If you need to be seen by a healthcare professional, would you rather travel further for a specialist appointment, but be seen quicker, or wait longer, but be seen locally? This is just one of the questions that the people responsible for buying NHS services in Cambridgeshire and Peterborough will be asking local people as part of The Big Conversation.
Funding for healthcare across Cambridgeshire and Peterborough is under pressure. More people are using NHS services locally and resources are limited.
At the moment, the local NHS is buying more than it can afford which means that some difficult decisions need to be made about the services it can afford to provide in the future.
The Big Conversation has been created to help Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG), who buy the healthcare services in the local area, to understand what is most important to the local community.
The CCG has an annual budget of £1.3 billion to deliver healthcare services to 980,000 people across Cambridgeshire and Peterborough. This includes funding for hospitals, GP services, pharmacies, mental health services and much, much more.
Dr Gary Howsam, local GP and Chair of Cambridgeshire and Peterborough CCG said “Whilst £1.3 billion may sound like a lot of money, it sadly isn’t enough to deliver all of the healthcare services that we would like. If our current budget was shared equally across our whole population it would amount to £1,125 to spend per person each year and we are currently operating at a deficit of £75 million, which means significant savings must be made. Which is why we need to make sure that money is spent in the best way possible.
“To help us to make decisions about the services and treatments we purchase in the future, we are asking our local community to share their views on what matters most to them and about some key areas with us. The responses to these questions will be used to create a set of principles that will inform our future plans, so it is really important everyone gets involved and has their say.”
The CCG will be holding an event in Ely:
- 26th November 6pm – 7.30pm at Ely Cathedral Conference Centre, Palace Green, Ely CB7 4EW.
To help people get involved in The Big Conversation the CCG will be holding a series of events in key locations across Cambridgeshire and Peterborough. However, if people are unable to make it to an event, they can still have their say by completing the survey online. Fill in our survey here
More information about The Big Conversation can be found online at bit.ly/NHSBigConversation
Press release from The Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Clinical Commissioning Group
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