Yorkshire Coast Health Inequalities "a Real Priority"

Councillors have discussed the “worse health outcomes and inequalities” facing coastal communities.

Members of North Yorkshire Council’s health scrutiny committee have discussed coastal health infrastructure and funding gaps facing the expansion of primary care services.

At the meeting on Friday, September 8, Humber and North Yorkshire Integrated Care Board staff told the committee:

“There are already worse health outcomes and inequalities on the East Coast… and for us it is a real priority.”

An ICB staff member said:

“Scarborough and surrounding areas are high up on our risk radar because we know there are worse health outcomes and we absolutely need to get into real conversations with people and find out how we can support them.”

It followed a discussion on whether the funding of local health facilities, especially in rural communities, was keeping pace with housing developments where residents rely on local GP practices.

Depending on the size of housing projects, developers may be required to make financial “S106 developer contributions” but these can only be used “to increase primary care floor area to mitigate against the increased population”.

Councillors raised concerns about the funding gaps and whether current policies were adequately addressing shortfalls.

Speaking at the meeting, Cllr Michelle Donohue-Moncrieff, said that before April’s local government reorganisation

“there was an allocation in Filey for additional healthcare and that has now been lost.”

The Hunmanby and Sherburn representative said:

“Surgeries are at capacity now, so what is going to happen to primary care and how do you envisage it?”

The head of estates of the Integrated Care Board said:

“If we think about planning contributions, it will invariably not cover the whole cost of new health developments.”

It follows concerns raised by the councillor about a “lack of clarity” on the ICB’s plans for the area when it comes to new housing developments.

Speaking to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, a spokesperson for the NHS Humber and North Yorkshire Integrated Care Board said:

“We work closely with health and care partners, including local authority colleagues to plan NHS services for our local populations.

“All housing and estate developments are assessed for their impact on local primary care services.

“The ICB is notified of all planning applications and then takes a view on the level of increased population and the capacity within local GP practices.”

The spokesperson added:

“Working alongside North Yorkshire Council there is a robust process in place to seek S106 contributions.

“Where these agreements are in place, developers have a duty to contribute towards mitigating any impact as a result of increased population.

“Any funding through these arrangements can be used towards capital and estates projects to increase the floor area within primary care.”

The meeting at County Hall in Northallerton came two months after it emerged the NHS had lost out on £273,783 of funding that a housing developer had agreed to pay towards a pioneering health campus in Catterick Garrison after failing to justify why it needed the money.

As councillors expressed frustration over residents’ struggles with getting primary care appointments, NHS managers did not refer to the Catterick issue, but did concede planning was not their core business and developers were “very adept at negotiating”.

They added it was important they utilised “the skills of their partners to get the best deal”.

NHS officials said the organisation had not “always been aligned” with planning teams and the complex ownership of GP surgeries made funding developments difficult.

Independent councillor Michelle Donohue Moncrieff told the NHS officials residents were reeling from the “lack of delivery of services”.

She said:

“You cannot guarantee people’s healthcare will not be worse as a result of housebuilding.”

The NHS manager replied alternative models as to how healthcare is delivered were being examined, such as providing a more holistic, preventative approach and that some services could be sited in leisure centres or libraries.

She said:

“We have grown very fond of the model where we have multiple smaller surgeries, but they are becoming quite difficult to staff.”

Councillors said while the best outcomes often came from face-to-face appointments, NHS managers said “the reality is digital options will be used more in future”.