Future for Rochdale Infirmary set out

Rochdale Infirmary

Plans to remove services provided at Rochdale Infirmary have been announced by The Pennine Acute Hospitals NHS Trust.

Rochdale Infirmary will see acute inpatient services, including inpatient paediatrics and maternity, move out. The Trust's preferred date for these service transfers is April 2011. However, it is possible that this timescale will need to be extended if alternative facilities need more time to be established. September 2011 is the latest date being considered.

Rochdale Infirmary will continue to provide a range of services including day surgery, out-patient and ante-natal clinics, access to allied health professions e.g. Physiotherapy, Occupational therapy etc, Radiology including CT, MR and all of the current radiology modalities as well as an Urgent Care Centre (UCC), with the most serious cases being taken to neighbouring A&E departments.

The Ophthalmology service currently based at Birch Hill hospital will transfer to the Infirmary site.

The Trust will work closely with local GPs and the local primary care trust, NHS Heywood, Middleton and Rochdale to establish a new service for the assessment and care of medical patients referred by GPs.

John Saxby, chief executive of The Pennine Acute Trust, said: “The timescale for implementing the agreed changes at Rochdale Infirmary has always depended on the ability to maintain safe services and capital building solutions. The difficulties we face in sustaining safe clinical services have recently become more evident. We have had to divert 999 ambulances from Rochdale Infirmary overnight because of medical staff recruitment difficulties in A&E. We face similar and worsening staffing difficulties in Anaesthetics, Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Paediatrics, Medicine and Surgery.

“Our Clinical Directors (the senior doctors who manage our services) have asked that they be allowed to plan for full implementation of the agreed reconfiguration programme and that all the service changes be made at the same time rather than drawn out in a series of moves. This gives certainty to patients, the local community, partner agencies and our staff. The Trust will now begin the detailed planning for this rapid but orderly transition.”

Dr Anton Sinniah, Consultant physician and clinical director of unscheduled care for Rochdale Infirmary, said: “Patient safety is the Trust’s highest priority. Clinical services are currently unsustainable at Rochdale Infirmary where in some areas we have more temporary than permanent staff. The Trust cannot continue to provide safe and high quality inpatient services at the Infirmary without the full complement of permanent doctors to fill rotas. We have continued our concerted efforts to recruit doctors but this has proven unsuccessful. Healthy Futures always set out to move inpatient services from Rochdale Infirmary. We now have to make those changes sooner rather than later to make sure our patients are not put at risk. If we do not plan to make these changes we may be faced with unforeseen, unplanned and unpredictable emergency closures.”