Two Members of Parliament have heard more about the benefits which joining up health and social care services will bring to patients during a visit to a new health campus in Lowestoft. 

Oliver Letwin, Minister for Government Policy, and Peter Aldous, MP for Waveney, visited the Kirkley Rise development in Economy Road on 7 October 2013.

L – R: Cllr Mary Rudd, Tessa Lindfield (director of public health, Suffolk County Council), Mark Bee (leader of Suffolk County Council), Peter Aldous MP, Oliver Letwin MP, Andy Evans (chief executive of Great Yarmouth and Waveney Clinical Commissioning Group) and Dr John Stammers (chairman of Great Yarmouth and Waveney CCG).

The visit was arranged by Suffolk County Council, Waveney District Council, HealthEast, the clinical commissioning group for Great Yarmouth and Waveney, and NHS Property Services. It was organised to give health and social care staff the chance to explain how they are working more closely together to provide local people with joined up, easy to access services under one roof.

The visit was arranged for Mr Letwin, who is also MP for West Dorset, after Mr Aldous toured the Kirkley Rise site earlier in the summer.

Andy Evans, chief executive of HealthEast, said: “Providing joined up services focusing on the circumstances of individual patients is central to all our plans for the future. To do this, health organisations must work ever more closely with our social care and district colleagues.

“We were pleased to be given the opportunity to explain more about our plans to integrate health and social care more closely while regenerating the Economy Road area of Lowestoft.”

Oliver Letwin MP said: “I am really grateful to Peter Aldous for inviting me to come and see what is going on in Lowestoft. It is enormously encouraging to see the various parts of the public sector working so closely together to join the dots together, so that people in the town get better services and better value for the taxpayer’s pound.

“This is exactly the sort of cooperation that the Government is backing around the country — and Suffolk is a shining example.”

Peter Aldous MP said: “It is very important that in future NHS organisations, such as HealthEast, and the councils work together to integrate health and social care services. In doing so, they will be able to offer people better and more easily accessible care, very often from under one roof. The Kirkley Rise development will offer a full range of such services to the people of Lowestoft and I’m grateful to HealthEast, Suffolk County Council and Waveney District Council for explaining how they are working so innovatively together.”

Cllr Colin Law, leader of Waveney District Council, said: “At a time when we must make the very best use of resources available to us, partnership working like this will genuinely provide better outcomes for our local communities. I am delighted that a Government Minister was able to see this innovative approach in action.”