PCT - robust defence of town hall car park operations

Heywood, Middleton & Rochdale Primary Care Trust (HMRPCT) has responded to criticism of the plan to perform general surgery in a mobile unit on the car park at Rochdale Town Hall.

A spokeswoman said: “The services which will be provided from the mobile units are in addition to - not instead of – similar services in Rochdale Infirmary. These new services will reduce waiting times, provide faster testing and treatment and free up appointments in hospital for more complex cases.

“The Units are part of the Greater Manchester Clinical Assessment & Treatment Service (CATS). This is a one-stop-shop approach to some non-urgent conditions – assessment, diagnosis, tests and minor treatment all in one appointment whenever possible and within a maximum of four weeks from being referred.

“They will visit Rochdale 4-5 days every two weeks and then move on and the units will be open from 7.45am until 8pm which gives patients the opportunity of being seen outside of normal 'hospital' hours. The units will be state of the art, purpose built facilities which are for use across the whole of Greater Manchester – hence the need for mobility - and will incorporate MRI and CT scanners. We hope to be able to invite local people to visit the units before the service is introduced in December this year to show their high quality and the benefits of choosing to be seen in them.

“CATS will provide specialist-led services in Ear Nose and Throat, Orthopaedics and Rheumatology, Gynaecology, Urology and General Surgery. Not all patients will be able to use the CATS Service (there is a clinical assessment which will determine individual suitability). For those who can, it will be their own choice and will be offered by their GP or they can specifically request a CATS referral. However, if patients prefer to be referred to the hospital then they are free to do so.

“Only minor procedures will be undertaken in these units – there will be no general anaesthetics for patients. The CATS service will be required to meet the highest clinical standards with patient safety being of paramount importance and will only provide minor procedures.

“In relation to 'LIFT' buildings being 'surgery services' then it is correct to say that the larger centres will provide a range of services and this will include minor non-specialist procedures. CATS services are specialist-led and their inclusion in new LIFT developments will be considered once patient uptake of them has shown that it is viable.

“The PCT’s record in terms of delivering more care closer to home is excellent. We recently introduced other local CATS services for eye and skin conditions from local health centres and GP surgeries, we are consulting on new GP surgeries in four of the most deprived areas in the Borough, our programme for building new health and social care centres is moving along rapidly – Deeplish will open later this year and construction will start on two new centres – one in Heywood and the other in Wardleworth and Hamer – in the next few weeks. We have also opened an innovative GP service in a supermarket which opens in the evenings and on weekends and introduced extended opening hours in several GP practices.

“CATS services are specifically designed for non-urgent, high volume specialities which are being located in purpose built mobile units in the centre of town where patients can access them easily either by public or private transport at times which best suit them."

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