University Hospital’s Chief Executive Mark Hackett met with members of Support Stafford Hospital and other representatives of patients and the local community on Tuesday to invite their involvement in the way in which changes to services at Stafford Hospital are carried out.
“What we want to do is to work with you on the design and planning of new buildings and services,” he told the meeting, the first in a series of communication and engagement sessions planned by University Hospital to take place in the coming weeks in Stafford and Stoke-on-Trent. The aim of these sessions is to enable the Trust’s leaders to listen and respond to concerns, questions and suggestions from local communities on the changes to services set out in the clinical model recommended by the Trust Special Administrators (TSAs) to Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust (MSFT) and approved by the Secretary of State on 26 February 2014.
MSFT Chief Executive Maggie Oldham joined Mark and senior University Hospital colleagues in answering questions from attendees at the event, which was supported by Healthwatch Staffordshire and chaired by Robin Morrison, Chairman of Engaging Communities Staffordshire. Attendees included representatives from Katharine House Hospice, Community Council of Staffordshire, Mid Staffs Patient Carer Council, North Staffs Carers Association, Action on Hearing Loss and Guide Dogs for the Blind.
After describing the changes set out in the clinical model in some detail, Mark went on to set out a range of benefits for patients of the integration of University Hospital and Stafford Hospital in early November this year. These include access to increased consultant led care, with higher levels of consultant cover out-of-hours and at weekends; the development of a consultant led A&E service, networked effectively with Stoke-on-Trent’s major trauma centre; the setting up of an integrated paediatric assessment process as part of urgent care services and the expansion of paediatric outpatient and paediatric ‘hospital at home’ services to supplement schemes aimed at avoiding unnecessary hospital admissions and enabling appropriate early discharge into the community.
A 60 million pounds investment in bricks and mortar at Stafford Hospital will bring the decades old building up to modern standards and enhance the ‘patient experience’ through greater privacy and dignity with more single rooms and en-suite facilities, the creation of new wards and theatres and the total refurbishment and expansion of the A&E Department to make more space for outpatients and radiology.
In response to concerns raised by Support Stafford Hospital and other representatives about capacity at City General Hospital in Stoke-on-Trent to take on extra work, Mark gave this reassurance: “We are committed to implementing the TSA clinical model but will not transfer services from Stafford Hospital until we have the capacity in place in Stoke-on-Trent. We have secured funding of 40 millions pounds to expand facilities at City General Hospital and will have an additional 100 beds and a new 12 bedded critical care unit by January/February next year plus new wards for acute surgery and gynaecology and more car parking.
“We will be moving some staff accommodation off site to create more space for patients and will be examining the potential for providing accommodation for parents. In addition, we are looking to provide a shuttle bus service for staff between the two sites and exploring the possibility with public transport providers of bus services to and from the Stoke and Stafford sites,” he concluded.
University Hospital will be holding further communication and engagement sessions for representatives of patients and the public in Stoke-on-Trent on 16 September and a joint event for both Stoke-on-Trent and Stafford representatives on 13 October 2014.
