“STEALTH NHS plans for sweeping closures of hospitals and accident and emergency departments are “potentially catastrophic” and could put lives at risk, leading doctors have said.

The warning came as a major report by the King’s Fund lambasted health officials for ordering the suppression of proposals that will affect millions of people.

The respected think tank suggests the plans – being drawn up behind closed doors in every part of England – may be doomed to fail patients.
Secrecy about the process, combined with “breakneck” timescales and a lack of funding for new services means patients could bear the brunt of brutal cuts, they suggested.

Two weeks ago, The Daily Telegraph disclosed that half of NHS leaders are planning bed cuts, with one third intending to close accident and emergency departments.

It follows orders to produce “sustainability and transformation plans” (STPs) to tackle the greatest financial crisis in the history of the NHS and meet unprecedented patient demand.

On the critical list:

Some of the plans floated so far

♦ South West London: closure of one of five major hospitals
♦ North West London: closure of two A&E units
♦ North East: Darlington Memorial Hospital or North Tees Hospital to lose A&E unit
♦ Devon: cuts to almost 600 beds, with the loss of maternity and paediatric services from north Devon site
♦ Cheshire and Wirral: downgrade of at least one A&E department
♦ St Helens and West Lancs: possible closure of two A&E units

The country has been split into 44 areas, with each told to produce proposals to balance the books and change the way care is delivered.
NHS leaders have pledged to shift more care into the community, and to strengthen GP services, in efforts to boost health.

But cost-cutting has now taken precedence in many of the plans, the head of the King’s Fund warned. Today’s report criticises NHS England for telling local leaders not to publish plans until the details have been checked by senior officials.

In recent days, increasing numbers of NHS bodies and councils have broken ranks, publishing or leaking documents that set out plans for major changes to their services, arguing that the public deserves honesty.
The plans issued so far warn of the closures of whole hospitals as well as A&E and maternity units.

The King’s Fund criticised health officials for keeping patients in the dark, warning that the public has been “largely absent” from debate.
As well as telling local NHS managers not to publish their proposals, health officials also told them to block Freedom of Information requests seeking the information, the report says.

“National NHS leaders wanted to be able to ‘manage’ the STP narrative at a national level – particularly where plans might involve politically sensitive changes to hospital services,” the report says.

Local managers in the study said the approach was “ludicrous” and meant that controversial plans were being drawn up with no local involvement – which was likely to end in a “massive fight.”

Dr Tajek Hassan, president of the College of Emergency Medicine, said: “Secretly producing plans without involving those who are – or should be – at the heart of the NHS; the patients, is wholly unacceptable and will not result in effective or sustainable services.

“Transparency is also needed to address the current speculation regarding the potentially catastrophic closure of emergency departments, which – if true – would only add to the substantial difficulties emergency medicine faces and put lives at risk.”

Chris Ham, chief executive of the King’s Fund, said the NHS had been told by Government that “we don’t want too much noise” about the controversial plans.

Sir Bruce Keogh, the NHS medical director, said changes were needed to meet the needs of the country’s ageing population, and to ensure specialist care was available round the clock.

“We are talking about steady incremental improvement, not a big bang. If we don’t, the problems will only get worse,” he said. ”

http://digitaledition.telegraph.co.uk/editions/edition_1mboe_2016-11-14/data/239163/index.html