Group vows for Cambridgeshire patients to be heard amid possible hospital cuts
MP Steve Barclay has also criticised the move
A healthcare group in Cambridgeshire believes patient concerns must be heard around fears NHS services in the county will be cut.
It comes as North Cambridgeshire Hospital in Wisbech is part of a wider review into urgent and critical care services in parts of the East of England at risk of being downgraded.
"People need to be listened to and these things need to be acted on now," Jess Slater, chief executive at Healthwatch Cambridgeshire & Peterborough, said.
"We have positive experiences of individual staff but on the other hand, we've had negative experiences; access is an issue and that's coming through strongly in our feedback."
The concerns come after a review of accident and emergency, intensive care and maternity services at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH) in King's Lynn was announced by the Norfolk and Waveney University Hospitals Group, which oversees QEH.
North Cambridgeshire Hospital has also been included in that review.
Access fears raised by patients
The group has insisted that “no decisions have been made” and that urgent and emergency care will remain at the QEH around the clock.
The QEH serves a large and sparsely populated area, and there are concerns locally about what a downgrade would mean for patients needing to reach hospitals as far as Cambridge, Peterborough or Norwich in a life-threatening emergency.
"What we hear from the public is the fear of having to travel a lot further and how quickly they can get to emergency services if they are moved from out of the area," Ms Slater said.
"If the clinical evidence shows specialist care is safer in fewer places, that has to be taken seriously but distance and access are also part of patient safety."
MP concerned of 'radical' changes to NHS services
In a statement, Steve Barclay - MP for North East Cambridgeshire - said the threat of services at QEH being downgraded "has understandably caused alarm and distress."
This is after what Mr Barclay described as "recent cuts to services at the North Cambs hospital site, where I highlighted a reduction of more than a quarter of treatments in just the last year alone".
Professor Lesley Dwyer - the group's chief executive - said a working group of around 80 clinicians was set up in July.
Mr Barclay said despite Ms Dwyer reassuring him that no decision had been taken on current NHS services offered by QEH, he said the changes are "radical and alarming".
The MP told Ms Dwyer that patients need answers around why the review was decided on in the first place and that any changes to current emergency NHS services should reflect how long it takes for patients to access them.
In a letter to Ms Dwyer since QEH's annual general meeting, Mr Barclay said he was told by the Central East Integrated Care Board that "improving access to local healthcare services in Wisbech remained a priority.
"It is therefore a matter of deep concern that there is so little transparency on changes to services like endoscopy, medical students removed and recent clinical reviews paid for by taxpayers which have not been published."
'Immense distress'
A letter by senior doctors at QEH accused its bosses of causing "immense distress" among staff and patients about the possible cuts to existing services.
“As senior clinicians, we are on the frontline of a highly rural catchment area with significant health inequalities, poor public transport links, and vast travel distances," the letter read.
“Downgrading our acute capabilities is an existential threat to patient safety, impacting not only West Norfolk but also thousands of patients across North Cambridgeshire and South Lincolnshire who rely heavily on the QEH as their closest acute hospital.
Ms Dwyer said the group was taking concerns seriously and that "unprecedented investment" in its hospitals will help improve the care that's currently provided.
“We very much want our staff to be part of shaping that future and remain committed to working closely with our consultants, strengthening clinical involvement in the development of our plans and continuing constructive dialogue as this work progresses," she said.