‘Radical’ recommendation could see A&E offered at one hospital site

Rochdale Infirmary

A report carried out by the National Clinical Advisory Team (NCAT) has suggested a radical change which could see emergency hospital care being provided at just one site in our region.

This could see Accident and Emergency Services lost at hospitals including the Rochdale Infirmary.

The review of the Healthy Futures programme has found that the programme is not stretching far enough.

The Healthy Futures programme, agreed in 2007, is a partnership between The Pennine Acute Trust and its four primary care trusts: NHS Bury, NHS Heywood, Middleton and Rochdale, NHS Oldham and NHS Manchester.

At this stage the report is just a recommendation and it isn’t known where the centralised unit will be based.

The future of the Rochdale Infirmary’s A&E department which is closed between 6pm and 8am may now hang in the balance. Other hospitals which could be affected are the Royal Oldham Hospital, Fairfield Hospital in Bury and North Manchester General Hospital.

NCAT’s focus is the delivery of clinical services, the evidence base, professional recommendations for improved practice and the process required for better outcomes.
Their report, carried out by Alastair Wass and Tony Giddings says: “The trust should prepare a radical strategy to realise the long-term objectives of the Healthy Futures programme bearing in mind the rapid further changes likely in specialty development, workforce numbers, service improvement, effectiveness and governance.

“This should include assessment of the radical option to meet the demand for future emergency care in emergency medicine, general surgery, vascular surgery and interventional radiology on a single site.

“The theoretical benefits of such a solution will however need to be assessed when the current proposals have been implemented and exhausted.”

A spokesman for The Pennine Acute Hospitals NHS Trust said: "We welcome the National Clinical Advisory Team (NCAT) Report into Healthy Futures. The report confirms that the Healthy Futures proposals remain correct, and that the need is now for urgent implementation. The report also confirms that the need for strategic change in how hospitals services are provided across the north east of Greater Manchester is now stronger and more urgent than when the decisions were made four years ago. We will now move with all speed to implement the agreed changes.

"The report comments on a more radical option to provide emergency care from a single site and that this should be assessed when the existing Healthy Future plans have been implemented. Our primary aim is to make sure that the plans that have already been agreed are implemented and we will do this first before considering any further changes.

“We await the outcome of the decision by the regional strategic health authority on the recommendations set out in the report.”

The Patients Council have also welcomed the report. They feel it echoes the concerns they have had for some time in regards to the lack of co-operation and joined up working between the various partners.

Barbara Allen of the Patients Council notes the NCAT review is implying one site for Emergency Medicine and Surgery Services, which is more radical than that that the Patients' Council would recommend, who have long held a view that Manchester generally has too many hospitals, and therefore vital services are stretched too thinly, and in the North-East Sector of Manchester have long debated the possible benefit of two hospitals rather than four located in Oldham and Bury.

Sir Jonathan Asbridge, Programme Director for Healthy Futures, says: “We welcome the NCAT report which we are studying to ensure the recommendations are implemented with our partners.”