Update on our services

Changes to our commissioned services in Buckinghamshire will come into effect from 1 January 2025. Please read on to understand the details of an announcement to be made shortly by the Integrated Care Board (ICB), the NHS commissioner of hospice care services in Buckinghamshire.

Please read on to understand the details of changes to be made by the Integrated Care Board (ICB) which is the NHS commissioner of hospice care services in Buckinghamshire. 

The Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire West Integrated Care Board (BOB ICB) has announced a change to the way it commissions hospice care services, which will take effect from 1 January 2025.  

Hospice at Home and palliative community services will be provided by the three main local hospice care providers in Buckinghamshire: Rennie Grove Peace, Buckinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust (Florence Nightingale) and Thames Hospice.  

The aim of this is to ensure that everybody who needs hospice care will receive high quality joined-up care, with a single hospice provider working alongside GPs and district nurses to deliver continuity of care.  

As a result of the BOB ICB decision each hospice care provider will be responsible for delivering services to the patients of specific Primary Care Networks (PCNs). PCNs are groups of GP practices that work together to serve their local community.  

In Buckinghamshire Rennie Grove Peace will be delivering Hospice at Home services to patients who are registered with the following GP practices: 

Arc Bucks Primary Care Network 

Millbarn Medical Centre 

Highfield Surgery 

The Marlow Medical Group 

Cherrymead Surgery 

The Simpson Centre 

Bourne End & Wooburn Green Medical Centre 

Mid Chiltern Primary Care Network 

Rectory Meadow Surgery 

Amersham Health Centre 

John Hampden Surgery 

Hughenden Valley Surgery 

The Practice, Prospect House 

Chesham and Little Chalfont Primary Care Network 

The New Surgery 

Watermeadow Surgery 

Gladstone Surgery 

Little Chalfont Surgery 

The Chalfonts Primary Care Network 

The Hall Practice 

The Misbournes 

Calcot Medical Centre 

Which hospice care provider will deliver services in my area?  

If you are not registered with one of the GP surgeries in the PCNs that Rennie Grove Peace will be serving, your hospice care provider will be as follows:  

The Buckinghamshire Health Care Trust (Florence Nightingale) service provision will now provide care in the PCNs covering High Wycombe, Stokenchurch, Bedgrove, Wendover, Aylesbury, Princes Risborough, Thame, Long Crendon, Chinnor. This includes: 

  • Dashwood PCN 
  • Cygnet PCN 
  • The Swan PCN 
  • Westongrove PCN 
  • Aylesbury Central PCN 
  • Phoenix PCN 
  • Central Maple PCN 
  • North Bucks 

The Thames Hospice service provision will now provide care in the PCN covering Iver, Stoke Poges, Slough, Burnham and Denham: 

  • South Bucks PCN 

The changes officially take effect from 1 January 2025.  

New patient referrals are already being allocated to the relevant providers. 

Existing hospice at home patients will not automatically be transferred to a new provider when the changes take place. The three providers will work together, in consultation with individual patients and their families, to decide whether it is in the best interests of the patient to stay with the existing care provider or transfer to the new one.  

Across the region, each provider (Rennie Grove Peace, BHCT-Florence Nightingale and Thames Hospice) has been commissioned to deliver the same service within their allocated areas. This means that all patients can expect the same consistent experience when accessing hospice care.  

By having a single provider in each area, care can be managed more efficiently by the GP, District Nurses and palliative care team and ensure those who are referred into the service have a regular and familiar point of contact.  

 

Referral and access to inpatient care remains unchanged. Those being cared for by Rennie Grove Peace will continue to be referred to their closest or most convenient inpatient units at BHCT Florence Nightingale, Thames Hospice or Hospice of St Francis.  

Our previous contracts have only been awarded for one year at a time. However, this contract is for three years. This gives all three providers more security, certainty and continuity to deliver the very best care for our patients.  

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