Salford Royal NHS Foundation Trust would like your views on “potential” changes to their orthopaedic surgery service.
“ The Trust would like your thoughts on a potential change to the hospital site where patients have planned (non-urgent) orthopaedic surgery. This change could involve patients having their surgery at the Manchester Orthopaedic Centre in Trafford. To find out more and provide give your views, please click here to complete a short survey. The survey will close on Friday, 10th October 2014. If you are part of a community or voluntary group/forum in Salford and would like a member of the Salford Royal team to come along and discuss this further with your group, please let the Membership Team know via email: foundation@srft.nhs.uk or Tel: 0161 206 3133.”
However, according to the website of Central Manchester NHS Foundation Trust, who now also run Trafford General Hospital http://www.cmft.nhs.uk/media-centre/latest-news/orthopaedic-centre-first, it is a done and dusted thing.
” Orthopaedic centre first step towards new-look Trafford General Trafford General’s new orthopaedic centre opened this Monday and is the first major step in a series of changes that will take place over the next two weeks.Manchester Elective Orthopaedic Centre, as it is now known, brings together specialist orthopaedic expertise from both Trafford General and Manchester Royal Infirmary. All major planned orthopaedic procedures that require an inpatient stay, as well as day cases, for patients from Trafford and Manchester will be carried out in modern purpose-built facilities at Trafford General……”
It seems to me that the only reason for a consultation is as a cloak to a “Healthier Together-type” decision that has been partially made already, in relation to orthopaedic surgery. Under the euphemistically named “A New Health Deal” i.e. the decision was made to group some hospital services in a few centres in Greater Manchester, 2 years ago.
Isn’t it strange that there is no mention of these decisions in any of the Healthier Together consultation documents? Could it have something to do with the wide-spread public opposition to those plans and subsequent decisions, which included the closure of Trafford General Hospital as a local, general hospital?
- The proposals are only about surgery.
Do they make any mention of the nursing care, physiotherapy, occupational therapy and social care that people will need if they break their hip, arm or shoulder? Particularly when many of the patients will be elderly….what are the plans for all the near – to- home services that may be needed to really help the person get better? Where are they in the proposals?Are they to be provided for the whole of central Manchester, Trafford and Salford?
- And what about transport? If surgical services are grouped at Trafford, what about all those out-patient appointments for follow up? ( Will the local GP be responsible for the person’s care after surgery?)
- The proposals are just about money, I think. By cutting down the costs TO THE NHS (but not the costs to the individual needing care) the CCG’s want to transfer some of the released funds to primary and local social care. But the are not promising that those proper local services will be in place before they group services in Trafford General.
They’ve just gone ahead and done it…and are now asking what we think.
Keep our NHS public Greater Manchester 