Island Life Magazine Ltd February/March 2015 | Page 28

INTERVIEW
Island is stretched, and so are lots of other
areas in the country. A document recently
produced by the NHS, called the ‘Five Year
Forward View’, says there are some key
things that need to be done.
“Prevention is one, because the
health of the public is leading to an
increase in demand. We are seeing
an increase in obesity that leads to all
sorts of other conditions like diabetes,
which puts significant pressures on
the NHS. We need to make sure those
preventative areas are addressed. In many
places smoking has become socially
unacceptable, but obesity and drinking
hasn’t. Over a lifetime we can make sure
people experience less illness by living a
healthier life. People are also living longer,
with a number of long term conditions
and often need more care later in life.
“There is a lot we can and are doing to
try to solve some of these problems. We
are actively promoting with our partners
that the Island is a great place to live and
work, because it’s about getting people
here in the first place. Once they are here,
many of our staff love it and stay. We
need to make a career on the Island more
attractive to professionals.
“We are supporting GP practices to work

How the Island’s funding is spent
In the last financial year the Island’s
CCG received £205million, of which
around half went to acute care - funding
operations and patients in hospitals
here as well as Islanders who received
treatment on the mainland. For example
if someone from the Island has a knee
replacement in Southampton, the
Island’s CCG gets the bill.
Primary Care funding includes about
£26million on drugs that are prescribed
for Island residents in Primary Care,
and a further £26million goes into the

more closely together in a collaborative
–called One Wight Health – to help them
support each other to remain viable and
make their services as safe and effective as
possible. We are working in collaboration
with the Isle of Wight NHS Trust, the Isle
of Wight Council and a wide range of
voluntary and community organisations
to deliver an integration programme – My
Life a Full Life – which is supporting staff
delivering health and social care to work

community - for the likes of district
nurses, physiotherapists, podiatrists and
speech therapists.
Around £11million is spent on
continuing care, for patients whom the
NHS take responsibility for in health and
social care - people who are very ill; have
a lot of issues; and are in nursing homes,
or are supported at home by carers.
A further £22million is spent on
mental health services, and £3million
on running the organisation.

more closely together and improve the
experience of people who need services.
There is also a focus on self-care and selfmanagement to educate people to take
ownership of their own care and reduce
the pressure on NHS services.”
Caroline said: “If someone has a long
term health condition this needs to be
managed every single day. A doctor is
there maybe 10 or 15 minutes every
now and then, so the doctor cannot
take responsibility for everybody’s care
- the individual has to be supported to
take responsibility for their own care.
We also have to work with the public
about different ways of accessing health
care and giving them the information
to choose the right service at the right
time so that they are able to navigate the
health service much better.
“The Isle of Wight NHS is lobbying
nationally for recognition that delivering
NHS services on the Island with a
relatively small population is more costly
than on the mainland and can not be
managed just through ever greater
efficiency. We are asking that this is
recognised in our financial allocation.”

Primary & Secondary Care
The core Primary Care contract is
commissioned by NHS England,
and embraces GP practices, dentists,
opticians and community pharmacy.
CCG also commission GPs for work
over and above their core contract.
Secondary Care is care in the
hospital.

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