"Secret £250m bonfire of NHS services that will hit young, old and infirm"

[dutchman]

A&E to close and maternity care to move under secret NHS plans



Coventry's hospital faces being put under extra pressure with A&E, maternity and children’s care all set to be shut in Nuneaton and moved under secret planned cuts to the NHS, the Telegraph today reveals.

Sources have leaked details of planned health care changes to the Telegraph ahead of the official release of the Coventry and Warwickshire ‘Sustainability and Transformation Plan’ on Tuesday.

Confidential talks have been taking place for months over the plan which will outline how the region aims to counter a £267million funding deficit by 2020.

The Telegraph can exclusively reveal the headline changes, which include:

• Closing the Accident and Emergency department at George Eliot Hospital as well as moving maternity and children’s care to University Hospital Coventry and Warwickshire (UHCW).
  
• Bosses also want more people to have babies at home, there will be restrictions on overweight people and smokers getting non-emergency surgery and increasing the time between hip replacements.
  
• Cancer care is also in line to be reviewed.
  
• Stroke care at Warwick Hospital and George Eliot is also set to be moved to Coventry.

With some changes due to come in from July 2017, concerns have been raised by those involved in the private consultation over how the cuts will be managed.

[rebbonk]

A touch worrying.

I think we all know we're going to see a steady erosion of what we get from NHS in the future. But what really boils my blood is that they are still performing things like boob jobs and vasectomy reversals. The NHS wasn't set up for this.

[dutchman]

The NHS has to make 'savings' (ie: 'cuts') of £22 Billion a year if the books are to balance, that's no secret. Can't see it surviving the winter myself.

[dutchman]

Hospital chiefs insist 'no decision made' as A&E service remains under threat

Hospital chiefs in Coventry and Nuneaton have insisted no outright service closures have been agreed - despite documents released today indicating massive planned changes to A&E and maternity services.

The plans, leaked last week and revealed by the Telegraph and the BBC, confirm a review of the "sustainability" of under-pressure emergency care at George Eliot Hospital (GEH) and University Hospital Coventry and Warwickshire (UHCW), while also highlighting the possible need for funds to expand the A&E department in Coventry due to "GEH and UHCW collaboration activity".

Sources told the Telegraph this referred to plans to shift A&E and maternity services from George Eliot to Coventry. Our revelations prompted a backlash with leading politicians backing our calls to protect services in Nuneaton.

But Prof Andrew Hardy, the UHCW chief executive who is leading the STP plan, said in a statement: “I can confirm that plans for a single A&E and Maternity Unit for Coventry and Warwickshire have not been discussed or agreed as part of the STP planning process. No decisions have been made for the future of A&E or Maternity Services at the George Eliot Hospital and there are no plans for any closures to any hospitals in Coventry and Warwickshire.”

The admission that "no decisions have been made" leaves plenty of scope for cuts to be announced at later date and the report as a whole has been slammed as “completely incomprehensible” and failing to give details to the public.

Labour Coun Damian Gannon, chairman of the health scrutiny committee at Coventry City Council, questioned why hospital chiefs had failed to provide details of exactly what the plans mean.

He said: “I think this report is unclear, opaque and unrealistic. The report is completely incomprehensible to patients and the public.

“It raises questions about why NHS managers would want to produce a report that is so opaque. The report doesn’t give any specific details. It just seem that NHS managers are refusing to give the public the information they need.”

Those behind the plans insist public consultation will take place before any major changes are signed off.

The Telegraph has asked for an interview with Prof Andrew Hardy.

[dutchman]

NHS bosses block attempts to reveal £260m cuts information to public



NHS bosses have refused to hand over emails and minutes of meetings detailing how they plan to shave £260million from the local healthcare budget.

The Telegraph has requested information which would clarify discussions which took place ahead of producing the Coventry and Warwickshire Sustainability and Transformation Plan (STP).

The STP was released by healthcare providers in December and outlines how the NHS could change in the area to avoid a funding crisis.

But requests for information about the decision-making processes behind the plans have been rejected on several grounds, including its release being “contrary to the public interest” and affecting “commercial interests”.

In a bid to clarify what the jargon-filled document actually means, the Telegraph submitted a series of requests for emails and meeting minutes under the Freedom of Information Act - which allows the public access to information held by public bodies.

We asked for emails received and sent in relation to the STP from those directly involved in producing the document - including Prof Andrew Hardy, the chief executive of UHCW and the man who has led on the STP.

We also asked for any minutes or notes taken during meetings which took place as part of the STP process.

Similar requests were sent to University Hospital Coventry and Warwickshire, the Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Partnership Trust, George Eliot Hospital and the South Warwickshire NHS Foundation Trust.

Despite the requests being made separately to each organisation, almost identical responses were received within hours of each other last week.

The responses rejected all requests for information.

We were refused access to relevant email communication on the basis that searches would be too time-consuming and costly.

The four organisations confirmed they held relevant meeting minutes but refused to hand them over - suggesting that the information requested would amount to revealing “trade secrets” or affect “commercial interests”.

The organisations also sought to argue that handing over the minutes, which could help establish the decision-making processes behind the £260m of cuts, would be “contrary to the public interest”.

The Telegraph has requested internal reviews of the decisions to turn down the requests for information.

If the requested information is still not provided, the Telegraph can appeal to the Information Commissioner.

[dutchman]

Coventry and Warwickshire NHS chiefs fork out £340,000 for advice on how to SAVE money

NHS chiefs spent £343,000 on private consultants to help produce a plan to drive down costs and shave millions from local spending.

Health bosses also said they aren’t able to provide a breakdown of exactly what the money covered as they paid a “fixed fee”.

The six-figure sum was paid to PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) as the Coventry and Warwickshire’s Sustainability and Transformation Plan (STP) was drawn up.

The document, released in December, aims to address the need to bridge the local NHS funding gap of £267million which will exist by 2020 if services stay the same in the region.

But the jargon-filled document has been slammed as “vague” and “opaque” amid fears of reductions in services to cope with the enormous funding gap.

Critics also hit out at the lack of detail in the STP - although the plan did confirm a review of the “sustainability” of under-pressure emergency care at George Eliot Hospital (GEH) and University Hospital Coventry and Warwickshire (UHCW), while also highlighting the need for capital to “right size” the A&E department in Coventry due to “GEH and UHCW collaboration activity”.

The STP board, which consists of seven NHS organisations in Coventry and Warwickshire, say the document is “the start of the process where we will develop plans”.

The Telegraph asked healthcare bosses how much had been paid out to private consultants as part of the STP planning process.

A request was made under the Freedom of Information Act, which allows the public access to information held by public bodies.

We asked for:

The total amount paid to any private consultants, such as PwC, in the production of the Coventry and Warwickshire Sustainability and Transformation Plan.

A breakdown of individual payments to private consultants.

Dates of when payments were made and who authorised them.

Details of who recruited consultants.

The response, provided by University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire Trust, read: “The seven NHS organisations within the STP paid a total sum of £343,000 (including VAT and expenses) to PWC LLP, who were commissioned by the STP member bodies to help to develop the STP between July and September 2016.

“The sum cannot be broken down as you request as the work was undertaken on a fixed fee basis but please note that the work was commissioned in line with government framework rates.”

[dutchman]

NHS cuts plan for Coventry and Warwickshire - council pledges to monitor closely

PLANS for £267million of NHS cuts in Coventry and Warwickshire in the next five years will be closely monitored by Coventry councillors, they have pledged.

It is unclear how much power they will have to influence NHS changes, although councils will be a key compenent in delivering more co-ordinated health and social care in future.

A leading Coventry city councillor is seeking to ‘reassure residents’ the council will ensure decisions on the future of health provision in Coventry are fully scrutinised.

Councillor Faye Abbott, Labour cabinet member for adult services and lead councillor for the STP, said: ‘Although it is critically important for the council to continue to work with health organisations in progressing the STP, I want to assure people that by discussing it in council meetings it certainly doesn’t mean we’ve ‘signed up’ to it.

“As it currently stands the STP is lacking in detail and transparency of what it will actually mean for people who need health and care services and I know that has been a great concern to people.

“Over the next months and even years the details of the potential impact of the STP will become clearer and I will be ensuring both that any decisions go through the correct decision-making process and that we are on hand to fight for residents by scrutinising and testing those decisions.

“I want to make sure any changes are made for the right reasons and will benefit the people that matter, our residents.

“My views as Cabinet Member are echoed by many Councillors, specifically the Leader of the City Council, Cllr George Duggins in his letter to the chair of the Coventry and Warwickshire STP board, and the chair of the Coventry Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee, Cllr Damian Gannon in his letter to Jeremy Hunt MP.”

[rebbonk]

Hollow words from a council bereft of both credibility and decency.

[Melisandre]

A leading Coventry city councillor is seeking to ‘reassure residents’ the council will ensure decisions on the future of health
“

“I want to make sure any changes are made for the right reasons and will benefit the people that matter, our residents.

Is that before or after Rugby and Nuneaton or any one else from out side Coventry who recieves treatment or operated on at our University hospital

[Melisandre]

Yet Coventry did nt want to join Warwickshire they should make their minds up.
By the way I have very close relatives living in Warwick Nuneaton and Bedworth I just wanted to know who will be priority and refused first come treatment or a bed when the hospital cant cope like a few times in the past and thats prior to cuts.