Your views
Your feedback is vital to us as we continue to increase the quality of our services.
You are here:
Date: 19 November 2024
Time: 20:21
Changes to adult services - engagement analysis
University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust in partnership with Birmingham and Solihull CCG have been undertaking an engagement exercise on proposed changes to some of the adult services across Solihull, Good Hope and Heartlands hospitals. This is in order to improve outcomes and reduce waiting times for patients. The specific services that the Trust are looking to make changes to are Trauma and Orthopedics and Gynaecology services.
As part of this six-week joint exercise which took place in July 2019, we engaged with:
- Over 200 members of staff who would be directly affected
- 1,800 patients and members of the public who visited our informational website or completed our engagement survey
- Patients, carers and members of the public during three drop-in sessions
- 6,930 of our Trust members and 32 governors
In conclusion, some common concerns were raised during the engagement process (our response are available in the "Your comments, our actions" section), however overall the engagement exercise appears on balance to support the proposed changes.
The final analysis report from the engagement process, independently produced by CSK Strategies Ltd., is available to download at the end of the page along with an equality analysis of the proposed plans.
Further details following the engagement exercise will be posted here when available.
Your comments, our actions
| Your comments | Our actions/existing arrangements |
|---|---|
| "We are concerned about the additional travelling" | Patients will continue to have all their outpatient appointments, pre-operative assessments and care, diagnostics (X-rays and scans) and post-operative follow up appointments at their local hospital. Extra travel would only be applicable to the patient's surgical procedure. Some patients are already choosing to have their procedures at a hospital that might be further to travel to. It is acknowledged that this may cause some inconvenience to patients, but it is strongly felt that the benefits of making the changes outweigh this. |
| "We are worried about parking at the hospital sites" | Parking capacity and charges are not going to change at the three hospital sites. As the number of patients distributed across the three sites will be fairly consistent (e.g. numbers of patients/visitors will be the same), no particular issues with car parking are anticipated. |
| "We are anxious about our visitors not being able to come and see us" | The positive impact that visitors have on patients' recovery is acknowledged. It is fully expected that the majority of patients will have a reduced length of stay if services, and improved outcomes, are reconfigured in this way. However, a survey will be given to patients on discharge, to help us understand if they feel their experience in hospital has been negatively impacted upon. |
| "Are you sure the hospitals have got enough capacity?" | There are no capacity issues anticipated, on the contrary, reduced waiting times for operations and fewer cancellations are just two of the key benefits for wanting to make the changes. |
| "How will you ensure that hospital records are transferred securely between hospital sites?" | University Hospitals Birmingham has robust and comprehensive policies in place for the movement of medical records. |
| "What about the impact on other hospitals?" | Patients can choose to have their procedure at any hospital that offers the service, this could be within Birmingham and Solihull or further afield. These proposals will not impact on patient choice. |
| "Is this about saving money?" | These proposals are not about removing any services or saving money; there has been a £2.5million investment in estate and infrastructure. |
| "We would like all services to remain at our local hospital" | The services offered by the Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham (QEHB) will be unaffected by these proposals. By creating centres of excellence at Solihull and Good Hope Hospitals, in dedicated and high-quality facilities, patient outcomes and experience will significantly improve. |
