Health watchdogs from Cumbria County Council and Lancashire County Council have given their support to revised NHS proposals for acute medical services in the Morecambe Bay area.
The councils' Joint Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee reached its decision at a meeting held in Lancaster on Friday (15 June).
The decision comes after extensive discussions following a public consultation by the NHS during the summer of 2006. Major public concerns had been raised during the consultation about the original proposals which would have left the Westmorland General Hospital without any in-patient medical services other than some rehabilitation beds, and would have required all patients needing treatment in medical beds to travel to Lancaster or Barrow.
At the end of the consultation, the Joint Scrutiny Committee produced a report asking for more than 20 changes to be made to the original proposals. In the period since then, clinicians from both general practice and the hospitals service have been working together to develop a plan for the hospital and community services which recognises both clinical needs and public concerns.
The proposals, which the Joint Scrutiny Committee now supports, will provide for a range of medical facilities in Westmorland General Hospital:
. A round-the-clock Primary Care Assessment Services which, in addition to the current minor injury services, will provide round-the-clock facilities for admission to observation beds for short periods, admission to medical beds for specific investigations, care and treatment, prompt rehabilitation, and where necessary, stabilisation and transfer to more specialised secondary acute care.
. Rapid access to outpatient consultant consultations and day care services for patients who do not need a hospital bed.
. Prompt investigation and diagnostic facilities.
. Medical beds retained in Westmorland General Hospital to provide for rehabilitation (both general and stroke), palliative care, transfer of patients back from Barrow and Lancaster after acute episodes of illness, and GP managed medical beds for patients who are not so acutely ill. There will be around 50 medical beds in the hospital, double the number originally proposed.
The proposals also provide for:
. A community urgent care service, with multidisciplinary teams
. An improved coronary care unit at Lancaster Royal Infirmary.
. Additional capacity at Furness General Hospital and Lancaster royal Infirmary for acutely ill patients
. Additional investment in the Ambulance Service in manpower, vehicles and equipment.
As a result of these proposals, only those patients with the most serious medical conditions will need to be treated in Lancaster or Barrow, where a full range of hospital services to deal with emergencies is available, providing for safer medical care.
The Committee noted that patients with suspected heart attacks would be taken to Barrow or Lancaster under the proposals, and the coronary care unit in Westmorland General Hospital would close.
Because Ambulance service paramedics are now trained and equipped to give clot-busting drugs to heart attack patients in their own homes or in the ambulance, the ambulance travel times for such patients is less of a critical issue than had previously been the case when these drugs could only be given in hospital.
The Committee felt that the revised proposals from the NHS are a major improvement on the original proposals, providing more accessible treatment, whilst also giving patients with severe medical conditions better access to the specialised facilities they need. Compared with the original proposals, the number of patients needing to travel to Lancaster or Barrow is reduced by at least a third.
The Committee was pleased to note that GP's in the area were now backing the changes, and that there was a new spirit of co-operation between primary, secondary and social care.
Councillor Jeff Garnett, Chair of the Cumbria and Lancashire Joint Health Scrutiny Committee said: "The NHS have given an undertaking that no changes will take place until clinicians leading the change are satisfied that it is safe to proceed, and no service at Westmorland General Hospital will close until the NHS organisations are satisfied with the level of ambulance service provision.
"The Joint Scrutiny Committee has also received undertakings from the NHS that scrutiny will be notified in advance of any changes taking place, so that we can check that these commitments have been met in practice."
ENDS
Media enquiries to Mark Graham, Media Officer on 01228-606337