Airdrie & Coatbridge Advertiser
Orthopaedics service appraisal to help pick NHS event in choice of Monklands or Hairmyres
The decision on whether Monklands or Hairmyres Hospitals will host Lanarkshire’s elective orthopaedic services will come a step closer next month as the health board conducts an option appraisal event.
Clinical staff and public representatives – including invited patients, carers and charity and voluntary organisations – will assess whether the Airdrie hospital or its East Kilbride counterpart would be the best location as the long-term home for planned surgery.
It follows the health board’s decision to switch from having orthopaedic surgery at all three of Lanarkshire’s acute hospitals, moving towards a long- term plan of having all trauma surgery at Wishaw and an elective unit for all planned surgery at one of the other two locations.
Elective orthopaedics was moved out of Monklands in November 2016 as an interim move ahead of a final decision on the location.
Now the appraisal event will see the respective options scored in relation to criteria such as safety, quality, patient convenience and workforce availability, with the results being put forward for consideration by the NHS Lanarkshire board later this year.
Dr Jane Burns, the health board’s medical director for acute services, said: “We have already seen benefits for patients with a safer and more sustainable service since we moved to two sites.
“The next step is to move to a centre of excellence for trauma and one for planned orthopaedic elective surgery. which will bring further improvements to patients both in terms of clinical outcomes and the effective use of highly-skilled staff.”
Health board officials say patients are “spending less time in hospital and have fewer cancelled operations” since the move to two sites – which also “facilitated a range of improvements to surgical services, including other specialties at Monklands”.
Members of the public were asked for their views on whether Monklands or Hairmyres should be the long-term elective centre in a 2016 consultation following NHS Lanarkshire’s interim decision.
Officials added: “All three acute hospitals will continue to have consultantled emergency departments with access to emergency surgery and medicine, supported by critical care, diagnostics and outpatients.
“Most patients with an injury will continue to be seen at the emergency department (ED) of their local hospital; and for all orthopaedic patients, most of the care they receive is as an outpatient, which will continue to be delivered at each of the EDs.”
Airdrie’s parliamentarians Neil Gray MP and Alex Neil MSP have urged residents to support Monklands Hospital’s bid.
Mr Gray said: “A new hospital with a purpose built orthopaedic department is the best option. People need to attend the event and make it abundantly clear that NHS Lanarkshire should locate the centre of orthopaedic excellence at Monklands.”
Mr Neil added: “I will be encouraging all interested parties to take part in the event on March 20.
“I firmly believe that the elective orthopaedic centre should be located here. Surely the planned new state-of-the-art Monklands is the best place to house this facility?”