Consultation on the Future Provision of General Practice out of Hours
Belfast Health and Social Care Trust undertook a consultation on the future provision of General Practice Out of Hours. On basis of the feedback received during this process, while there are clear benefits to centralising this service on one single site, the Trust will not proceed with the proposal at this time. The Trust may wish to revisit this decision at a later stage, but this would be subject to further consultation.
The GPOOH service will proceed with a Multi Disciplinary Team approach, supporting GPs and creating Primary Care Out of Hours. This will help to ensure our patients can access the right care from the most appropriate clinician. The Trust also plans to work with DOH and Pharmacy to explore options for the development of electronic prescribing. This would remove the need for patients to collect paper copies in person.
A feedback report has been produced with more detail on the consultation process and the proposed next steps. In response to the feedback we received, the Trust also plans to take more widespread promotion to explain the difference between GPOOHs, phone first and day time General Practice services. The Trust will continue to promote the full range of urgent and emergency care services available to patients in the Belfast area, and to share information on which service to access and when. The Trust wishes to thank everyone who took part in the consultation and provided invaluable feedback.
Disability and Equality Action Plans
Belfast Trust, in partnership with our Health and Social Care Trust colleagues in the region, have worked collaboratively on the development of their new five year Disability Action Plan and Equality Action Plan (2024-2029) which actions and initiatives to address section 75 inequalities, improve equality of opportunity, promote positive attitudes for disabled people and improve their participation in public life.
The actions in the plans have been shaped by an audit of inequalities, engagement with experts by experience and key stakeholders and formal consultation. The Consultation Feedback Report details how the feedback we received shaped the Plans.
The Trust looks forward to working in partnership to ensure there is regional consistency across all the Trusts, resources are maximised and best practice is shared. The Trust would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who contributed to the Plans.
The Trust will report annually on our progress against the Plans via our S75 Annual Progress Report to the Equality Commission for Northern Ireland (ECNI), which is submitted at the end of August each year and is available on their website or by contacting the Trust Planning and Equality Team on equality.team@belfasttrust.hscni.net.
- Disability Action Plan 2024-2029
- Equality Action Plan 2024-2029
- Consultation Feedback Report 2024-2029
- Equality Action Plan Easy Read
- Disability Action Plan Easy Read
Equality Impact Assessment on Belfast Trust Implementation Plan to close Muckamore Abbey Hospital
Belfast Trust would like to thank all those who took part and responded to this consultation. The scope of the consultation focussed on how to implement the closure of Muckamore Abbey Hospital, through resettlement of the patients and management of staff in the best way for all concerned. We recognise the importance of engaging and involving people with significant lived experience.
The Trust has diligently considered all the responses received and the feedback provided at our different engagement events during the 5 month consultation period – all of which have informed this outcome paper and the summary paper. These have been shared firstly with our Trust Directors, and subsequently, with our Trust Board on 12th June 2024 and have been approved for publication.
The summary paper will also be made available in easyread; a local social enterprise is taking this work forward.
- Equality Impact Assessment on Belfast Trust Implementation Plan to close Muckamore Abbey Hospital Outcome Report
- Equality Impact Assessment on Belfast Trust Implementation Plan to close Muckamore Abbey Hospital Summary Paper
If you require an easy read version of the Implementation Plan to close Muckamore Abbey Hospital Summary Paper please contact the Trust Planning and Equality Team: equality.team@belfasttrust.hscni.net
As well as always encouraging our stakeholders to get involved in Belfast Trust consultations we also wish to encourage you to view and get involved in Department of Health consultations. You can find information about current and previous consultations on the Department of Health website.
The Department of Health is committed to working with stakeholders and those with an interest in its work and engages with a wide range of representative groups and individuals to obtain views which contribute to formulating policy and making decisions.