Accident and emergency services could be axed at Rochdale Infirmary, Fairfield Hospital and North Manchester General, we can reveal.
A team of government experts – who have examined a shake-up of health services in the areas – have called for radical change which would mean emergency medicine and some types of emergency surgery should only be offered at one site.
The National Clinical Advisory Team (NCAT) scrutinised the Healthy Futures plan – a £38m shake-up of hospital care in north east Greater Manchester – and ruled it does not go far enough.
Healthy Futures was agreed by the local PCTs in 2006 and approved by the previous government in 2007. It included measures to downgrade the A&E unit at Rochdale Infirmary next year and stop emergency surgery at Fairfield Hospital in Bury by 2012.
But the NCAT report – which will go to regional health bosses NHS North West’s board meeting today – proposes to centralise services further.
We understand the Royal Oldham Hospital, would be the most likely ‘super centre’ if the plans were adopted.
If Oldham is the chosen site, it would mean A&E at North Manchester, Rochdale and Fairfield would be axed.
Patient groups, politicians and health insiders are shocked by the new proposals. The report says: “The trust should prepare a radical strategy to realise the long-term objectives of the Healthy Futures programme bearing in mind the rapid further changes likely in speciality development, workforce numbers, service improvement, effectiveness and governance. This should include assessment of the radical option to meet the demand for future emergency care in emergency medicine, general surgery, vascular surgery and interventional radiology on a single site.
“The theoretical benefits of such a solution will however need to be assessed when the current proposals have been implemented and exhausted.”
Regional health bosses will consider the report before sending their recommendations to the Department of Health for approval.
A spokesman for Pennine Acute, which runs Royal Oldham, North Manchester General, Rochdale Infirmary and Fairfield Hospital, said: “The need for strategic change in how hospitals services are provided across the north east of Greater Manchester is now stronger and more urgent than when the decisions were made four years ago. We will now move with all speed to implement the agreed changes. It comments on a more radical option to provide emergency care from a single site and that this should be assessed when the existing plans have been implemented. Our primary aim is to make sure that the plans that have already been agreed are implemented and we will do this first before considering any further changes.”
As well as the A&E change at Rochdale and halting emergency surgery at Fairfield, Healthy Futures concluded that vascular surgery be centralised at Oldham, while general surgery take place at Oldham and North Manchester. Other planned surgery is expected to continue at all four hospitals.
But in August, ahead of the planned changes, Pennine Acute bosses closed the A&E at Rochdale Infirmary between 6pm and 8am,
saying a staffing crisis made it unsafe. There has been huge investment in the Royal Oldham in the last year, with a new £17m radiotherapy unit, £9m vascular surgery and £6 million haematology unit all opening this year. And £44m government funding for a women and children’s unit was confirmed during the comprehensive spending review.
NCAT visited Greater Manchester earlier this year and spoke to staff from all the hospitals, primary care trust chiefs and patient groups before making their report.
Ivan Lewis, MP for Bury South, said: “Any suggestion of removing emergency care from Fairfield would be seen as a betrayal of our local NHS by the new government. This proposal has come as a bolt out of the blue without consultation of the staff, patients of local community.”
A spokeswoman for NHS North West said: “We will consider the recommendations.”
Barbara Allen, from the Patients’ Council, said: “We agree that there is a staff shortage and long-term recruitment problem. The NCAT suggestion of one site for emergency medicine and surgery services, is more radical than the option we would recommend but we have long-held a view that Manchester generally has too many hospitals and therefore vital services are stretched too thinly.”
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Theres a shock, we all knew Rochdale would become a "cottage hospital", its half way there already.
My concern with Oldham becoming a "super hospital" is theres no room for expansion and next to no parking available as it is, let alone with an influx of new patients. That needs to be adressed.
perhaps they should reduce the fat cat pensions of all these jobsworth nhs managers who retire at 50 with massive pensions, that might save a few million
Rochdale hospital is skanky anyway, would take a big uplift in funding to make it decent, let it go and spend the money elsewhere.
So much for the Tories claims that amongst all the cuts, healthcare would be unaffected. But what do you expect when no government minister would ever be caught dead in an NHS hospital.
If fairfield hospital goes then the closest a and e to where i live is over 30 miles away.....guess i won't be surviving a heart attack then.
It is already a nightmare parking at the Royal Oldham!
Friends of Our Hospital are holding a public meeting tomorrow night 4th November at Rochdale Town Hall 6.30pm till 8.30pm regarding the downgrading of our hospitals Fairfield and the Rochdale Infirmary.
Everybody welcome
Who are this "Patients Council" who think we have too many hositals in Manchester? What sort of bizarre conclusion is that?
I live in Whitefield, halfway between Fairfield and North Manchester A&Es, which are both just over 3 miles away - so I'll lose out both ways.
The Royal Oldham is 12 miles away from me, and the traffic between here and ther is appalling for two long periods each day - it's called "rush hour". Maybe NHS North West might have heard of it?
Fortunately Royal Bolton Hospital is only 6 miles away, so I know where I'd go if the need arose.
What an idiotic plan these "experts" have come up with.
we have 2 children with severe life threatening allergies and so fairfield is absolutely vital to us. They have chronic asthma and anaphalaxsis and have to be within a 10 minute radius of emergency medical treatment. If fairfield is shut then this will not be the case and could put my children's life in danger. Also this could mean us having to move to either bolton or oldham which would move us away from our families and we would have trouble finding someone to look after our other children if we had to take 1 of our children to hospital in an emergency.
mrs s charnley
This is mind boggling stupidity. Quite apart from Oldham being neither 'super' nor 'central' to those who will lose their local A&E services under this proposal, have any one of the pepole on the NCAT panel even attempted to travel from to Oldham at peak times?
People WILL die or suffer significantly increased risk of poor recovery as a direct result of these plans (as reported) going ahead.
I hope the bean counters are prepared to accept responsibility for that.
Only two comments -
1 - are "they" considering replacing all ambulances with helicopters, otherwise you could be looking at at 30-40 minute trip to Oldham from places such as Prestwich Radcliffe etc or will residents there be looking to Manchester Royal? And will a different "Trust" be ok with treated Pennine Acute residents? The number of "BIDs" may go up (that's Brought in Dead)
2 - obviously those who do not own a car will then have a ridiculously long journey to visit their loved ones as they recuperate in hospital, even those who do will find it a long enough journey.
The plan is excellent. It is a way of stopping some of the idiots rolling up with a blister or a cough. The fact is that if the NHS and other government departments weren't being raped by the benefit-pinching, owt for nowt, time-wasting, bone idle sick lame and lazy brigade, there would be mountains of cash to provide proper services for people who really need them. Stop the theft, waste, fraud and all other attacks and see what you get for your money.
Just a thought but if A&E's close and centralised to one hospital, will they have extra ICU and CCU beds? And more general beds. And what about if Manchester is targeted by terrorists? Oldham and Bury are unlikely to be targets but Manchester as the capital of the north is - would any casualties be expected to travel to Oldham? What would have happened in 96?
And just supposing there are extra beds provided, what happens to the beds at the hospitals that lose their A&E's? What usually happens is that they don't increase them and dangerously ill patients spend life threatening hours whilst a bed is found 200 miles away but they would be unlikely to survive the journey anyway.
This hasn't been thought through.
Just a thought. Why don't they makes one or two Hospitals a dedicated A+E ONLY instead of combining several cottage types into one super.
A+E ONLY. Patient A treated then moved to recovery or moved to main hospital.
Out Patient Main Hospital Only. Dedicated for long stay short stay and general care.
So in effect Manchester will have two or three dedicated A+E only catering North East and South. While Rochdale or Oldham have similar setup in one dedicated A+E.
Please feel free to throw that comfy slipper if you must.
Well thats me out of a job then!!!
This wont go down too well in North Manchester, as NMGH A&E is consistantly the busiest A&E out of the four sites!!!
Is this a plan to encourage more people to use their GP rather than A+E as their first port of call?
Move houses then. The entire NHS can't revolve around you
What a stupid comment. The N stands for National. Nobody is asking that the service revolves around them, but making changes that would leave huge areas with a significant risk of having inadequate coverage seems dangerous. So what next - to further reduce costs lets have one A & E in Manchester. If you depend of the service move closer to Manchester. Then to save on costs more why not one Super A & E in the middle of London and if you really need it, move closer.
So it doesn't matter if many people die on the way to A and E because they will have to travel greater distances due to closures. As long as the Tories are saving £££££'s. Mind you, multimillionaire George Osbourne and his Eton mates wont be affected they can all afford private doctors and hospitals and don't need an NHS A and E department.
Jesky & Saxby have a lot to answer. Since these jokers have taken over we've seen cutbacks left, right and centre. WHERE ARE THEY????
Oh lovely! So if you suffer a life threatening illness or injury (e.g. arterial bleed/stroke/heart attack/cardiac arrest/anaphylactic shock etc. etc.) in, for example, Bury; it'll take the ambulance twice as long to reach The Royal Oldham as would normally take to reach Fairfield, therefore you'd most likely be dead by the time you reached Oldham Hospital, as it would simply be to far away from some places to be safe. Not to mention, the waiting times will soar if everyone is flocking to the same A+E.
In addition to this, as a member of staff at the NMGH A+E, i'll most likely be out of my job, as will a number of my collegues; and the ones who can just be transfered to Oldham will have to massively increase their workload due to the massive influx of patients from far around, thus making the department unsafe.
1) What happens to the new children’s a&e that has recently opened (at a massive cost) at NMGH
2) Longer journey times to and from a dedicated a&e, mean less ambulances available to treat sick patients.
3) Four lots of a&e patients wont fit into one a&e department, no matter how 'super' it may be.
4) if they think that it will put people off attending for 'minor' things, they would soon be proved wrong, as people attend a&e as its a 24hour service, and they cant get into their GP (who cant cope with the demand now, let alone when everyone’s local a&e shuts)
These government " experts" will do just as they please, the message I'm getting is if you must have an accident that requires A&E, have it before 18.00 hrs.....
with a ever growing population, the powers to be think that we fewer A&E's. as they tryed in west lancs clossing Chorley A&E and transfering it Southport A&E the only thing they managed was more deaths in the back of the ambulances as they are not paramedics but technicans, more down grading in OUR NHS services who are these morons messing with our lives, i didn't vote for this. if they want to save money stop giving it away our TAX PAYERS MONEY to all and sundry Charity starts at home. And the biggest saving of all is the EU they want a extra 5 / 10 billion pounds next year on top of the 40 million a day we pay to support the corrupt and wasteful system.
This has happened not just in our county, but across the country.
I vote we protest. Organise a huge march through Rochdale to go on national news.
No more sitting back and moaning on websites or attending public meetings. It gets us nowhere. We moaned and did nothing about the night closure at A&E which is why they are trying it on now, bit by bit they are taking our services away from us that is NOT what we have paid taxes all our lives for. We paid for it we own it so we deserve it.
If they want to do cuts because they mismanaged finances across the country that is not something we have to suffer and risk lives for. They have to find other ways of helping the economy get back onto it's feet.
I see no mention of MP's & bankers wages & bonuses being stopped or cut.
let's show 'em exactly what we are made of. I propose a huge assembly of every Rochdale borough resident who cares on can attend do so outside the Town Hall.
Why not just go whole hog and centralise it all at the new central manchester hospital, after all thats what they really want isn't it. One super centre for the whole county!
the people who so called make these choices of cuts, just one day say you fall ill in which you need hospital care in a&e an the worse happens at least your family will no you made the cuts JUST think of the people of rochdale,bury when a emergancey happens when the sad news is broke to the familys. all this for your pension