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Cross-border complication

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Alvechurch surgery

Patients call for action over ‘hit and miss’ system.

The Patient Participation Group (PPG) from Alvechurch medical practice is highlighting the problem of Alvechurch surgery patients being sent into Birmingham for certain medical services, rather than being treated in the local area.

For instance, Alvechurch patients who use the 111 service are told to attend the out-of-hours service at Katie Road in Selly Oak, instead of the Alexandra Hospital in Redditch – and those needing palliative care are sent into Birmingham rather than the very local Primrose Hospice.

Post-stroke care, pulmonary rehabilitation, breast screening and child health are among the services affected by the anomaly.

The PPG says that the “hit and miss” system means that some patients don’t experience any problems, while in some cases Alvechurch residents “fall between two stools” and receive no service at all, as is the case with a vital face-to-face carers’ support service.

The practice, which has more than 9,000 patients in total, chose to belong to Birmingham rather than the Redditch and Bromsgrove CCG because the Kings Norton branch was originally the largest, but now there are more patients (almost 5,000) at the Alvechurch surgery.

The PPG was formed two-and-a-half years ago to be a voice for all patients and to support the practice, and is now asking Alvechurch patients to submit their stories in order to build a complete picture of the problem.

“This is absolutely not a criticism of the surgery itself, but of the wider system that has allowed this to happen,” says PPG member Ann Overs.

“We are happy with the way the practice is run, but we want to make sure everyone is aware of the problem so that we can try to do something about it.”

The PPG met with the Birmingham and the Bromsgrove & Redditch CCGs twice last year, and received assurances that the matter would be looked into.

“Unfortunately, very little progress has been made – there seems to be a communication issue within the CCGs,” says PPG member Simon Welch.

Members also met with representatives of the 111 service, who acknowledged that although the out-of-hours service had been commissioned for the Alexandra Hospital, the software used was automatically “flowing” Alvechurch patients into Birmingham services unless they specifically requested otherwise.

This means those who know how the system is operating might be able to find their way to the right place, while those who don’t can end up travelling into Birmingham.

The PPG is working closely with Alvechurch Parish Council, which recently hosted another meeting with both CCGs, and has now sought help from the Worcestershire branch of national watchdog Healthwatch as well as contacting village MP Sajid Javid.

“We are trying to ascertain exactly which services are affected, by asking patients to tell us their stories,” says Ann.

“We will pass this information to Healthwatch, the CCGs and the parish council. We can then continue lobbying on behalf of Alvechurch patients.”

The PPG has set up a Facebook group which already has 130 members, – search “PPG Patients’ Forum – Northwood & Alvechurch Medical Practice” and apply to join the group.

Alternatively, email your experiences to .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) or use the suggestion box in surgery (this is opened by PPG members, not by practice staff).

“There are other places in the UK with cross-boundary issues, but this is a big one,” adds Simon.

“We live in North Worcestershire and pay our taxes here, so we should be able to get North Worcestershire services. There may need to be a change in legislation to fix the problem.”

Alvechurch GP Matt Dakin told The Village: “There have been issues for many years with Alvechurch Medical Centre being located in Worcestershire as part of a Birmingham practice. 

“We have been working with the higher authorities in their various incarnations over the years and more recently with the PPG to point these out and work towards providing solutions. 

“We don’t directly commission the services that are provided for our patients and it is currently our CCG that holds this responsibility.

“We will continue to make them aware of any problems that we become aware of and continue to work together to solve them.”