A community diagnostic centre has opened at Ripon Community Hospital.
The £1 million centre aims to provide Ripon residents with faster access to checks, scans and tests for a wide range of health conditions.
It has the capacity to deliver more than 27,000 checks a year and will enable Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust to offer more appointments for tests, reduce waiting times and make it easier for the local community to access diagnostic services closer to home.
The centre offers services to people who have been referred by their GP for conditions including musculoskeletal problems, lung conditions, cardiovascular conditions and hearing issues.
A number of services have not been available at Ripon Community Hospital before, including ultrasound, echocardiography, audiology, blood tests, ambulatory blood pressure monitor fitting, electrocardiogram (ECG), spirometry (breathing and lung function tests) and tests for asthma.
Later this month, a new x-ray room will be opened in the centre using the latest diagnostic imaging technology that can capture and processes images faster than current equipment, which will reduce waiting times.
Located on the ground floor of the hospital, the centre will initially be open five days a week from 8am to 6pm, with plans to expand to seven days a week by the end of 2024. The x-ray service once opened will be available seven days a week.
Matt Graham, director of strategy at Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust said the centre would provide “a huge benefit for the people of Ripon and the surrounding area”.
He added:
“It is a significant step forward in improving the range of diagnostic tests available in Ripon and it is helping us improve access to healthcare for our rural population. People now have the opportunity to have tests completed on their doorstep rather than having to travel further afield.
“We have been working closely with GPs in Ripon since the start of the project so that we can streamline access to our community diagnostic centre for those people who need it.”
Wendy Balmain, NHS Humber and North Yorkshire Integrated Care Board director for North Yorkshire, said:
“This is fantastic news for people living in Ripon and surrounding area and will mean they will have convenient access to a wide range of diagnostic tests.
“It’s a revolution in the way patients access diagnostic services and will speed up the detection of many serious illnesses, meaning patients can start their treatment and recovery much sooner.”
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Chatsworth House dental patients in Harrogate to be offered alternative NHS provision
NHS dental patients at Chatsworth House Dental Clinic, in Harrogate, will be offered treatment at alternative NHS practices next month.
Chatsworth House, on King’s Road, announced in September it would stop providing NHS treatments from December 1.
The move heightened concerns about the lack of access to NHS dentistry in the Harrogate district.
It prompted Andrew Jones, the Conservative MP for Harrogate and Knaresborough, to seek assurances from the Integrated Care Board for Humber and North Yorkshire that local NHS provision would be expanded.
Mr Jones said today he had been told any patient on Chatsworth House’s roll in the last two years will be sent a letter by the NHS next month explaining where the new provision will be available.
Subject to the terms and conditions of their contract, any former NHS patient who has signed up for private services with Chatsworth House can apply to a new provider.
Mr Jones said:
“This is good news for NHS patients at Chatsworth House. It was important that the cash provided for NHS dental activity at Chatsworth House remained invested in Harrogate NHS dentistry. I am grateful to the ICB for ensuring this is the case.”
Mr Jones said more than 50 Chatsworth House patients had contacted him.
The ICB letter to Mr Jones said:
“We have written to eligible dental providers in Harrogate to invite them to submit an expression of interest in taking on more dental activity. This EOI went out week commencing 30 October and providers have been given two weeks in which to respond.
“Once EOIs are received, officers at the ICB will then consider all EOIs in order to allocate the dental activity. As soon as new providers are confirmed, the ICB will ensure that patients from Chatsworth House are written to, explaining where they may be able to find an alternative dentist.”
Mr Jones added he had “longer term aspirations for dentistry in our area:, adding:
“I want to see a centre of dental excellence for North Yorkshire based in Harrogate. This will train the next generation of NHS dentists and could help provide more capacity locally. I have also met two dentists locally who are looking to expand their practices and put them in touch with people in the NHS who can help with that. These discussions look very positive.
A review of NHS dentistry in August 2021 also found that there was just one NHS dentist practice per 10,000 people in the Harrogate district.
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GPs ‘extremely concerned’ about new housing in Harrogate
NHS managers have objected to plans for 49 homes at Kingsley Farm in Harrogate and warned that the town’s health infrastructure has “very limited capacity”.
The homes, which have been proposed by Quarterly Kingsley Ltd, are earmarked for the north and north east of the site off Kingsley Road.
The developer said in a planning statement submitted to Harrogate Borough Council the scheme would help to offer a “sense of place”.
However, Nick Brown, of the NHS Humber and North Yorkshire Integrated Care Board, has objected to the plan.
In a letter to the council, he warned GPs were “extremely concerned” about further development within Harrogate.
He said:
“As primary care providers, the GPs and primary care networks are extremely concerned regarding any proposals for further residential development within Harrogate.
“The existing health infrastructure in Harrogate already operates above optimum capacity and has very limited capacity to absorb additional pressures.
“Primary care and community services within the area are already running at, or far beyond their existing capacity.”
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The Kingsley area has seen multiple planning applications lodged to build houses on Kingsley Farm, including a revised proposal for 162 homes by Persimmon Homes.
Residents in the area have long held concerns about the amount of housebuilding in the area and its affect on traffic, noise and loss of green space.
Harrogate Borough Council will make a decision on the Kingsley Farm proposal at a later date.
NHS objects to planned 1,300-home development on Ripon barracksNHS managers in North Yorkshire have objected to a proposed 1,300-home scheme on the Ripon barracks site due to funding concerns for local healthcare.
The scheme, which has been submitted by government housing agency Homes England, would see houses built on the site off Clotherholme Road.
The Clotherholme development would encompass Claro Barracks, Deverell Barracks and Laver Banks.
The proposal was submitted to Harrogate Borough Council in September 2020.
However, in a letter to the authority, NHS Humber & North Yorkshire Integrated Care Board has objected to the plan.
Andrew Dangerfield, head of primary care transformation at the organisation, said the method used by Homes England to assess healthcare need as a result of the new homes was “at odds” with the NHS.
He added that the developer had offered “zero” section 106 contributions to help mitigate demand as a result of increased population due to the scheme.
Mr Dangerfield said:
“The ICB is concerned about Homes England’s overall approach to health, they have sought to provide zero S106 contributions towards the provision of healthcare infrastructure on a development of significant scale (circa 3,000 people), using a methodology which is at odds with the NHS commissioners and local healthcare partners.
“The ICB, who has direct expert knowledge of the local surgeries in the area and is responsible for the commissioning of healthcare services have consistently outlined that the existing practices do not have capacity to absorb the population created by the 1,300 homes coming forward as part of this application, and therefore have requested mitigation in the form of a S106 contribution.”
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Mr Dangerfield added that should no contributions towards healthcare be made, then the development “cannot be considered sustainable”.
In October 2020, NHS North Yorkshire CCG – which preceded the integrated care board – said in a letter to the borough council that it was seeking £553,128 from Homes England in contributions to health.
The Stray Ferret has asked Homes England to comment on the concerns, but had not received a response by the time of publication.
The planned homes in Ripon will include a significant number of two- and three-bedroom mid-range houses and will include apartments in the centre.
It also includes a community centre, employment space, shops, parkland, a new primary school and sports facilities.
A decision on the scheme is expected to be made by Harrogate Borough Council at a later date.