My reaction to Trafford General Hosptital announcement
Posted by Kate Green, MP for Stretford and Urmston, at 09:10, Fri 12 July 2013:
Good morning,
By now, almost everyone in Trafford will have heard the news that health secretary Jeremy Hunt has agreed to the proposed changes at Trafford General Hospital, on which the NHS held a public consultation last year.
The A&E will be downgraded, first to an urgent care centre, and in due course to a minor injuries unit. Opening hours will reduce. Other services will also cease to be available at Trafford General, though some treatments, like day surgery, ophthalmology and orthopaedic surgery will be carried out at the Trafford General site.
We’ve been expecting news about the secretary of state’s decision for some time now. We know he’s been sitting on the advice of the independent reconfiguration panel since the end of March.
Today, local people know the worst.
At the beginning of this year, Andy Burnham set out his vision for district general hospitals like Trafford. It’s a vision I strongly support.
I’ve always said that I want my constituents to have access to the best possible care, as close to home as possible.
When a serious emergency occurs, or people need expert or specialist care, I want them to have access to specialist centres, and to the most expert staff and latest equipment. I want to see more investment in preventative services to keep people out of hospital and healthier longer.
I strongly support the vision for integrated care in Trafford, which will enable more people to be looked after at home, or get back home quicker to recover after treatment. I was impressed at what I saw when I went to visit the new integrated services that have been developed in Trafford so far – but much more investment is needed, and there is much more to do.
So I am deeply worried about today’s announcement.
We already know our NHS is in crisis. The A&Es at MRI and Wythenshawe missed their waiting time targets in at least 30 weeks out of 35 over the winter months.
Central Manchester continues to breach the target. Wythenshawe is currently meeting it, but its A&E was built for 70,000 patients a year, and it’s already coping with over 100,000. It desperately needs new capital investment to pay for expansion of facilities there.
Cuts to local authority budgets for social care are piling up more problems for our hospitals. Trafford council has cut services for older people by almost 10%. The cut in the supporting people budget is approaching 30%.
That means people can’t be discharged back home to recover, leading to “bed blocking” - which in turn means A&E units can’t get patients admitted to the wards.
Which builds up more delays in A&E.
The out of hours 111 service has been a disaster. It had to be withdrawn just hours after it launched.
We’ve lost more than 1000 nurses in the north west.
And we know that more changes to health services in greater Manchester are still to come.
Next year, the NHS will be consulting on its “Healthier Together” programme. That may well mean further cuts to hospital services. We don’t have the details, but it could put even more pressure on hospitals like Wythenshawe and MRI.
I’ve looked at the advice of the Independent Reconfiguration Panel in relation to changes in Trafford. It’s crystal clear: in line with current Department of Health policy, alternative services should be in place before changes are made to existing services.
But we are told Trafford has a £19m funding black hole. So where will the money come from to put these new services in place upfront?
Will the secretary of state promise we will have the money we need?
What guarantees do we have that services will not deteriorate during and after the transition?
How will the secretary of state decide whether A&E waiting targets are being “consistently” met?
And what are the criteria for determining whether to downgrade to a minor injuries unit at Trafford General? Will local people have a say?
Jeremy Hunt has promised to meet me, and these are questions I will be asking him in person. He has been pretty elusive up till now – refusing to meet me, or neighbouring MPs – palming us off on junior minister Dan Poulter instead.
He didn’t even give us prior notice that he’d be making his statement in parliament today.
But he can’t avoid responsibility for the decision he announced this morning.
And my job will be to hold him to account.
Kate Green Member of Parliament for Stretford and Urmston
Shadow Spokesperson for Equality
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