Public consultation on the Future of Acute Hospital Services in Worcestershire started on Friday, January 6th 2017.
Under the plans being put to public consultation all three main hospitals, the Alexandra Hospital in Redditch, Kidderminster Hospital and Treatment Centre and the Worcestershire Royal Hospital will remain open but will work differently in future.
The main difference would be the separation of planned and emergency care and the centralisation of where children stay in hospital and where women have their babies in hospital.
Under the plans most planned operations would take place at the Alexandra and Kidderminster Hospitals which would allow the Worcestershire Royal Hospital to concentrate on caring for the sickest patients and those who need emergency operations.
By separating planned and emergency care the NHS believes it can reduce waiting times and the number of cancelled operations.
The clinical model being put forward in Worcestershire proposes moving:
- Most planned orthopaedic surgery from Worcestershire Royal Hospital to the Alexandra Hospital
- Some planned gynaecology surgery from Worcestershire Royal Hospital to the Alexandra Hospital
- More planned surgery – eg breast surgery from Worcestershire Royal Hospital to the Alexandra Hospital
- More ambulatory care (Medical care provided on an outpatient basis including diagnosis, observation, consultation, treatment, intervention and rehabilitation) from Worcestershire Royal Hospital to the Alexandra Hospital
- More day case and short stay surgery to Kidderminster Hospital
- All hospital births from the Alexandra Hospital to the Worcestershire Royal Hospital
- Inpatient children’s services from the Alexandra Hospital to the Worcestershire Royal Hospital. (Out patient and urgent services for children with minor and moderate illnesses will remain at the Alexandra Hospital)
- Emergency surgery from the Alexandra Hospital to the Worcestershire Royal Hospital
Irrespective of the changes 95% of people would continue to receive their care in the same hospital as now and 80% of children who currently receive their treatment at the Alexandra Hospital would continue to do so.
Both Accident and Emergency Departments would remain open 24-hours a day but due to the transfer of inpatient children’s beds, the A&E at the Alexandra Hospital would be for adults (over 16 years old) only. Both the Alexandra and Worcestershire Royal Hospitals would have new Urgent Care Centres which would treat adults and children with minor and moderate illnesses and injuries. Diagnostic tests and outpatient appointments would take place in all three hospitals, as now.
The formal consultation started on Friday, January 6th 2017 and all the consultation material and dates of drop in sessions is available online at http://www.worcsfuturehospitals.co.uk/
The consultation will run until midnight on Thursday, March 30th 2017.