THE review of hospitals in Worcestershire, started about three years ago and due to last a few months, seems to have hit another stumbling block.
Last week, the West Midlands Clinical Senate produced its report on the proposals from the Worcestershire Acute Hospitals Trust (WAHT) on reconfiguring acute health services across the county.
The good news was that they clearly agreed that there is a case for change. Indeed, they concluded that the way hospitals deliver services across the county is unsustainable and therefore warrants a need for change. They also conclude that this provides an opportunity for improved acute provision across the county. That was about the end of where they agreed.
While they agreed with the conclusions that proposals to reconfigure obstetrics and gynaecology and emergency surgery services were supported, they suggested better plans needed to be produced to demonstrate how paediatric capacity could be produced at Worcester.
View from Westminster They were, however, unable to support the detail of the A&E proposals at Redditch. It is worth remembering that a number of A&E consultants have left the trust in Redditch, largely as a result of uncertainty about their jobs.
The response from the Redditch and Bromsgrove Clinical Commissioning Group (their GPs) was less than helpful, as they asked for (and then partially retracted) calls for the Alex at Redditch to be transferred to the Birmingham hospitals trust. It is well known that doing this would result in an eventual breakup of the WAHT. To add insult to injury, the Care Quality Commission has produced a report that paints a less than rosy picture of emergency care in Worcester.
The campaigning group in Redditch are asking for what amounts to a break-up of services across the county by trying to transfer the Alex Hospital to Birmingham.
Ironically for us here in Wyre Forest, we will end up with more services here in Kidderminster as our hospital has capacity to deliver more. But this process has been dragging on for far too long and must come to a conclusion soon.
CONTACT YOUR MP
Email: mark.garnier.mp@parliament.uk
Telephone: 020 7219 7198 or 01562 746771
Write: 9a Lower Mill Street, Kidderminster, DY11 6UU, or House of Commons, Westminster, London
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