The wonderful team of volunteers and trustees that makes up the Friends of Fareham Community Hospital kindly welcomed me for the day, giving me a unique insight into their valuable work at the Hospital.
Fareham Community Hospital is a fantastic local facility but it is clear that it can be put to more and better use. Opened in May 2010, the 2700sq ft hospital, it provides some great services such as physiotherapy, occupational therapy, MRI, AAA (Abdominal Aortic Aneurism) Screening, Phlebotomy Booking Service and blood testing and a Dementia Support Group. In addition, Brook Lane GP Surgery hold occasional clinics within the Hospital.
Whilst it is obviously a modern and well-equipped Hospital, I receive a lot of letters from constituents who struggle to get an appointment with a GP within 2 weeks, or have had to travel to QA for routine check ups and minor injuries. Given that our local population is steadily increasing, it would make a lot of sense to make more use of Fareham Community Hospital and I wholeheartedly support a plan to make it a minor injuries unit with adjoining maternity and elderly wards. I am concerned that there is no breast cancer screening unit at the Hospital too, meaning that residents in the Western Wards have to travel to Whiteley Shopping Centre or Portsmouth. I believe that this is unacceptable since the mobile unit could very easily locate itself onsite on specified days. In addition, overnight beds at the Hospital would help to ease pressure on existing services.
This issue gathers particular significance in light of the proposed closure of Bitterne Walk-In Centre. Patients from the Fareham area, mainly Lockswood, Whiteley and Brook Lane GP practices - account for 5.5% of the walk-in attendance, ie nearly 1000 attendances per year. There is currently a consultation so that their views are known: www.southamptoncityccg.nhs.uk/consultations.
I have been in touch with Fareham and Gosport CCG and note that they do not currently plan to expand the use of Fareham Community Hospital. Instead, they are keen to explore alternative out-of-hospital care structures, such as Multi-Speciality Community Provider (MCP), as part of the Vanguard project, involving an extended team of GPs and other specialists offering easier access to a wider range of health and care within the community. This will mean extending primary care teams to include other health and social care professionals thus reducing the number of steps it takes to access specialist support and better local care.
During my time at Fareham Community Hospital, I helped out with the Dementia Support Group, or "Memory Group" for people with dementia and their carers, supported by the Alzheimer's Society. The group, on Monday afternoons between 1-3pm, offers support and friendship. There's no need to pre-book, just drop in to enjoy tea, coffee and a chat.
I also noted the difficulty in accessing the Hospital by bus. Although the Friends have campaigned for a local bus service to be inaugurated from Warsash village which would stop in Brook Lane at or near the Hospital, they have been advised that it is impractical to operate such a service. Bus services (X4 and X5) are available a short walk away from the hospital, turn left out of the hospital entrance and walk for about 5 minutes to the Park Gate ESSO service station traffic island intersection. Bus stops are provided at the left side of the island for travel in both directions.
Part of my work is to keep speaking up on behalf of Fareham residents when it comes to trying to get a better deal with Fareham Community Hospital and local bus services. I will keep you updated here.
