Proposals for future of A&E expected in the New Year

HEALTH bosses will not reveal more details about the future of A&E at Macclesfield Hospital until a consultation in the New Year.

NHS partners trying to make savings in emergency care were looking at an option to close A&E at Macclesfield Hospital and downgrade it to an urgent care centre. But after a major campaign led by the Express and backed by four Cheshire MPs, bosses from Caring Together which is planning the review backed away from the proposal, stating that A&E will remain.

Health secretary Jeremy Hunt has now confirmed the A&E is safe.

But some residents and community leaders remain cautious, asking for more detail about exactly what will remain in the department.

The Express has asked representatives from Caring Together for assurances that no services will be lost.

But a spokesman said there will be no further details until proposals have been finalised in the New Year. No publication date has yet been set for these.

He said: “Detailed options for the future shape of health and social care services in Eastern Cheshire will be published in the New Year. Public engagement will then take place.”

Dr Paul Bowen, chairman of Eastern Cheshire CCG and member Caring together, spoke about local healthcare at a meeting of the Make it Macclesfield business forum this week.

The Express asked him what the A&E department could be like in the future, but he gave no details, stating that ‘A&E means different things to different people’.

He said: “We’ve committed to try and find a model with A&E at the centre. A&E means different things to different people.

“It’s a place of safety 24/7, that’s what we want to maintain at Macclesfield. How it will work will be different in different A&Es.

“It’s a place for 24/7 care, that’s what A&E means for me.”

MP David Rutley told the meeting that he has met with health secretary Jeremy Hunt who confirms that the A&E will remain.

A petition at parliament.uk/petitions/ 171296 now has more than 10,000 signatures, enough for the government to issue a response.

Health providers in Cheshire and Merseyside need to save £909m by 2020 and it’s not clear where the cuts will be made.