Consultation on changes to service at Rutland Memorial Hospital finds people want longer hours and walk-in service

The majority of Rutlanders are happy with proposed changes to the same day urgent care service in Oakham, but want longer hours and a walk in service, a consultation has found.

The area’s integrated care board carried out a county wide survey to gauge the views on proposed changes to the same day urgent care based at Rutland Memorial Hospital, which would see the existing separate Minor Injuries Unit and Urgent Care Service replaced with a single Minor Illness and Minor Injuries (MIMI) unit.

The proposal is for the new service to be open seven days a week, from 1pm to 9pm.

However, while happy with the amalgamation, the plans to drop a walk-in service and make visits appointment only and without morning opening hours are not so popular with users.

The results of the survey, which was run by the Leicestershire, Leicester and Rutland Integrated Care Board (LLR ICB), were shared for the first time at the health and wellbeing board held at Rutland County Council on Tuesday (June 17).

There were 1,334 people across 54 towns and villages within Rutland who filled in the consultation, which Jo Rider, insights manager at the ICB said was a huge response, and the consultation model, which involved social media, community meetings and schools will be used as a method for future surveys. Of the respondents, 86 per cent agreed that one combined minor illness service was better than the current two services. But only half agreed that the proposed 1pm-9pm opening hours were the most suitable. A quarter of respondents wanted a morning service as well.

Jo Rider said: “There is a concern that we need longer opening times than those proposed and the need for a walk-in facility available as well.”

Deputy chief operating officer at the ICB Debra Mitchell said now the consultation results were in they would be analysed.

She said: “We will get the working group [that came up with the proposals] back together and we will review the findings. We will listen to what we have heard and then we will need to match that against the strategic direction for urgent and emergency care across LLR, the economic case and the clinical case for the population. We will then come up with a final model. That model will then need to be translated back into the business case, which will need to go through the governance process of the ICB and get signed off and we will then publicise to the public.

“There is also a capital scheme that goes with this, with an upgrade of the facilities, if this goes through. The business case for that will be going through the council in September of this year. It is likely that any new model will be in place before we have completed the capital works, but that is fine - we will have a transition plan.”

The funding for the capital works will come from the county council and Leicestershire Partnership NHS Trust (which runs the Rutland Memorial Hospital).

She said the ICB would be able to ‘take some account’ of the feedback and comments but not all of the things users asked for ‘will be in our gift'. She said there was not much they heard from residents that they did not expect.

Chairperson of Rutland Healthwatch Janet Underwood said she felt there was some ambiguity in some of the questions in the survey, and so urged the ICB boss to look at the comments. She also said there were concerns currently about the NHS 111 service, which is being proposed as a way to book appointments (along with at GPs).

She said: “It seems to me that Rutland people have said what they want. They want the services combined, but they want more opening hours, they want longer X-ray facilities and they want a walk in service.”

In response Debra said the new service would have to fit in with other services provided in the wider area: “We can’t have so different a model in Rutland that it does not fit with any other service within our area.”

She said the model they have come up with spends the same amount as has been spent on the two services out of Rutland Memorial Hospital, and there were no savings required.