Some of the region's hospitals will lose their full A&E services in a massive shake up of emergency care, we can reveal today.
Three specialist major trauma centres will be established at the Manchester Royal Infirmary, Salford Royal and Wythenshawe Hospital. They will treat patients with life-threatening injuries as well as routine cases.
Two hospitals – Bury and Trafford – will stop providing such high-level care while seven others will fight to become trauma units providing the full range of A&E services.
They are North Manchester General, Royal Oldham, Tameside General, Royal Bolton, Stepping Hill in Stockport, Wigan's Royal Albert Edward Infirmary and Macclesfield General.
Official documents leaked to M.E.N. Media suggest as few as three of these hospitals are needed as trauma units. Health bosses say it could be as many as six.
The remaining hospitals would be downgraded to urgent care centres. They would continue to treat the majority of emergency patients - including heart attacks and broken bones. But those with more serious injuries would be diverted to trauma units.
Health bosses claim it will save at least 20 lives a year and give better and faster treatment to 1,500 people who suffer life-threatening accidents and injuries each year. The major trauma centres will start treating them within 30 minutes of their arrival – a process which can take up to six hours under the current system.
Paramedics will be trained to make sure they take trauma patients to the most suitable hospital.
The plans have widespread approval from the medical community and from patient groups but there is concern some major towns could be left without full A&E units.
Lives will be saved by changes, say bosses
The leaked documents, called The Case for Change, state: "This would ensure world class facilities for the people of Greater Manchester for emergency, major trauma and surgical care, that would also be cost effective and efficient."
The hospitals will be assessed over the next few months and health bosses are expected to take the region's geography into account. It may be up to two years before the final decisions are made but some changes will start over the summer.
Barbara Allen, from the Patients Council, said "Our concern is what is left in the areas that fail to obtain 'trauma centre' status."
Mike Cheshire, medical director at NHS North West, who has led the review, said: "The aim is to improve services for major trauma victims, which is the biggest killer of the under 40s, in Greater Manchester and the north west.
"As well as increasing survival by 20 per cent, we want to enable people to recover better so they are able to return to work. We may need to move people further under the new system but they will receive improved quality of care, from expert consultants."
Dr Cheshire said the region's NHS did not have a budget to take on extra staff but plan to make the changes by altering the way doctors work and training more staff, particularly radiologists.
Chris Brookes, medical director of Salford Royal and an A&E consultant, said: "This is about treating the right patients, in the right place at the right time.
"All these changes are based on clear medical evidence we have collected, we believe this is a great opportunity to really improve care for local people."
How the scheme may affect your hospital:
- Major Trauma Centres providing top level, specialist care will be: Salford Royal - specialising in head and neck injuries; Wythenshawe - specialising in heart, intensive care, orthopaedics and pelvic surgery; Manchester Royal Infirmary - specialising in vascular, heart and intensive care
- Hospitals bidding to become trauma units but may be downgraded to urgent care centres are: North Manchester General; Royal Oldham; Tameside General Royal Bolton Hospital; Stepping Hill, in Stockport; Royal Albert Edward Infirmary, Wigan, and Macclesfield General
- Rochdale Infirmary has run a day-time only A&E service since the summer and is due to be downgraded to an urgent care centre from Monday. The Royal Manchester Children's Hospital will provide trauma care for youngsters.
Lives will be saved by changes, say bosses
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What is it with government and messing with the NHS? They are constantly re-jigging it which would be fine if their plans worked but invariably they never do as they don't seem to be thought through properly and brought in a break neck speed. It's never what the clinicians or public want and the plans never seem to work and costs soar.
I'm all in favour of improvement if it actually improves the service, unfortunately this is a rare occcurence.
when it says shake up it means loss in services from other parts of the city, a total farcical way of looking after the wellbeing of people, also i rung up for an appointment at my GP yesterday, they told me i am booked in for next tues!!!!!
How was it decided to single out Bury and Trafford? is it all about cost? With Trafford and Bury being downgraded can the other hospital's cope with the extra patient's? Someone at trafford is not doing their job to ensure it's survival. We have lost the maternity now we are to lose or have it downgraded (A&E) ARE WE THE PUBLIC EVER CONSULTED ABOUT THESE PROPOSED CHANGES IN SERVICES? AFTER ALL IT IS OUR LIVES THAT THESE PEOPLE ARE MESSING WITH?
"All these changes are based on clear medical evidence we have collected, we believe this is a great opportunity to really improve care for local people."
That statement is the biggest load of rubbish i have ever heard, how do the bosses, most of who probably haven't set foot on an A&E department for years, know whether care would improve or not. I used Bury's A&E at fairfield on 26/3/11 for my 21 month old daughter who had a febrile convulsion, fairfield is no more than 2 minutes driving time from my front door, i am under no illusions that had we be further out or been made to go to a hospital even 5 minutes further away things would have been far worse for us, as it goes things are now fine and i have nothing but praise for the staff on the A&E deparment who kept us up to date with every little thing, would this happen with fewer staff at a trauma centre that was used for most of greater manchester, no probably not, the bosses need to stop thinking about saving money and getting there paycheck, and start thinking about the patients and the care they recieve.
Less bosses/strands of management and administration is the best way to save cost and give value for money
Six years ago I nearly bled to death from a burst ulcer, luckily for me I got to A&E in time for them to save my life (it was that close), and I had nothing but praise for the NHS and its staff during the 2 weeks I spent in hospital.
The scenario now and in the future could be much worse. Let's hope that none of those people who voted for the ConDems, and who have been championing the worst socio-economic 'hatchet' job in living memory, ever need to get A&E treatment in a hurry.
If they provide the care it doesn't matter. Traditionally many hospitals with an A&E will not have the resources to deal with major trauma anyway and will have to transfer patients straight away. Super hospitals like Wythenshawe are fully equiped and have a full staff. Its better that the ambulance service are in the habit of getting you to the best hospial for your needs as quickly as possible. Sure if you have a burnt finger or a sore toe then it is a shame that places like Trafford will not be able to help you any more.
You would wonder what the waiting times will be at these super A & E sites.
About time too. People die in in trauma units which are not sufficiently expert.
Lucky you it is about 10 days at mine. You are either cured,forgotten what it was...Or dead.
The last time the tories were in power they closed The Jewish Hospital, Ancoats Hospital, The Northern Hospital and Monsall Hospital looks like they are trying to finish the job off.
yet again this goverment dismantleing the nhs can you just imagine life threating accident and an abulance has to get from stockport to wythenshawe in rush hr. May as well just go straight to the cemertry. God help us all under this goverment
I don't understand why they are giving Manchester Royal, Wythenshawe & Salford Royal major trauma status, if they're looking at geography, because they are all pretty much neighbouring each other. I expect that Trafford, Fairfield and Macclesfield will be the worst off out of all of this & that the proposed Urgent Care Centre at Rochdale will only open during the day in the near future
Unless anyone can convince me, we are going backwards and not forward. Think back three decades ago and I think North East Manchester prob had more hospitals than the whole of current Manchester. Why they close the likes of Ancoats, Salford, The Jewish, Monsal etc?
It will not save 20 lives a year - more like cost them. How stupid messing about with all these important services. Take away 4 x A&E and that will leave you with people struggling to get to the ones that ARE open and you can bet your bottom dollar there will be massive queues at each one. Best way to save money in the NHS????? Sack the cretins who make these ridiculous decisions and with the mega bucks saved - all hospitals will be able to remain open with plenty of nursing staff available.
Do they think we are thick? Twenty major trauma patients lives may be saved but hundreds could die on the way to hospital due to them having to travel much longer distances to get to one.
Oh Great!!!, so if you need A & E treatment on the East side of Greater Manchester forget it, just curl up and die. If you live in Glossop get yourself a first aid kit because if these stupid proposals go ahead it's the best you can expect.
Shame on the faceless pen pushers who come up with these zany idea's.
I think most people are missing the point here. They are not closing the other A&E departments. The article says "The remaining hospitals would be downgraded to urgent care centres. They would continue to treat the majority of emergency patients - including heart attacks and broken bones." So for the majority of people, they will still be treated at their local A&E. All it's saying is that for those most critically ill, they will be transferred to one of these three centres. The way it works now is that if you have a serious head injury, you go to Salford, if you have serious bleed (vascular) you go to MRI etc etc. So it will just be an extension of that and will mean that because there's an actual plan in place, you will go to the specialist centre quicker!
So Wiganers get transferred to Wythenshawe or Manchester RI - even though there are closer facilities in both Preston and Liverpool hospitals?
What a nonsense "Greater Manchester" is as a health planning area - neither one thing nor the other. Not local, and not regional. A major centre somewhere round Warrington would make far more sense in terms accessibility for a wider area of the North West.
Part of the problem is that after getting rid of Community Health Councils and its weaker and more fragmented PPI Forums, there is no single patient body with even tiny baby teeth to stand up for the people of their areas.
Community Health Councils covered your local Health Authority, the Ambulance Services authority, Childrens services, etc. But they were too loud a voice for the government so they were scrapped.
In North Manchester since 1979 (The Years Thatchers Tories came to power) in North Manchester we've lost Booth Hall, Monsall, Delaunays, Most of Springfield psychiatric, The Northern Hospital, Jewish Hospital and Ancoats Hospital. North Salford also lost Salford Royal Infirmary (not to be confused with the newly renamed Hope Hospital).
Neither the Nasty Tories, the evil New Labour, or the power grabbing Lib Dems care for the NHS and they certainly don't want to listen to the people. When the real Labour Party founded the NHS in 1948, the Tories opposed it and they've been trying to get rid of it ever since.
If they need to save money, they should look at the pay and expenses of MP's, such as the £400 a month food allowance and short distance travel allowance (I once got told by the Jobcentre that 60 miles is commuting distance and not eligible for travel to interview assistance so why does an MP get it at 10 miles).
The Tory democrats and new Labour should keep their hands off our NHS and give a voice back to local people (who are not politicians).
I think this is a load of rubbish, why do people have to travel so far, as an heywood person without a car if one of my children was admitted to hospital it would be a bloody awful nightmare to get to any of these hospitals to visit them i thought they were meant to look after people not get people stressed on affording to get to hospital to see a loved one. why cant each area have at least an a & e and a local hospital to see to local people.
Wt is up with our councils refuse to pay these idiots who are threatening our lives,
can only hope one of their family become critically ill
Salford Royal has had many A&E refurbs costing tens of thousands and now another one to bring it line with a "SPECIAL accident treatment centre"
patients who are critical need to get to the nearest hospital fast not be driven across the borough on heavily congested roads like Chapel Street! Lives are going to be lost
another nail in the coffin for the n.h.s. so 20 lives will be saved, so why dont they also tell us how much money it will save? and patients who go to super hospitals, could still face transfer to another super unit, when the full extent of injuries are known. eg, as with head injury....it could be hours after the event. bit by bit the n.h.s. is being broken up. this so called goverment wants to get rid of it, along with all the o.a.p. soon you wont be allowed to go to a/e..thats been on the cards for years. our local hospitals will end up just being drop in clinics...but you will have to make an appointment, that will take about 3 weeks to get, as it does now to get to see a g.p.....and thats only if they answer the phone. we should have more say about these matters. but its all cut and dry before we know it. why cant we vote on the way our health centers are run regarding the appointment system to see our gps. gps get payed for every patient on there books, if they dont see you for a year they still get payed. that needs to be changed, they should only get payed if and when they see you.
You couldn't make this up. The rationale given to close Rochdale and Bury A&E was that Oldham and North Manchester would provide cover. Now both of these are having to bid to become trauma centres and if they fail they could become urgent care centres too. God help anybody on the Rossendale Valley, Rochdale or Bury as they may need to travel to central Manchester to get care. And remember that Burnley A&E has already closed and South East Lancs people were going to Rochdale A&E but that closes next week.