Wolverhampton Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG), and the Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust (RWT) are asking people to comment on the proposals before the consultation closes on 17 October 2014. People can complete an online survey at Type=links;Linkid=4033;Title=Wolverhampton Clinical Commissioning Group;Target=_blank; or email wolccg.wccg@nhs.net.
The consultation launched in July sets out proposals which would give some patients a choice to have their outpatient appointments and day case surgery at Cannock Chase Hospital or New Cross Hospital. The types of services being considered as part of the consultation are:
- General surgery (examples include hernia repair and gall bladder surgery)
- Orthopaedics (includes hip, knee, foot, ankle and upper limb surgery)
- Breast surgery (not cosmetic)
- Urology (includes bladder and kidney)
- Dermatology/plastic surgery (removal of lumps and lesions)
For patients requiring an inpatient stay for one of these services, only complex cases would be delivered at New Cross with the remainder of services being delivered at Cannock Chase Hospital.
The plans mean around 10,000 patients from Wolverhampton could have their surgery or treatment provided at Cannock Chase Hospital. This is just under a quarter of the total number of people who have inpatient and day case surgery at New Cross Hospital each year. Another 22,000 people could have their outpatient appointment at Cannock Chase Hospital, fewer than 5% of the outpatients currently seen at New Cross.
The CCG and RWT have jointly set out these proposals to help manage the growing demand for urgent and emergency care at New Cross Hospital,
All urgent and emergency care services will remain at New Cross Hospital.
Dr Dan De Rosa, Clinical Accountable Officer at Wolverhampton CCG, said: "It's vital that we hear the views of local people about the proposals. I hope that people will use the remaining time left to get in touch."
David Loughton CBE, Chief Executive of The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust, said: "Carrying out more routine care at Cannock will help protect planned operations from the pressures of emergency care. This will mean fewer people will have to go through the stress and inconvenience of having operations cancelled. It's a change, but one we think is necessary and we hope that patients will let us know their views before 17 October."
- released: Wednesday 8 October, 2014