Controversial plans to change the level of critical care at a South Cumbrian hospital should go out to a full public consultation, councillors have recommended.
Members of Westmorland & Furness Council’s Health and Adults Scrutiny Committee met today, Wednesday September 24, to discuss the proposals for Furness General Hospital in Barrow.
Lancashire and South Cumbria Integrated Care Board announced in July that the highest level of critical care will not return to Barrow.
It said Level 3 intensive care, which was suspended at the hospital a year ago due to issues with recruiting staff, would become a permanent move.
The three levels of adult intensive care are defined by the intensity of organ support and monitoring required.
Level 1 is for patients at risk of their condition deteriorating, requiring additional support and monitoring on a regular ward.
Level 2, also known as high dependency, provides support for a single failing organ system or post-operative care.
Level 3, the most intensive level, involves support for two or more failing organ systems, including mechanical ventilation.
While the temporary change has been in place, patients who require Level 3 critical care were transferred to Royal Lancaster Infirmary, once stabilised.
Patients who needed levels 1 and 2 critical care continued to be treated and cared for at the hospital in Barrow.
Lancashire and South Cumbria Integrated Care Board, the commissioners of the service, said since the suspension of Level 3 at the hospital, there were 30 patients over a six-month period who have been transferred to a different provider, 10 of whom would have been transferred even if there had been a Level 3 unit at Furness General Hospital due to their clinical needs, and there had been no adverse outcomes.
A narrow vote by councillors today passed the recommendation for a full public consultation.
During the meeting, members of the public shouted over the committee members and representatives from University Hospitals at Morecombe Bay Trust and the integrated care board, under the belief that the meeting was a public consultation.
However, it was not.
During the meeting, representatives from the board and the health trust repeated that the intensive care unit was not closing.
Dr Andy Knox, interim medical director at the board, said: “It’s about where is the best place for them to get the best care.”
Dr Rachel Markham, a consultant in intensive care and clinical lead at the trust said the closure was the result of a staffing crisis across England and that efforts to recruit consultants had been largely fruitless.
All medical representatives said they wanted to make it clear that transfers between hospitals were a very common practice.
Any patients needed to be transferred would be moved according to very strict protocols, they added, and any staff involved would have undergone extensive training.
Craig Harris, chief commissioner at the board, said the decision was about safer and better outcomes and not taking things away.
“We are making a proposal based on very sound expert clinical advice,” he said.
Patients requiring less critical care will continue to be treated at Furness General Hospital.
Dyan Jones, chair of the Health and Adults Scrutiny Committee, said: “Our priority is ensuring that local people have their voices heard on such important proposals. We believe a full and transparent public consultation is essential before any final decision is taken.”
The committee’s recommendation has now been formally communicated to the relevant Lancashire and South Cumbria Integrated Care Board.
Barrow and Furness MP Michelle Scrogham attended the meeting.
She told the Local Democracy Service: “I’m incredibly pleased that we finally got there today with the scrutiny committee voting in favour of a full public consultation.
“It was quite clearly what the public want.”
Mrs Scrogham had presented the board with a 13,000-name petition against the plans last month.
Westmorland and Furness Council has apologised to people who found it difficult to hear proceedings.
It said: “The high number of attendees, combined with the acoustics of the historic drawing room, made it challenging at times for members of the public to follow the discussion. The council is reviewing options to improve accessibility at future meetings.”
