Doctors reassured by hospital reconfiguration report
pharmafile | March 9, 2007 | News story | |
The BMA has said it is "reassured" by Sir Ian Carruthers' report on hospital reconfiguration – the controversial measure which will see hospitals closing A&E departments and other services.
But the BMA and the NHS Confederation warned that consultation with medical professionals will be crucial in implementing change successfully.
Dr Mark Porter, deputy chairman of the BMA's Consultants' Committee, said: "We are very pleased that this report clearly states that patients' clinical needs must come first in any hospital reconfiguration plans."
Sir Ian was asked last October by NHS chief executive David Nicholson to review all service change schemes, and one of his key findings is that the NHS has been lax in engaging with the public, patients, carers and clinicians in explaining its decisions.
A storm of public protests and 'save our hospital' campaigns greeted the news that services would be changing – despite the fact that in some cases no closures had been proposed.
The review suggests that the NHS must, therefore, be more transparent. Sir Ian also found that the quality and fitness of proposals varied widely, and that the approach to change in some areas "lacks cohesion".
The BMA denied it was ideologically opposed to reconfiguration, but Dr Porter added: "We have been worried that finances and not patients' needs have been the driving force behind some plans."
However, both the BMA and the NHS Confederation emphasised the need for frontline clinical involvement in developing plans from the review.
Dr Gill Morgan, chief executive of the NHS Confederation, said: "The point of reconfiguration is to improve the NHS for patients and get the best use of taxpayers' money.
"Managers at strategic health authority level, as well as at a local level, need to work closely with clinicians in presenting the case for change clearly and honestly to patients and the public."
Sir Ian's key recommendations on hospital reconfiguration:
* Reasons for change must be built on clear evidence of clinical and patient benefits
* Clinical and staff involvement in proposals is critical
* More needs to be done to engage clinicians and staff at local, regional and national level
* PCTs should be driving service change and improvement
* New leadership must review inherited schemes to check they are fit for purpose
Chief executives of the newly-configured strategic health authorities will now be expected to implement the findings of the review locally.
In addition to the changes arising from reconfiguration, health secretary Patricia Hewitt has recently given the go-ahead for seven new hospitals, under the private finance initiative. These will cost £1.5 billion and be built in Bristol, Peterborough, Middlesbrough, Wakefield, Tunbridge Wells, Chelmsford and Edmonton, north London.
