NHS trust to take over GP services in Sandwell

The Sandwell and West Birmingham NHS Trust will be responsible for running services in collaboration with GP partnerships.

The move means GP and hospital care will be run by the same body in Sandwell and health bosses say it will help streamline treatment and help minimise delays.

It is also hoped the change could help reduce pressure on the trust's under-pressure A&E departments at Sandwell Hospital and Birmingham City Hospital.

Trust chief executive Toby Lewis said: “Our trust believes in partnership and in diversity. So we will work at scale with primary care in our networks and alliances across Ladywood, Perry Barr and Sandwell. And we will continue to create deep working relationships with valued GP colleagues through mechanisms like these APMS contracts. The new arrangements are a chance to do, to learn and to build trust. We want to move fast to provide the very best long term conditions care for children and for adults that redefine traditional home and hospital boundaries.”

Hospital trust bosses have been keen to forge closer links with GP practices across Sandwell and have already launched a system where GP appointments can be booked from A&E to try and ease pressure on the borough's hospital. Some patients could be treated by consultants away from hospitals under the partnership, while consultant-led clinics could open at GP surgeries.

The contract will come into force from April. The trust will work with two partners – Your Health Partnership across Sandwell and Broadway Health Centre in Birmingham – to deliver primary care services to approximately 16,000 patients from Great Bridge Health Centre, Parsonage Street and Summerfield GP Practice.

Dr Imran Zaman, GP at Broadway Healthcare Centre, said: “I am a firm believer that healthcare should be delivered as a whole and that’s why I’m very excited with this opportunity as it will deliver the integrated care model that we have always been talking about.

“I’m thankful to everyone who has been involved in making this partnership happen. Over the next couple of months and indeed in years to come, I hope that patients and staff will see the difference that this opportunity brings.”

Dr Manir Aslam, GP at Broadway Healthcare Centre, added: “We’ve been really fortunate to collaborate with the trust to deliver this truly integrated care model.

“This partnership has tremendous benefits for patients and means that there will be joined-up services, where treatment plans will be designed by generalists from primary care, specialists from the trust and our patients.

“We will definitely see a more seamless pathway for patients so they can be seen quicker and treated more effectively. From my point of view, this partnership shows the true meaning of integration and that’s the future of our healthcare service.”