CCB invites anyone living in rural Berkshire to share their experiences of accessing local healthcare services. We want to hear your stories of how easy or otherwise it is to see a local dentist, register with a GP, have a prescription filled or attend an out-patient’s appointment. We don’t need to know the details of your medical history, only your experiences of accessing services.

Why are we interested in this?

The short answer…:

We would like to see rurality recognised as one of the wider determinants of health: a range of social, economic and environmental factors which impact on people’s health. This would bring a greater focus on the location of health services in relation to where people live and ensure that issues such as outreach, accessibility, digital inclusion and rural isolation are on the agenda of the local health authorities.

The slightly longer answer…:

Anyone doing a little research into rural health and social care will find many articles that highlight issues that need to be resolved. Organisations such as the Royal College of Nursing, the Rural Services Network, the British Medical Association and the Nuffield Trust have all recently published articles exploring rurality and its impact on health outcomes and service accessibility.

Some suggest a review of the funding formula is required to address the higher cost of delivering services in rural areas. Others advocate for investment in recruiting more staff in rural areas. These ideas, and others, may be effective solutions, but they are long-term and require action at a national level. What can be done at a more local level to improve rural health outcomes?

Most articles on the issue of rural healthcare sooner or later come across the issue of data availability that can help shed light on the nature of rural populations and the accessibility of the services they rely on. ‘Rural’ is quite hard to define and statistics are rarely available at a fine enough granularity to understand the specifics of sparsely populated areas. Most studies seem to conclude that a better understanding of the unique nature of need in different communities is necessary, and that different places require their own solution.

‘Integrated Care’ is the new structure for health services and replaces the old network of Clinical Commissioning Groups. Integrated Care Systems have been created, governed by Integrated Care Boards, each of which has established an Integrated Care Partnership that brings together healthcare professionals, service users, charities and local authorities to inform service delivery. There are 42 Boards in England, with Berkshire split between NHS Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire West (West Berks, Wokingham and Reading) and NHS Frimley (Bracknell Forest, Slough and the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead).

Each Board is responsible for creating its own Integrated Care Strategy, and there is little evidence that the issue of rurality features within the emerging local strategies. If we are to have any success in changing this, we need to be able to tell the stories of people living in rural Berkshire: how our health and wellbeing outcomes could be improved by rural-proofing local strategies and improving access to healthcare in rural communities.  

We will soon publish how you can get involved with helping us understand this issue further. In the meantime, if you have any comments on this topic, please email us at admin@ccberks.org.uk