The NHS Shaping Care Together programme has been looking at changing urgent and emergency care services across Southport, Formby, and West Lancashire.
Between July and October 2024 programme leaders sought the views of patients and public about the proposed changes in pre-consultation engagement programme. The public were invited to give their views in a number of ways, which included a series of in-person and online public events, several focus groups, and a survey which attracted almost 3,000 responses.
An in-depth analysis on the views put forward by those who took part in the pre-consultation engagement programme have now been published with the findings here.
What people said matters to them
Almost 3,000 people completed the survey, which showed strong support for the programme’s ambitions. The responses were clear that offering the best quality care and ensuring that medical safety always comes first are top priorities.
More than nine in every 10 people responding said they felt it was quite or very important that urgent and emergency care services: ‘are available for everyone, all day, every day’ (97.7%), are set up in a way that can ‘help reduce waiting lists across our local NHS (90.8%), and ‘give children and young people the same access to emergency care as adults’ (98.4%).
There was also a clear message across the board that children’s and adult’s A&E services should be located together at the same hospital site.
Leading the programme is Rob Cooper, chief executive of Mersey and West Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, who said: “The need for change is pressing but it is essential that we take the time to get this right.
“We’re making sure that public and patients have a strong voice in shaping services together with us. I’m very pleased that so many people took our survey. We also had hundreds of face-to-face conversations with people sharing their ideas for future services.’’
The report also highlights some common concerns that were expressed around issues like access to services, transport links and hospital parking. People from different communities and from a variety of backgrounds also spoke about the need to consider how population changes might affect demand for services in future, the important role played by walk-in and urgent treatment centres, and how coordination with GPs and pharmacies can help make sure that the people who go to A&E really need to be there.
You said, we did
Following in-depth analysis, an assessment group considered which of the options put forward could be achievable, and meet the programme’s objectives, with the resources available.
Patients, carers, and members of the public were invited to take part alongside NHS staff from the programme area and neighbouring trusts, as well as community and local authority representatives. The outcomes will be announced once the programme’s pre-consultation business case has been published, anticipated for later this year.
Next steps and public consultation
The programme is now going through a series of checks with NHS England to make sure everything in the pre-consultation phase was done as it should be. All being well, the programme hopes to start public consultation later this year. That will be the chance for everyone to share views on the option(s) put forward, but also to introduce new insights and perspectives so that the conversation around future services is based on all available facts.
