The APOH Programme is now closed.
Consultation
The NHS in Bexley, Bromley, Greenwich and Lewisham faces some difficult choices. We need to make better use of your money to provide high quality services and treatments that better meet the needs of the community. In order to make these decisions we have asked the local population for their views on proposals to improve local NHS services.
To find out more about the proposals read our consultation document
We have received around 11,000 responses to the public consultation. Responses were made via the paper and online questionnaires, and other views were sent to us via letter, email and messages left on the freephone number. These responses were reviewed independently by Imperial College.
Imperial College's analysis of the consultation responses will be available from
20 June and will be published on this website shortly thereafter. See our Events
page for details of the Public Consultation Feedback event
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How people got involved
Throughout January, the consultation document was delivered to over 700,000 households and businesses in Bexley, Bromley, Greenwich, Lewisham and some parts of West Kent and Southwark.
Documents were also available to pick up from health outlets, i.e. GP practices, pharmacies, dental practices and opticians, and community outlets e.g. libraries, youth centres and leisure centres.
The consultation document was also available in Braille, audio and easy read versions, and in other languages on request.
Four public road show events took place in Bexley, Bromley, Greenwich and Lewisham, in February 2008. These consultation events covered both A picture of health and Healthcare for London. Members of the public could drop in to discuss the reasons behind the proposals, receive key information on both consultations and talk to representatives from the local Primary Care Trust.
The four Primary Care Trusts also ran a number of borough based events, for local patient groups, community organisations, faith groups, partner organisations and the general public.
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Assessing the impact of the options
We have commissioned an Integrated Impact Assessment (IIA), from independent experts Professor Sue Atkinson and Matrix Insight, to consider the impact
of each of our three proposed options on the affected population. This includes
the potential impact on traditionally under represented groups, and builds on the work undertaken previously by the preliminary pre-consultation Equalities Impact Assessment.
This recent IIA answers two key questions:
- what are the key impacts, particularly in respect of equalities, health inequalities, and the carbon footprint?
- how can we prevent or minimise any negative impact?
In addition to this, a review has been commissioned from another independent expert company, ORH, to assess the impact of each option on travel times for patients. This review:
- assesses the impact of each of the options on travel times for patients, both for those patients arriving by ambulance, and for those using public or private transport
- identifies any geographical areas where travel times will be significantly increased - to enable the Programme Team to consider actions to mitigate against these e.g. requesting better public transport links.
A steering group, chaired by an independent lay chair and with patient representation is overseeing the work on IIA. We would like to express our thanks to the patients who have given up their time to help us complete this vital piece of work.
Click here to view the presentation on the work in progress on the draft IIA report, that was presented to the Joint Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee on 20 May 2008.
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Next steps and taking the decision
The Joint Committee of PCTs will take into account the views from the public consultation, a refreshed version of the business case, assessment of the impact on journey times, along with the findings from the integrated impact assessment as part of taking the decision on changes to services. They will also consider the views from the Joint Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee response.
They will meet in June and July to consider the evidence gathered during the consultation and then take a decision.
Dates and venues for these meetings will be advertised in the local press and on this website. Meetings will be held in public.
For a presentation on the next steps in the process please click here
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Glossary
Click here to view a glossary of terms used in our consultation document and Pre-Consultation Business Case.
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