A PIONEERING scheme has been launched that could transform GP care in Hampshire.

Doctors in 27 practices across the county will team up with nurses, hospital specialists, therapists and other community-based professionals to provide a more joined-up service.

The Multi-Specialty Community Provider (MSCPs) project was approved today by NHS bosses along with around 30 others designed to improve healthcare, who will all share cash from a £200m fund.

It was created in partnership by GPs in the New Forest, Gosport and Petersfield alongside Southern Health NHS Foundation Trust.

The scheme was created to try to reduce pressure on hospitals, particularly emergency departments, and provide greater access to hospital treatments in community settings.

Katrina Percy, pictured below, chief executive of Southern Health NHS Foundation Trust, said: “Recent pressures on acute hospitals across the country demonstrate that current models of care are just not fit for the changing needs of our population. Too many people are spending too long in hospitals when with the right support they could remain in their own homes.

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“The MCP model is our best hope to transform the way we deliver healthcare in Hampshire so people get the right care, at the right place and time.”

Dr Nigel Watson, managing partner of the Arnewood Practice at New Milton and chief executive of Wessex Local Medical Committee, said he was delighted the bid was successful.

He added: “I believe this is about a sustainable, out-of-hospital model, which needs fill the void between acute care and general practice.

“This is about working with GPs, consultants, commissioners, therapists, local authorities and the third sector and our local hospice and finding a single delivery model to be able to achieve the aims we want to deliver. This is about better services for patients, for the NHS and for General Practice.”

The project has been supported by West Hampshire, South East Hampshire and Fareham and Gosport Clinical Commissioning Groups, which govern GP services in their areas, as well as Hampshire County Council and local voluntary groups.

Dr David Chilvers, Chair of Fareham and Gosport Clinical Commissioning Group, added: “We now have a superb opportunity to develop a new approach locally which can stop those frustrations – we can design services to fit in with the lives of our patients, not simply to fit in with the way the NHS has always worked.”

Despite the approval, a date has not yet been set for the project to be rolled out.