News Date: Wednesday 13th February 2008
Tim: Announcement on local health services is "step in right direction"
East Worthing and Shoreham MP Tim Loughton has welcomed the recommendations announced yesterday from the Clinical Reference Advisory Group (CRAG) Steering Group but has said they do not go far enough.
Tim commented:
"These recommendations are a step in the right direction. The Steering Group is made up of medical experts and professionals who have a wealth of knowledge and experience of local health services in West Sussex. It is of no surprise then that if implemented their proposals would go a long way to ensuring that vital local medical services are preserved and local resident's health needs met.
"However I am afraid they do not go far enough as without acute surgery and trauma facilities, local services will not be able to offer comprehensive provision and the Accident & Emergency will be more along the lines of merely an urgent care centre."
ENDS
Statement from:-
CLINICAL REFERENCE ADVISORY GROUP STEERING GROUP
11 February 2008
JOINT STATEMENT ON REVISED MODEL OF CARE
Through the course of the Fit for the Future consultation West Sussex PCT and Brighton and Hove PCT have continued to engage with local senior clinicians through the Clinical Reference Advisory Group (CRAG) Steering Group - made up of clinicians from the PCT, St Richard's Hospital in Chichester, Worthing and Southlands Hospitals, Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals (BSUH), GPs and senior staff from South East Coast Ambulance service.
The CRAG Steering Group has continued to take into account the views of clinical colleagues in hospitals and in the community and the work done by individual CRAG sub-groups. The group has also looked closely at further information, evidence and research that has emerged during the consultation and taken into consideration the range of views that have been put forward by other clinicians, stakeholders and members of the public. The group is also aware of the work undertaken by BSUH which has led to a revised proposal for Princess Royal Hospital1.
In the past few months the CRAG has led a series of meetings with senior clinicians from across the county to develop a revised proposal for hospital services for the PCTs to consider. As a result of those meetings and their consideration of public views and current evidence, the CRAG recommends that A&E services, intensive care, routine elective surgery and acute medicine should be maintained at all three hospital sites (Princess Royal, St Richard's and Worthing), alongside - for the south coast - a staged centralisation to one hospital site of consultant-led maternity services, inpatient children's services2, the majority of trauma cases and emergency surgery. This centralisation would be to either St Richard's Hospital or Worthing Hospital; BSUH, which runs the Princess Royal and Royal Sussex County Hospital has already centralised some services at the Royal Sussex County Hospital. These changes will be supported by the development of more services in primary and community care and the ambulance service3.
The CRAG have discussed their recommendations with Sir Graeme Catto the independent chair of the Options Assessment Panel, who agrees that they are clinically sustainable and should therefore go forward to the PCT Boards for consideration. If the PCT Boards agree this is the best model for services they will then decide the appropriate location for the centralisation of services. The CRAG group will continue to consider new evidence as it emerges to inform the staged implementation process for the model and to provide further advice when it is required.
The Clinical Reference Advisory Group Steering Group strongly recommends this proposal to the PCT Boards.
[ENDS]
For further information, please contact:
West Sussex PCT Communications
- Office 01903 707447
- E-mail at media.enquiries@westsussexpct.nhs.uk
Notes to Editors
The Clinical Reference Advisory Group Steering Group is made up of clinical leaders from across the West Sussex health community. A full list of members is attached at Appendix 1. The role of the group is to assess, coordinate and ensure appropriate leadership and meaningful input to the various service developments, in particular to the discussions on developing sustainable services as part of the Fit for the Future programme.
References
1A proposal has been submitted to the PCTs from the Board of Brighton and Sussex University Hospital Trust that includes the continued provision of accident and emergency service and acute medicine at Princess Royal Hospital
2Working in partnership with the new Royal Alexandra Children's Hospital in Brighton
3The changes will also be supported by the development of the Regional Trauma, Teaching and Tertiary Care Centre at the Royal Sussex County Hospital in partnership with Brighton and Sussex Medical School.
