The public will now be able to give their opinion regarding the future of patient care at Benjamin Court after a consultation was launched. Benjamin Court has recently been criticised over its intention of removing beds from the facility. Among the options that have been availed to the facility include development of a new supported care service. This would mean bringing in two intravenous therapy beds and/or chairs, eight, palliative care beds, more outpatient clinics and six discharge to access beds.
The NHS North Norfolk Clinical Commissioning Group’s chief operating officer, Antek Lejk, has stated that they have made proposals with regard to the future of the health care facility that are both exciting and realistic and it was now time for the people to also pitch in. He said that they wanted to hear what people had to say so they could make decisions that were in line with the needs of both the people of North Norfolk and those of the facility. He added that the plans they were making were all about moving forward and they were trying to provide more.
A health and community support hub also features in the plans stated in the consultation document. This would be comprised of various non-bed and bed based services from both the NHS and voluntary sector. This means that end of life care support would be provided for patients, their families and their care givers. There would also be support provided for people who were still able to live independently. A GP at Staithe Surgery Stalham and chair of North Norfolk CCG, Anoop Dhesi stated that it was important to ensure that the current and future provisions had what was needed to meet the needs of the ageing population while also making optimal use of resources provided by the NHS. For people who needed to be in the hospital, he added, bed-based care was always going to be there but it was also important to ensure home-based care is also taken into consideration.
The NHS North Norfolk CCG is in charge of running the consultation. They are doing so with engagement from the Cromer Town Council, a steering group and others. An event will be held at Cromer where the public will get a chance to give their opinions on the proposal. The date, time and location for this event will be announced at a later date.