Cuts to children’s ops to go ahead
HEALTH: Proposals to stop evening and weekend children’s operations at three regional hospitals because of a lack of staff are still due to go ahead – despite bosses at the affected sites failing to support the plans.
PROPOSALS TO stop evening and weekend children’s operations at three regional hospitals because of a lack of staff are still due to go ahead – despite bosses at the affected sites failing to support the plans.
The chief executive of Barnsley Hospital has warned “there is no evidence current arrangements are unsafe”, while bosses at the other hospitals in Chesterfield and Rotherham have separately raised concerns about costs and whether the changes will reduce clinical confidence in their sites.
NHS bosses in the region are to decide on whether to back proposals to axe some unplanned out-of-hours children’s surgery and anaesthesia services at Barnsley, Chesterfield and Rotherham hospitals on June 28.
While the final business case is yet to be made public, a spokesman for the Commissioners Working Together group behind the proposals said: “If approved, the proposals would also see some unplanned, out-of-hours children’s surgery and anaesthesia services being delivered in a more planned and consistent way across the region, with a small number of operations no longer being provided at Barnsley, Chesterfield and Rotherham Hospitals.”
Officials say sending affected child patients to Sheffield, Wakefield or Doncaster instead is being suggested because of a lack of qualified doctors and nurses to serve all of the sites.
But none of three affected hospitals has fully backed the proposals after concerns were raised by doctors and patients. Almost 800 people have signed a petition to retain Barnsley’s current service.
Diane Wake, chief executive of the Barnsley Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, said: “Clinical staff from anaesthetics, paediatrics and surgical specialities have expressed concerns about the proposed changes. A strong view has been expressed that there is no evidence that current arrangements are unsafe or resulting in inferior outcomes.”
While the consultation documents state the changes may reduce surgical activity in Barnsley by 10 per cent, Ms Wake said some initial data had suggested it could result in a 40 per cent cut and the latest position is that up to 20 per cent of operations may be affected. She said if that is the case, “the trust would not be able to support the proposals as there would be a detrimental impact on our anaesthetic team’s competence to manage children”.
Dr Gail Collins, the medical director at Chesterfield Royal Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, has said while making no changes “is not realistic or tenable”, a model sharing resources across all the affected hospitals should be pursued instead.
Chris Holt, the chief operating officer at Rotherham NHS Foundation Trust, said while it supports the proposals in principle, it is concerned about “the level of investment required to implement the proposed changes”.
A business case has been developed by Commissioners Working Together, a partnership between the eight local clinical commissioning groups.
Des Breen, medical director for the partnership, said: “We’ve been constantly talking with our hospitals throughout the review process, and more recently on their specific questions raised as part of the consultation.
“We’ve taken all questions into account and the final business case, which is due to be published at 10am on June 28, addresses these. The business case also responds to what patients and the public have told us, with all information and proposals due to be discussed and a decision made by the joint committee of CCGs.”