The proposals - known as the Black Country Sustainability and Transformation Plan -involve making some common sense changes to services so that local people get the treatment they need as quickly as possible.
Andy Williams, Black Country Sustainability and Transformation Plan Lead, said:
"In the Black Country and West Birmingham we have a diverse and changing population and demand for health and care services is growing and evolving. We need to work together to meet these challenges within a tight financial envelope. The Sustainability and Transformation Plan enables us to do this in a way we could not do as individual organisations.
"Today we are publishing our plans and highlighting the ways that they will benefit local people. This is the start of a conversation about these plans with partner organisations and our population. We will be engaging with local people in more detail as our proposals develop.
"By tackling waste, improving standards and working together, we can avoid a potential increase in health costs of over £413 million per year by 2021. This will give better value to the taxpayer, equivalent to £680 a year for every household in the Black Country and West Birmingham."
Local people can expect to see a number of changes happening in their area:
Maternal and infant health:
- The NHS in the Black Country and West Birmingham will reduce current high levels of infant mortality to bring it in line with the national average, avoiding the death of 34 babies a year - the equivalent of one child every eleven days.
GP and community services:
- With an extra £25m invested in primary care services by 2021, an extra 25,000 appointments a year will be made available at your GP practice.
- All children under 5 and adults over 75 will be guaranteed same day access to GP appointments, meaning 200,000 people will be able to see a family doctor when they need to. This will be rolled out across the Black Country and West Birmingham by 2021.
Hospital services:
- The new Midland Metropolitan hospital will bring hospital services together in one place to treat over 570,000 people in a state-of-the art building.
- Over 1,000 people a month who turn up at A&E will be able to have their problem assessed and treated by a GP, reducing waits and improving care.
- By 2021, over 100,000 people will be saved a trip to hospital for their outpatient care, with more treatment offered in local GP surgeries and health centres.
- By bringing all cancer services up to the standard of the best, cancer one year survival rates will reach over 70 percent in the Black Country and West Birmingham.
NHS 111
- From November 2016, by ringing one telephone number, the 1.4m people who live in the Black Country and West Birmingham will be able to book a doctor's appointment, in the evening and at the weekend, get dental advice, order a repeat prescription, or get urgent health advice.
The full Black Country and West Birmingham Sustainability and Transformation Plan can be found at Type=links;Linkid=7771;Title=Better Health and Care in the Black Country and West Birmingham;Target=_blank; or by viewing the PDF download. Also available is a public guide to the STP which can also be viewed as a PDF download).
Local residents will be invited to have their say on the proposals through a comprehensive programme of engagement, beginning with a public event on Tuesday 6 December at Bethel Convention Centre, Kelvin Way, West Bromwich, B70 7JW. To book onto the event contact SWBCCG.engagement@nhs.net.
The following organisations have been invited to contribute to the development of the Black Country Sustainability and Transformation Plan - Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council, Dudley Clinical Commissioning Group, Dudley and Walsall Mental Partnership NHS Trust, The Dudley Group NHS Foundation Trust, City of Wolverhampton Council, Wolverhampton Clinical Commissioning Group, The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust, West Midlands Ambulance Service, NHS England, Black Country Partnership NHS Foundation Trust, Birmingham Community Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust, Birmingham City Council, Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospitals NHS Trust, Sandwell and West Birmingham Clinical Commissioning Group, Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council, Walsall Metropolitan Borough Council, Walsall Clinical Commissioning Group and Walsall Healthcare NHS Trust.
- released: Monday 21 November, 2016
Statement from the City of Wolverhampton Council
The Sustainability and Transformation Plan is due to be presented to members of the City of Wolverhampton Council's Health Scrutiny Panel on 24 November and Wolverhampton's Health and Wellbeing Board on 30 November.
Councillor Roger Lawrence, Leader of the City of Wolverhampton Council, said: "We are pleased that Black Country NHS colleagues have published their draft Sustainability and Transformation Plan.
"We are aware that nationally, many have stated that the process of developing the Plan should have been more transparent. The council will discuss the draft content at its Health Scrutiny and Health and Well Being Board in November.
"We will work with our NHS colleagues to ensure that the interests and views of the people in the City of Wolverhampton are represented as more local details of the plans are made available.
"While we endorse the idea of health and social care services working more closely together, we feel the STP does not recognise the chronic underfunding of both the NHS and local government. We also note that changes to patterns of service delivery are not made explicit and we are anxious that any such changes are subject to proper and extensive further consultation."