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NI acute hospital numbers cut in major health review | NI acute hospital numbers cut in major health review |
(40 minutes later) | |
A major review of the health service in Northern Ireland has said the number of acute hospitals will probably have to fall from 10 to five. | |
Acute hospitals are those providing A&E services and emergency surgery. | Acute hospitals are those providing A&E services and emergency surgery. |
The href="http://www.dhsspsni.gov.uk/index/hscreview131211/hscreview-statement.htm" >review said that elsewhere in the UK a population the size of NI would be served by just four acute hospitals. | |
Health Minister Edwin Poots said no decision had been made yet but hospitals would be assessed on clinical sustainability and patient safety. | Health Minister Edwin Poots said no decision had been made yet but hospitals would be assessed on clinical sustainability and patient safety. |
He told the assembly on Tuesday: "It will be on that basis that we will be able to determine whether an acute hospital would be viable." | |
Reducing the number of acute hospitals from 10 to 5 would not necessarily mean closing five hospitals. The hospitals which lose acute services would still exist but would provide different services. | Reducing the number of acute hospitals from 10 to 5 would not necessarily mean closing five hospitals. The hospitals which lose acute services would still exist but would provide different services. |
'Safe and effective' | 'Safe and effective' |
The review also recommends that much greater emphasis should be placed on treating people in their own homes and in the community. | The review also recommends that much greater emphasis should be placed on treating people in their own homes and in the community. |
The minister said there would be "a significant shift" from provision of services in hospitals into GP surgeries where it was "safe and effective to do this". | The minister said there would be "a significant shift" from provision of services in hospitals into GP surgeries where it was "safe and effective to do this". |
To pay for that, £83m will be taken out of hospital services and put into community care. | To pay for that, £83m will be taken out of hospital services and put into community care. |
The minister said the review was not about cost-cutting but would mean a "significant shift" in where funding was allocated. | The minister said the review was not about cost-cutting but would mean a "significant shift" in where funding was allocated. |
He also warned that the changes would not be straightforward and would require "fundamental changes" to the way services were delivered. | He also warned that the changes would not be straightforward and would require "fundamental changes" to the way services were delivered. |
He said the changes would also require "substantial" re-training of staff. | He said the changes would also require "substantial" re-training of staff. |
The report said Northern Ireland's 353 GP practices should form 17 federations based on the already established Primary Care Partnerships. | |
It said this should result in GPs "working together in a consistent manner." | |
It recommended that transitional funding of £65m would be needed over the next three years to allow the changes to take place. | |
The review was carried out by a team under Health and Social Care Board chief executive John Compton who said the changes were planned to take place over the next five years. | |
Mr Compton said the overriding desire was to describe and build a system of health and social care which would place the individual, family and community that use it at the heart of how things are done. | |
"Our proposals, which are wide-ranging, deal with quality and outcomes as the determining factors in shaping our services; the need for patients to be better informed and to have choice and control over their care, particularly in their later years," he said. | |
"It also describes changes to services for children and those with a disability or mental health difficulties. | |
"The new model underpins a sustainable and resilient service which the current model cannot deliver, and it provides a time frame within which change can happen in a structured, planned and thought-through way." |