.          The proposal would consolidate the estate and provided the opportunity to co-locate the Community Integrated Response Hub to support the urgent care system.

v.           The facility would also provide additional clinical space during the day.

vi.          A public consultation had been undertaken by Healthwatch Herefordshire, with the majority of respondents indicating that the proposal would make ‘no difference’ to accessibility and convenience, and the recommendations from the consultation would inform design considerations.

The Chairperson noted that the public consultation report was comprehensive and many of the concerns that had been raised had been mitigated: Link to Healthwatch Herefordshire's report 'Public Consultation on Urgent Out of Hours GP Service'.

In response to a question, the Managing Director (Taurus Healthcare) outlined the challenges at Station Medical Centre and, whilst acknowledging the need to control, considered that the proposed move would deliver operational and financial efficiency, especially given the limited space available to health services currently.

The following resolution was agreed by the committee.

Resolved:

a.           That the presentation be noted; and

b.           That the proposals be endorsed.