‘Trust is listening to what patients want’

THE managers of Oldham Primary Care Trust (PCT) were given a resounding vote of confidence at the annual meeting for getting the public involved.

Paul Mainwaring, chairman of the Patients’ Council, which works with primary care trusts in Greater Manchester, gave a glowing recount of his organisation’s dealings with trust bosses as he urged Oldhamers to get involved.

He said: “I can say with hand on heart as a patient that I have never seen such a change in a PCT in gathering information from the public to influence services as I have in Oldham over the last three years.

“This trust is the best I have seen in Greater Manchester for working with people and taking their views into consideration.

“This is the only PCT actively going out to seek the views of the public and using them to influence services. It really is listening to what patients want.”

Explaining how the Patients’ Council works, he said: “We pride ourselves in getting to people who don’t normally get involved. We stand around everything from bus stops to kebab houses.

“We know that patients don’t have a lot of knowledge about how the health service works. They just want to turn up, be treated, then go home.

“And I know that as long as I can get good treatment from the health service I’m happy - whether that is in a GP surgery or in Asda. We have to get out of thinking it is about buildings, because it isn’t.”

Mr Mainwaring brought in Olwen Fish, treasurer of Breathe Easy, Oldham — a support group for people with lung disease — who said she had 40 years’ experience in dealing with the NHS, and primary care was the best it had ever been and was improving.

Fellow Patients’ Council member David Cartwright said he joined five years ago as a sceptic, believing patient participation could never happen. But he added: I found people listened to me as if I was the most important person in the room.”.

Speaking of Dr Hugh Sturgess, the new chairman of the trust’s clinical executive committee, he said: “He is one of the most forward-thinking GPs in Oldham.

And of Gail Richards, the PCT chief executive, he commentedd: “She has put her heart and soul into becoming a champion of patient involvement.”

Mrs Richards said: “We need to move forward quicker, further and faster with a true understanding of what each person whose money we are spending wants out of the health service.

“The gap between the life expectancy of people living in Oldham and other parts of the country is far too wide, and the difference in healthcare experiences for people across the borough and other places is far too great.”

Alan Higgins, director of public health, said his battle was in getting Oldhamers to live healthy lifestyles.




£346m spent on services



MORE than 100 people were at Hotel Smokies Park, Bardsley, yesterday for Oldham Primary Care Trust’s annual meeting.



The event was used to launch the 2007-08 report and chairman Riaz Ahmad said it had been the best year yet.

Described as a snapshot, the report highlights the trust’s responsibility for making sure everyone in the borough has the same chance to be fit and well.

The PCT holds Oldham’s NHS budget, and last year spent £346 million on services.The four highest-paid employees were chief executive Gail Richards (£125-£130,000); deputy chief executive Shauna Dixon, who is also director of clinical leadership and nurse adviser to the board (£90-95,000) and public health director Alan Higgins and interim finance director Steve Sutcliffe (£80-85,000).

Chairman Riaz Ahmad was paid between £30-£35,000 and non-executive directors each received between £5,000 and £10,000.

Expenditure included £41 million on drugs, £31 million on GP services, £13 million on dentistry, and £194 million on hospitals. Cancer received £17 million, £31 million was spent on vascular disease, and £37 million on mental health services.




Lifestyle changes are key to better local health



THE PCT faces an enormous challenge as it battles against poor health, sparked by high unemployment, poverty and social exclusion.



Oldham has an above-average mortality rate, significant child poverty, and more than a quarter of the population smokes.

The PCT predicts that 65,000 of the 220,000 people living in Oldham will have a long-term limiting illness by 2026 — an increase of almost half from 2001.

The number of people with a long-term health condition is expected to rise from 75,000 to 83,500 by 2020, and diabetes cases will rise from 11,400 to around 13,000 by 2012.

Heart disease kills more than 900 people a year — 38 per cent of all deaths — with a third under 75, while most early and avoidable deaths in Oldham are due to cancer, heart disease and stroke.

That, the Primary Care Trust says, is why it needs to focus on supporting health and well-being, as many are preventable and small lifestyle changes can have a big impact very quickly.

Successes highlighted in the report include:

::Support for a new cancer support centre based at Failsworth Primary Care Resource Centre.

::A new £6 million primary care centre for Glodwick.

::A new community-based specialist urology service.

::Supported flats for people with learning disabilities in Chadderton.

::A £330,000 investment in a mental health crisis resolution and home treatment service.

::An MRI scanning service at Failsworth Primary Care Resource Centre.

::Text messages sent out to remind people of GP appointments.

::Waiting times for speech and language therapy reduced from six months to 13 weeks.

::New dental practices in Glodwick and Springhead.

::Almost 2,500 people helped to stop smoking.