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consultation on changes to health services in Trafford

Posted by Kate Green, MP for Stretford and Urmston, at 11:20, Fri 2 November 2012:

The consultation on changes to health services in Trafford closed this week. The NHS say they'll now review all the submissions they've received, and publish the conclusions. You can read my response by clicking the following link: http://www.kategreen.org/?p=4920

I understand why there need to be changes to the way healthcare is provided here in Trafford. We're all living longer, good news, but it's putting increasing demand on our NHS and social care.

And too often, the services needed simply aren't available. Older people suffering from dementia are trapped in hospital because the care to look after them isn't available in the community, when many would be happier and healthier living at home. Stroke patients are waiting months for the speech and language therapy and physiotherapy they need to be able to look after themselves, and get out and about. We all know that keeping older people mobile is absolutely crucial to their overall health, but where will the resources come from for podiatrists who perform a vital role?

The most complex conditions are best treated in specialist units, with highly trained staff and all the right equipment. That's already begun to happen across Manchester, and survival rates for some serious illnesses are improving as a result. Many cancer or stroke patients now recover, return home and get on with their lives - but they may also need ongoing support and care at home, and there are real concerns about the lack of the services needed to support early discharge from hospital.

We could do much more to treat some diseases, like diabetes or asthma, earlier and better. That would help prevent complications, keeping people healthier and out of hospital. But where will we get the nurses to help with early treatment of these conditions? Tory cuts are biting in the NHS. More than 6000 fewer nurses work in the NHS than when the government came to power, 1728 fewer in the North West. With fewer nurses working in the NHS, who is going to help an asthmatic child who develops breathing problems overnight? If we can't get support to that family quickly, it's natural that worried parents will rush their child to A&E.

David Cameron promised 3000 more midwives before the general election. He hasn't kept that promise, yet newly qualified midwives can't get jobs.

Funding for sexual health services for young people is under pressure. That means services like the clinic at the Talkshop in Sale will find it difficult to get the resources for education programmes that help deter young people from having sex before they're ready, or taking risks which can lead to an unwanted pregnancy or a sexually transmitted illness.

And we need to close the shocking gap between the health of the better off and the poorest. In Trafford, men living in the richest parts of the borough have a life expectancy more than 10 years greater than in some of the poorest areas, like Partington and Old Trafford in my constituency. It can't be right that where you live determines how long you live.

So my top priority is a proper system of integrated, preventative, community-based care. Right now, the NHS is spending huge amounts of money providing crisis care in hospital, simply because we haven't invested enough in preventing people needing to go into hospital in the first place. There's a real need to start redirecting more resources to preventative care.

But I'm worried that we are a long way from being able to do that. Trafford Council has announced budget cuts of £34 million over the next 2 years. What impact will that have on the re-ablement services that enable people to get out of hospital quickly and recover at home? Our community services are out to tender, and could be broken up or privatised. How's that going to help integrated care?

We are spending a fortune picking up the pieces in the NHS, when we ought to be investing more in preventing problems occurring in the first place. That's why I support redirecting more resources to develop a model of integrated care. And that does mean the design of health services in Trafford needs to change. But we can't remove hospital services without guarantees that the community provision is in place. We can't make changes in Trafford in isolation from changes in other parts of Greater Manchester. And when there's an emergency, the ambulance service needs the resources to get us to hospital quickly, A&E departments must have the resources to treat patients quickly, and the expert staff must be on hand to ensure specialist treatment can be provided without delay.

There are significant concerns about delays in receiving emergency treatment if the changes proposed to A&E at Trafford go ahead. There have been absolutely no guarantees of adequate resources to enable other A&E services to take up the slack if patients can no longer go to Trafford, and no guarantees of extra resources for North West Ambulance Service. Meanwhile, local GPs are concerned that reduction in A&E services will lead to more patients presenting at overstretched GP surgeries, who won’t have the capacity to cope.

So there are still far too many question marks about the proposals. Without cast-iron assurances that the changes will keep people out of hospital longer and save lives, they simply cannot go ahead.

Kate

Kate Green MP Labour Member of Parliament for Stretford & Urmston Shadow Minister for Women and Equalities t: 0161 749 9120 f: 0161 749 9121