Stafford Hospital services stripped as NHS trust to be dissolved
Services will be stripped from Stafford Hospital as it was this afternoon confirmed Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust will be dissolved.
The move, announced by Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt, will see bosses at the Royal Wolverhampton Trust take control of Cannock Hospital with the University Hospital of North Staffordshire (UHNS) taking over Stafford.
The controversial move will see Stafford's A&E opening hours permanently reduced to 14 hours, the number of births delivered reduced by half, very sick children no longer treated at the Weston Road site and major surgery and emergency treatment taking place at neighbouring hospitals.
Read the full statement here (PDF)
Meanwhile 350 clinical staff from New Cross Hospital in Wolverhampton are set to move to Cannock which will see the number of patients treated at the Brunswick Road site doubled.
Today Mr Hunt said he has asked NHS England to look into possibility of have a consultant-led maternity unit for Stafford Hospital in the future.
He said: "Local people suffered too much for too long under a system which ignored appalling failures of care in their local hospital. They now deserve to know that same system has learned the lessons and is guaranteeing high-quality, safe services for local people. The proposals I am accepting today will provide just this.
"The strength of public interest in the TSAs' work, and the huge response to their consultation exercise, is a testimony to the great commitment local people have to the future of their hospitals."
Reporters Rob Golledge and Laura Blyth are tweeting live as the news comes in:
He added: "Having considered the TSAs' proposals in detail, I confirm I am satisfied on each of the points set out in section 65KB of the legislation, and therefore support the action recommended by the TSAs. I am also satisfied that, in accordance with my request, the TSAs have undertaken a thorough analysis and taken account appropriately of the issues regarding the four tests for reconfiguration. I am pleased that, after a long period of instability, we are able to offer the local population of Mid Staffordshire the certainty it so desperately needs.
"To ensure this improved offer, it is clearly not possible for all of Mid Staffs' services to go on as they are, and therefore the TSAs' recommendations will mean moving a small minority of services away from Stafford hospital. Local people can be reassured that local commissioners would need to be satisfied that there is sufficient capacity available elsewhere before moving services.
"In parallel, I am asking NHS England to identify whether consultant-led obstetrics could be sustained at Mid Staffs in a safe way in the future. In doing this, NHS England will work with local commissioners as part of their wider review of the local health economy."
Campaign group Support Stafford Hospital said they welcomed the announcement of a review into consultant-led maternity provision at the hospital, but were concerned that consultant-led paediatrics will have no such review.
They said: "Our community has campaigned tirelessly for both these consultant-led services on the grounds of safety and feel that the proposed changes, which have not been risk assessed, pose a serious threat to life.
"We are also still concerned over what level of critical care and 24hr A&E provision will be delivered at Stafford Hospital."
In January, the health regulator Monitor, approved plans drawn up by administrators to downgrade some services at Stafford Hospital, despite huge opposition from campaigners.
The troubled trust, which has been the focus of one of the biggest NHS scandals, was put into administration 10 months ago after being deemed financially and clinically 'unsustainable' by Monitor.
The trust is losing around £20 million a year, rising to an estimated £40 million by 2017.
The administrators have revealed a £220 million overhaul which would see improvements to Stafford, Cannock, New Cross, UHNS, and the Manor in Walsall.
In April last year around 50,000 people marched through Stafford to protest against plans to strip key health services from the county town.
The Francis Report published one year ago highlighted the 'appalling and unnecessary suffering of hundreds of people', following a lengthy public inquiry chaired by Robert Francis QC.
Evidence heard some patients were left lying in their own faeces for days and given the wrong medication.
The inquiry was prompted by tireless campaigning from Julie Bailey and the Cure the NHS group in the town.
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