Jul 11th, 2012

NHS Events in Cornwall

By Sondhya Gupta

photo by m3cfa

From St Mary’s in the Isles of Scilly through Bude and to Liskeard, 38 Degrees members all over Cornwall are meeting with Kernow Clinical Commissioning Group to help shape the decisions about the future of our NHS.

The government’s NHS changes have put crucial decisions about the future of our health care in the hands of leading GPs. These leading GPs along with other healthcare professionals form Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs). It’s these groups that will have the power to decide the services you will have access to locally, and whether they will be provided by our NHS or by private companies will be decided by CCGs.

These meetings are a chance to find out what they’re planning – and to let them know that we’re watching

It’s a time of uncertainty for our NHS. A lot depends on local GPs and on local pressure to get them to do the right thing.

That’s why, when 38 Degrees members voted on what we should do next to protect our NHS, focusing on GPs came right at the top. If we work together, we can ensure GPs use their new powers to protect our NHS.

After attending a CCG meeting, 38 Degrees member Beryl said, ‘The organisors were intrigued as to what 38 Degrees was as there were 43 of us compared to the 6 non 38 Degree-ers! A mixture of practitioners and NHS users with a common response that the proposed changes were driven by political decisions. The proposed principles were largely fine but there was scepticism that they could be funded properly so they would be undeliverable… Cross communication with all agencies and ‘need to see’ e-communications seem crucial. Local groups need to constantly monitor the effects of these changes and harangue the MP wherever appropriate’.

This is a great opportunity for us to get down to business in Cornwall. Can you attend one of the meetings in Cornwall and be take part in safeguarding our health service?

If you can’t make it to a local meeting, can you take part in Kernow CCG’s survey?

Are there any CCG meetings happening in your area?