One acute site only way, says surgeon
Monday 12th October 2009, 2:25PM BST.
A leading Shropshire surgeon today said centralising acute hospital services on one site is the only “sensible” option in the county, warning it is now not possible to “safely” staff two acute surgical units in the area.
Mark Cheetham, a consultant general and colorectal surgeon, said national changes in legislation and other issues meant the centralisation of services for seriously ill or injured patients was “the only sensible and safe option for Shropshire”.
And he said the advantages of a single unit “far outweigh the inconvenience of a small increase in travelling time for some patients”.
Mr Cheetham, a surgeon with Shrewsbury and Telford NHS Hospitals Trust, made the comments in an open letter to Daniel Kawczynski, MP for Shrewsbury.
His comments come after a health report recommended having the county’s acute services on a single site from 2020, be it at the Princess Royal, Royal Shrew- sbury or a new hospital.
The report proposes moving the more serious accident and emergency cases, acute and vascular surgery and in-patient paediatrics, either from the PRH to the RSH or vice versa, with the RSH noted as the preferred option.
Fears have been raised that the changes would lead to cuts at the PRH, with a campaign under way in Telford to fight the changes.
But in his letter, Mr Cheetham said a number of issues meant centralisation was the only option.
He said these issues included the European Working Time Directive and changes to immigration policy and the difficulty of recruiting enough staff with sufficient experience from within the European Union.
He said: “The outcome of these recent changes means that it is not possible to staff safely two acute surgical units in Shropshire.
“We believe strongly that the people of Shropshire will be best served by a single, large unit in the county which will offer ill patients early access to high quality, safe surgery with adequate supporting services.”
He added: “The proposed changes have been developed by senior doctors responsible for health care in Shropshire rather than managers.”
By John Kirk
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“far outweigh the inconvenience of a small increase in travelling time for some patients”
That has got to be the most outrageous comment you have published in ages. We’re not talking about inconvenience but situations where a few minutes can make the difference between life and death. What planet does Mr Cheetham live on?
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I’m going to play devil’s advocate.
Patient safety seems to be the message being pressed home by those stating the case for one site for acute services.
Ordinarily, that wouldn’t make any sense. Surely the best thing for patient safety is a nearby hospital?
But put it in context with massive cost cuts. Assuming that there will be a sizeable drop in resources over the coming years, those resources will be spread more thinly between the two centres. When you have two people requiring urgent medical attention in two hospitals twenty miles apart, but only enough resource to cover one of those, then somebody’s life is at risk.
Given that swingeing cost cuts are inevitable, I can see the sense in centralising the services. It’s far from ideal, but better than the alternative.
Ideally the funding would not be cut back and this decision would not need to be made. It would be interesting to know how many other counties the size of Shropshire (and other areas covered by its hospitals) have to make do with just one centre for acute services.
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