Outpatient services set to move from Dudley's Russells Hall Hospital to Merry Hill
Blood tests for children will be among services to be relocated as health chiefs roll out a move to Merry Hill.
Dudley Group NHS Foundation Trust is sending a range of outpatient appointments from Russells Hall Hospital to community locations whenever possible.
The plans will be discussed at a meeting of Dudley Council’s Social Care and Wellbeing Scrutiny Committee on November 10.
A report for the committee says adult blood testing has been provided at Merry Hill since 2022, however the trust has now moved to a larger unit with four rooms to deliver outpatient clinics.
From November 24, children’s blood testing (paediatric phlebotomy) will move to the centre from Russells Hall’s children’s outpatients department.
The report said: “We estimate that around 900 attendances per month will be affected by this move.
“Children attending outpatient clinics at Russells Hall who require a blood test as part of their consultation will continue to receive this at the hospital.
“The move only affects children who require a blood test and nothing else, for example because they have been requested to get a blood test by their GP.”
The Merry Hill paediatric phlebotomy service will be open Monday to Saturday from 8am to 6pm.
The trust is also planning to operate four Rainbow Maternity Clinics at Merry Hill for families who experience pregnancy and neonatal bereavement.
Other services to be offered at Merry Hill include glucose tolerance testing, paediatric epilepsy clinics, paediatric diabetes clinics and a transition hub, paediatric gastroenterology clinics and general paediatrics and neonates clinics.
The clinics are all expected to be in place at Merry Hill by February 2026, clinics for the same services will continue at Russells Hall allowing patients to attend the most convenient location.
The trust delivered 466,000 outpatient appointments in 2023/24, with 65 percent (300,000) taking place at Russells Hall.
The report for councillors said: “In view of the limited scale of services re-locating to Merry Hill and the majority of maternity and paediatric outpatients are not affected by this change, we believe that this does not constitute a substantial service change.”
