Healthcare in Dorset

Healthcare in Dorset is now the responsibility of Dorset Clinical Commissioning Group. Dorset HealthCare University NHS Foundation Trust is responsible for all community and mental health services across the county. The main hospital providers are Royal Bournemouth & Christchurch Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Dorset County Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and Poole Hospital NHS Foundation Trust.

History

From 1947 to 1965 NHS services in Dorset were managed partly by South-West Metropolitan Regional Hospital Board and partly by the South-Western Board, which was responsible for the Lyme Regis area. In 1965 a new Board was formed for Wessex which also covered Dorset apart from Lyme Regis. In 1974 the Boards were abolished and replaced by Regional Health Authorities. The whole of Dorset came under the Wessex RHA. Regions were reorganised in 1996 and Dorset came under the South and West (Wessex and South Western) Regional Health Authority. Dorset had an Area Health Authority from 1974 until 1982 when it was divided into two District Authorities for East and West Dorset which were amalgamated in 1992. Regional Health Authorities were reorganised and renamed Strategic Health Authorities in 2002. Dorset was part of Dorset and Somerset SHA. In 2006 regions were again reorganised and Dorset came under NHS South West until that was abolished in 2013. There were two Primary Care Trusts for the area: Bournemouth & Poole Teaching PCT and Dorset PCT.

Primary care

There are 100 GP practices in the county.

Healthwatch Dorset, an organisation set up under the Health and Social Care Act 2012 to act as a voice for patients, organised mystery shopping in Spring 2014, visiting every practice to see how easy it was to make a complaint. Their report was generally favourable.^[1]

Public health

In 2012 public health responsibilities were transferred away for the NHS to local authorities. Public Health Dorset was established as a partnership of Bournemouth Borough Council, Poole Borough Council, and Dorset County Council.

Relations between providers

In 2011 Dorset County Hospitals Foundation Trust stopped providing services in community hospitals operated by Dorset Healthcare University Foundation Trust. They had run outpatient clinics, surgery and radiology in six of the hospitals run by the community and mental health provider but said they would save £2.5 million a year by doing so. This was in response to a 3% reduction in activity commissioned by NHS Dorset.^[2]

Reorganisation

Proposals to merger Poole Hospital NHS Foundation Trust with Royal Bournemouth & Christchurch Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust in order to save money were blocked by the Competition Commission in 2013. Both trusts said they were "deeply disappointed" and felt the merger was the best option to ensure "high-quality hospital services to local people".^[3]

The Clinical Commissioning Group launched a major review into the way healthcare is provided across the county in October 2014. They are spending £2.75 million on the review and have hired a consortium of consultants, headed by McKinsey & Company. The Dorset Health Campaign has slammed the cost of the review and the appointment of the consultants, and has said it fears there will be increased privatisation in the service in Dorset following the review. The CCG says it does not have the specialist skills, experience, capacity and expertise to deliver a major Clinical Services Review of this kind and that the cost is less than 0.3 per cent of the annual budget of the CCG.^[4]

Voluntary organisations

Macmillan Caring Locally is based in Dorset, supporting cancer patients in the county.

See also

• Category:Health in Dorset
• Healthcare in the United Kingdom

References

External links

• Public Health Dorset
• Dorset Clinical Commissioning Group
• Healthwatch Dorset