Campaigners vow to fight on after Health Secretary grants £197m for controversial hospital shake up.
Hospital bosses have got their way and will press on with the unpopular plan to downgrade Huddersfield’s A&E.
Funding worth £196.5m was today (Friday) secured by Calderdale and Huddersfield NHS Foundation Trust (CHFT) by the Department of Health and Social Care.
Health Secretary Matt Hancock granted the cash, essentially giving HRI chiefs the green light to forge ahead with their plan B.
Their revised plan was announced last summer after the original proposal to demolish HRI was knocked back.
Plan B retains a functioning hospital and a 24 hour consultant led A&E.
However, patients from Huddersfield suffering life threatening ill health will still be taken to Calderdale, Leeds, Bradford or Wakefield – depending on the condition.
Campaigners have vowed to continue to fight the proposal in a bid to keep a “full A&E” in Huddersfield, with Hands Off HRI (HoHRI), saying it is now very likely to carry out its threat of taking the trust to court.
The trust has vowed to spend £22m of the £197m on the Huddersfield site.
It said the money was being released in this spending period with the cash for Calderdale coming at a later date.
HRI chiefs’ plan
Huddersfield Royal Infirmary bosses have said this is how services will work
- HRI and CRH will both provide 24/7 consultant led A&E services
- The A&E at CRH will receive all blue light emergency ambulances for patients that have serious life threatening conditions (working closely with Yorkshire ambulance services)
- The A&E at HRI will receive self presenting patients. Patients require acute inpatient admission who present at HRI will be transferred by ambulance from HRI to CRH
- A specialist paediatric emergency centre at CRH
- CRH and HRI hospitals will both provide medically led 24/7 urgent care
- Critical care services, emergency surgical, complex surgery and paediatric surgical services will be provided at CRH
- Planned surgery and care will be provided at HRI
- Acute inpatient medical care will be provided at CRH
- Patients who do not require acute clinical care, but do require extra support whilst arrangements are made to meet their future needs will be cared for at HRI
- Midwifery- led maternity services will be provided on both hospital sites. Consultant led obstetrics and neo-natal care will be provided at CRH
- Development of out of hospital care to enable patients to be cared for in the community when appropriate
Huddersfield MP Barry Sheerman welcomed the investment in local health but said he would continue to press for a bit more for Huddersfield.
He said: “It’s not quite what we wanted but I’m going to give it a bit more to see if we can retain proper A&E services in Huddersfield.
“It’s a half-way house (from the original proposal) and it is a lot of money that will stabilise HRI.”
HoHRI said the Trust should now formally withdraw its so-called Final Business Case and consult the public on its revised plan.
Chairman, Mike Forster, said: “The allocation of £196.5 million from the government is to carry out the Trust’s furtive plan to transfer all acute and emergency treatment to Halifax, which will be opposed by our campaign.
“It is time for the Trust to come out into the open and be honest about its proposals.
“They MUST begin a full and open public consultation about the next steps for health provision in Huddersfield.
“Experience has taught us we just can’t trust these hospital bosses to be straight with the people of Huddersfield and Halifax.
“They claim to be saving A&E, but in reality, we would be left with a walk-in centre and a hospital dealing with rehabilitation and non-urgent care.
“Everything else will be transferred along the Elland by-pass to Halifax, with all the huge problems that will cause.
“Our fight will go on including and up to a further legal challenge if that is what it takes.”
This article originally appeared on Examiner Live
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