Consultations, surveys and events

The NHS is working to improve how health services are delivered so that people can access the right care more quickly, more easily and closer to home. These changes are needed to respond to growing demand on services, an increasing population, and the rising number of people living longer with complex or long-term health conditions.

Community urgent care services play an important role in helping people get the right care, in the right place, at the right time when they are unwell or injured but do not need emergency care. In Birmingham and Solihull, these services include Urgent Treatment Centres (UTCs) and GP out-of-hours services.

However, patients and the public have told us that these services can be difficult to understand and access, with differences in opening hours, locations, appointment systems and the range of care available. This can cause confusion and, at times, lead people to attend hospital emergency departments when they could be treated elsewhere.

To address these challenges, the NHS is investing in new Urgent Treatment Centres at hospitals and reviewing existing community urgent care services across Birmingham and Solihull. This review looks at how services can be more consistent, easier to access and better aligned to the needs of local communities - now and in the future.

We are now seeking views on two possible options for how community urgent care services could change. Both options aim to improve people’s experience, make better use of NHS staff and resources, and support national plans to strengthen care closer to home while reducing pressure on hospitals. Each option would improve services in different ways and in different areas.

No decisions have yet been made. We want to hear from local people. Patients, carers, NHS staff, community organisations and residents are encouraged to explore the information on this webpage and share their views to help shape the future of community urgent care services in Birmingham and Solihull.

Health and care services in Birmingham and Solihull have been working together to improve mental health care for children and young people in our area and are now calling for comments on their proposed plans.

Services have listened to feedback from children, young people and their parents and carers, as well as staff and others involved in children and young people’s mental health care across Birmingham and Solihull – this feedback has shaped the plan for the way we will deliver our services in future.

Your comments matter to us and will help us shape the future for how we will deliver mental health care for children and young people.

If you would like to comment on the improvements please complete our feedback form: https://forms.office.com/e/EL2J0J9xMk.

If you cannot access the form, you can email: bsmhft.jointcommissioningteam@nhs.net. 

Should you need any assistance with the documents or would like it in a different language, please call the Mental Health Provider Collaborative Team on 07985 882 137.

More information is available here.

The NHS in Birmingham and Solihull has launched a review of its provision of Urgent Treatment Centres (UTCs) across the city and borough.

There are currently six UTCs – five in Birmingham and one in Solihull.  UTCs provide urgent medical help when it is not a life-threatening emergency. Open at least 12 hours a day, every day, UTCs offer appointments that can be booked through NHS 111 via the telephone and online and are equipped to investigate, diagnose, and deal with many of the most common injuries and illnesses that many people attend hospital Accident & Emergency departments for.

The review of UTCs will help strengthen urgent and emergency care for citizens, reducing pressure on hospitals and supporting the Government’s vision to provide more services closer to people’s homes within the community. 

To assist the review, the public is being urged to share their thoughts and experiences of current UTC services in Birmingham and Solihull.  You can share your views until 5 March 2025 via this survey.

To help us improve our local services, we would like to hear from people who have been a vasectomy (male sterilisation) patient in Birmingham and Solihull in the last three years. Please follow the link to our SurveyMonkey survey and share your views today. The survey will close at 5pm on 6 July 2023.

In 2022, Birmingham and Solihull Integrated Care System launched a six week engagement period on the dementia strategy for Birmingham and Solihull. The engagement period closed on 17 July 2022.

The strategy will aim to enable all people with dementia and those who care for them, to have the best possible health and social care support through their dementia journey.

Visit our dementia strategy page here to learn more

During November 2019, patients of Dyas Road Surgery were invited to share their views on the surgery’s proposal to move to Warren Farm Health Centre.

Relocating to Warren Farm Health Centre, where the local Urgent Care Centre is also based, the provider felt would enable them to offer better services for patients. The centre has both off-street and on-street parking facilities, with a bus stop outside for the number 33 route. The centre also offers ground floor access with a clean, light and airy reception and waiting room.

Clinical rooms are fitted out to modern standards from where we will offer a range of appointments and services delivered by GPs, nurses, healthcare assisants and other allied health professionals.

The two-week engagement period ran from Friday 1 November until Friday 15 November 2019.

Throughout January, College Road Surgery proposed to move to Sparkhill Primary Care Centre on Stratford Road due to the then current property not being fit for modern general practice. Parking and disabled access was difficult to improve and the fabric and layout of the building would require major investment in order to meet the standards required by the Care Quality Commission.

The provider felt that relocating to Sparkhill Primary Care Centre would enable the practice to offer better services for patients. The centre has both off-street and on-street parking facilities, with a bus stop outside for various bus routes. The centre also offers ground floor access with a clean, light and airy reception and waiting room. Clinical rooms are fitted out to modern standards from where a range of appointments and services will be offered, delivered by GPs, nurses, healthcare assIstants and other healthcare professionals.

The engagement period for College Road Surgery closed on Friday 7 February.

Patients and the public were invited to share their views on proposed changes to 12 health treatment policies for those living in Birmingham, Solihull and Sandwell.

This was the third phase of NHS Birmingham and Solihull Clinical Commissioning Group and NHS Black Country and West Birmingham Clinical Commissioning Group’s harmonised clinical treatment policy project; which esured that commissioning policies were consistent with the most up-to-date published clinical evidence in order to prioritise treatments proven to be clinically effective, as well as stopping unwarranted variation for patients across Birmingham, Solihull and Sandwell.

Dr Geoff Naylor, Lead Planned Care GP, said: “Treatment policies are designed to provide fair, consistent and transparent access to treatment for patients. 

“Clinical Commissioning Groups have finite resources and are required to ensure treatment policies are evidence-based, achieve best clinical outcomes for patients and provide the most cost-effective use of NHS resources. 

“Our treatment policies have been developed to be informed by the most up-to-date clinical evidence, best practice and clinical opinion nationally. During this engagement period, we would really value and appreciate feedback from the public to ensure our next phase of treatment policies are as clinically robust as possible for our local patients.”

The six-week engagement period ran from Thursday 5 September until Friday 11 October 2019.