On Wednesday 9 October 2024, NHS Cheshire and Merseyside Integrated Care Board (ICB) will be presented with a case for change document describing the risks facing hospital-based gynaecology and maternity services in Liverpool.
Subject to the board’s approval of the document, a six-week period of public engagement will begin on 15 October 2024, giving people an opportunity to share their views about the issues it sets out.
Although some of the challenges outlined in the case for change have been discussed in the past, this is a new process which will focus on the situation as it stands today. The case for change doesn’t set out proposals or potential solutions – these will be explored with partners, stakeholders, patients, and the public later in the programme of work – and no decisions have yet been made.
The case for change has been developed as part of the Women’s Hospital Services in Liverpool Programme. This is led by NHS Cheshire and Merseyside, working in close partnership with Alder Hey Children’s NHS Foundation Trust, Liverpool University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Liverpool Women’s NHS Foundation Trust, and The Clatterbridge Cancer Centre NHS Foundation Trust.
A wide range of NHS organisations and other key stakeholders, including clinical staff and people with lived experience of these services, were also invited to share their views and experiences to help shape the case for change.
The case for change will be published with the NHS Cheshire and Merseyside board papers, which are available here: https://www.cheshireandmerseyside.nhs.uk/get-involved/upcoming-meetings-and-events/extraordinary-board-meeting-women-s-hospital-services-in-liverpool/www.cheshireandmerseyside.nhs.uk/get-involved/upcoming-meetings-and-events/
Further details about planned public engagement will be shared following the NHS Cheshire and Merseyside board meeting on 9 October 2024.
While it’s still too early in the process to speculate about how services might look in the future, the Crown Street site is an important NHS asset, and services continue to be developed there. There are no plans to close Crown Street.
Why do services need to change?
Liverpool Women’s Hospital provides most gynaecology and maternity care in in the city, but it is geographically isolated from other acute hospitals. All other specialist centres for gynaecology and maternity services in England have co-located acute and emergency hospital services.
Hospital gynaecology and maternity arrangements in Liverpool can create difficulties when providing patient care, including for those who:
- Have another significant health condition that needs managing alongside their gynaecology or maternity care
- Have unexpected complications during their care which need urgent support from a different specialist team
- Become seriously unwell or rapidly deteriorate and need support from an intensive care unit
- Have very complex surgical needs, including many patients with gynaecological cancer.
Dr Lynn Greenhalgh, Chief Medical Officer for Liverpool Women’s NHS Foundation Trust said:
“NHS staff in Liverpool have put in place a range of measures to manage the risks that come from gynaecology and maternity services being separate from other hospital care. However, while we are working hard to keep care safe for now, we can’t resolve all of the challenges under current arrangements.
“The health needs of our population, and the treatments we provide, have changed a lot since Liverpool Women’s Hospital first opened, and increasingly gynaecology and maternity patients require input from specialists who are not based on Crown Street. This can impact on people with other serious health conditions that need to be managed alongside their gynaecology and maternity care, those who develop unexpected complications which need urgent support from a different team or from an intensive care unit, and people with very complex surgical needs, including many patients with gynaecological cancer.
“We want everyone to receive the best care possible, wherever they are being treated in Liverpool. Setting out the issues in the case for change is an important first step in recognising the situation as it stands today, so that we can work with staff, patients, the public and our wider stakeholders, to decide on the best way to move forward.”
The case for change goes into detail about how the above issues impact services, patients, and staff, as well what local hospitals are currently doing to maintain services as safely as possible despite the challenges they face.
The case for change also highlights that while each of the current measures are important for keeping care safe in the short-term, they are not enough to resolve all of the key issues and challenges or ensure the longer-term sustainability of these services. This is because the single biggest safety issue is that women’s services are not provided in the same place as most other specialist surgical, medical and support teams.
Public involvement
Subject to NHS Cheshire and Merseyside’s board approving the case for change, a period of public engagement will take place from 15 October to 26 November 2024. Further details about this and how patients, staff, and the public can get involved, will be shared after 9 October.
For more information please visit: https://www.cheshireandmerseyside.nhs.uk/posts/nhs-sets-out-challenges-for-hospital-gynaecology-and-maternity-services-in-liverpool/