12th July 2011

The NHS in Gloucestershire has welcomed support from the County’s Health, Community and Care Overview and Scrutiny Committee (HCCOSC) for a number of proposals for specialist hospital services to ensure quality, safe services in the future.

The proposals developed by clinicians and managers include centralising a small number of hospital services to bring specialist staff together on to one site to make services more responsive and efficient for patients.

Clinicians and managers want to ensure that patients can access the full range of specialist skills and services in the county when they need them most and make best use of the resources available.

Following a comprehensive programme of communication and engagement with staff, patients, carers, community partners and the public, HCCOSC members backed the proposals to centralise first outpatient appointments for symptomatic breast care patients at Thirlestaine Court in Cheltenham and emergency paediatric assessment at Gloucestershire Royal Hospital.

HCCOSC members also supported one site options for a Trauma Unit in Gloucestershire and for specialist hospital based Stroke care services.

Further work will now be carried out within Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust to confirm the preferred single hospital sites for the Trauma Unit and Stroke Care based on clinical benefit, including links to other services.

Medical Director at Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Dr Sean Elyan said:

“For the majority of health services, we are seeing a shift in the way care is provided with a greater emphasis on caring for people closer to home, or in their home, where appropriate.”

“That said, when people are seriously unwell or there are significant concerns over their health, we need to ensure specialist hospital services are organised in a way that will ensure quality of care, ensure safety of patients and make best use of the money available.”

“The emphasis will be on helping people to receive on-going care in the local community or return home with support as quickly as it is safe to do so.”

“It is clear from the period of engagement that respondents understood and acknowledged the clinical benefits of these proposals and we very much welcome the comments of the Health, Community and Care Overview and Scrutiny Committee.”

Chair of the County’s Health, Community and Care Overview and Scrutiny Committee, Cllr Stephen McMillan said:

“There was a great deal of logic and clinical sense to the proposals and the Committee welcomed the levels of communication and engagement in presentation of the proposals to patients and the public.”

“We also saw real leadership from the clinicians in putting forward the case for change and members felt able to back the proposals at the meeting.”