HEALTH chiefs have branded plans to pull the plug on the Accident & Emergency department at the Alex in favour of having a single acute medical site at Worcestershire Royal as merely ‘scenario planning taken out of context’.
In minuted documents seen by the Redditch Standard the Trust’s interim chief executive Chris Tidman is reported as having “discussed the direction of travel for acute medical services within the Trust”.
The document continues: “He recognised that the provision of comprehensive acute services at two sites was unsustainable and agreed that the division should move towards a single site acute medical intake”.
He is then quoted as saying this would help meet the trust’s recruitment crisis and asking for “support in developing a model for this strategy within a four month time frame” and that this was “widely endorsed by the Division”.
The revelations sparked calls from the Save the Alex campaign group for Mr Tidman’s immediate resignation and for the Alex to be put into the care of University Hospitals Birmingham which has in the past given a commitment to run a comprehensive A&E department at the Alex.
” The idea of this being scenerio planning is preposterous,” said Neal Stote, chairman of Save the Alex.
“This was a minuted meeting and these plans are a total betrayal of the people of Redditch and the surrounding area – what the trust is trying to do is implement the clinical model it proposed – andwhich were rejected – back in 2012.”
Under the ‘scenario’ proposals, which closely mirror claims made by Save the Alex on Sunday ( http://www.savethealex.co.uk/downgrade/ ) – and subsequently denied by the Trust – the Alex would be downgraded to accept only ‘ambulatory care’ patients rather than unplanned, emergency admissions.
If implemented it would mean that sick and injured residents in Redditch, Bromsgrove, Studley, Alcester, Alvechurch, Feckenham and beyond – a population of more than 200,000 people – would have to travel either to Worcester, Birmingham or Warwick for emergency medical care.
The fear among campaigners is that although the Trust says it is committed to a two centre A&E model at the Alex – for adults only – and Worcestershire Royal, a failure to recruit or attract suitably qualified staff could lead to the unit at the Alex being downgraded on safety grounds.
Questions have already been asked over the trust’s recruitment policy to support the A&E department at the Alex with one senior medical source saying: “The A&E department at the Alex is on its knees. There must be a lot of concern among physicians about how well they are being supported – is it by locums or by permanent staff?”
Writing in his blog before this news broke Dr Jonathan Wells, the former chairman of Redditch & Bromsgrove Clinical Commissioning Group also questioned the trust’s recruitment policy, before adding: “There are currently around 19,500 emergency admissions per year at the Alexandra site, and around 30,000 at the Worcestershire Royal Hospital site, so the importance of this issue is clear to see.” http://rbafchair.blogspot.co.uk/ .
These latest revelations come at a critical time – the West Midlands Clinical Senate will carry out the first of three visits to the Trust on April 21 to examine its plan to run the A&E departments at Worcester and at the Alex, among other measures.
However a trust spokesman said that the trust was ‘categorically moving forward’ on the two A&E model and totally denied all allegations that the trust would in any way orchestrate the closure of A&E at the Alex.
Mr Tidman further added: “We remain fully committed to implementing the clinical model which has been developed by clinicians from across the county over the last four years and is timetabled to go to public consultation later on in the summer. This proposal supports an adult only A&E and a new GP urgent care service at the Alexandra Hospital which means that 95 per cent of patients will continue to be seen and assessed locally, with only the most critical, life changing events being delivered from the WRH. The continued speculation about closures is not only incorrect but is also very damaging as we rely on two emergency departments across Worcestershire and will do for many years to come. Equally, emergency medicine at both sites is essential for the whole health system of Worcestershire and makes the best use of our current capacity.
“At the same time, as part of a national Sustainability and Transformation Planning (STP) process, clinicians across the country are being asked to develop a strategic vision for the next 10 years about how services might evolve. An initial internal clinical discussion on how to develop a strategic vision for acute and specialty medicine has therefore taken place and over the next four months, our clinicians have agreed to come up with a strategic vision for acute medical services for Worcestershire, that also takes into account how we might work more closely with Herefordshire. At this stage, no five to ten year plans have developed and no decisions or options have been proposed. The key aim of this work is to ensure that we can continue to attract the very best doctors and nurses to work and develop their careers in the county, and to be able to deliver sustainable, high quality services.”
On calls for Mr Tidman’s resignation, a health spokesman said: “We would call for calm and for people to engage in the process rather than call for more change.”
