Plans to slash 22 beds from the Royal Alexandra Hospital (RAH) have been branded “scandalous” in the same week it breached capacity.
The Paisley hospital was put into Code Black at the weekend when it had more patients than beds available.
Health chiefs were forced to redirect patients to Greenock Royal Infirmary at the same time they said they were pressing ahead with plans to close ward 36.
NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde (NHSGGC) announced in October it wanted to close the ward and redirect its resources into a Hospital at Home service which would see a specified number of hospital-grade treatments administered in people’s homes.
But the plan has enraged staff, trade unions and families, with a petition opposing the plan garnering 5,000 signatures and a protest held outside the hospital on Monday.
Margaret Duffy, a Unison representative at the RAH, said the proposal was poorly planned and failed to consider the needs of elderly patients who are typically cared for in ward 36.
Explaining the closure was taking place by stealth, she said: “In recent weeks they have reduced the number of patients in ward 36 to eight, it’s more of the long-term patients, those under guardianship of the state that remain there.
“I emailed the general manager for older people’s services who said there wasn’t any suitable patients for the ward, which I find hard to believe.
“The hospital was in Code Black at the weekend and, when I looked on the system, they’d blocked out beds on ward 36 meaning they couldn’t be used, despite the hospital being full. There is no way on earth they wouldn’t have had patients who could have been moved there.”
NHSGGC – which has described the launch of the Hospital at Home service as a “test of change” – says its proposals would reduce the risk of hospital-acquired infections for older people, while arguing that elderly patients recover better in a homely setting.
The unions, staff and campaigners, however, argue that the new the service should be tested when fully operational and any move to reduce bed numbers postponed until the full impact of Hospital at Home is fully known.
Fellow Unison rep Barbara Steel added: “The Hospital at Home service could be really beneficial to Renfrewshire but it shouldn’t be a case of having one or the other. You shouldn’t deplete one service to establish another.
“We would want to see all of the data on how it is working and what impact it is having on the hospital and bed numbers before even contemplating bed closures.
“We suspect that once that data is available it will show the RAH can’t afford to lose any beds at all.”
Unison is demanding NHSGGC holds a public consultation, issues a timeline for the roll out of the Hospital at Home service and how it will be funded in the long-term; and commit to keeping ward 36 open until such times that it can prove its 22 beds are no longer needed.
Neil Bibby MSP has backed the union’s demands – arguing that national guidelines suggest the proposals should be put to the public.
The Labour MSP for West Scotland, who had asked health secretary Neil Gray to insist on a public consultation, said: “It is extremely disappointing that the vital ward 36 for older people appears set to close without giving the public a chance to have their say on the matter.
“Considering the overwhelming resistance to the proposal, a consultation is the least that should be done.
“The SNP who are responsible for the NHS in Scotland are cutting beds here despite receiving £5 billion extra in funding. It’s time they listened and stopped their RAH cuts.”
In the Scottish Parliament, Mr Gray said because the ward closure was “a test change” no public consultation was necessary and argued the situation would be “kept under review”.
A spokesperson for NHSGGC told the Paisley Daily Express that, while people were diverted away from the hospital on Sunday, ward 36 is never used to provide urgent care as it sits outside the main building and does not have easy access to the medical investigations and medical support required for such patients.
Explaining Healthcare Improvement Scotland is supportive of the plans for ward 36, the spokesman added: “These beds were primarily used for delayed discharge patients. These are patients who are medically fit to go home but unable to be discharged until home care or care home placements are ready.
“Renfrewshire HSCP is performing extremely well on delayed discharge. Due to this success, the ward is currently under-utilised.
“We are working towards closure by the end of March and we will ensure patients are relocated appropriately.
“We believe that providing care that helps older adults remain in their own homes whenever possible leads to better health outcomes and an improved quality of life. Evidence shows that longer hospital stays can increase the risk of falls, delirium, hospital-acquired infections, and deconditioning.”
The online petition can be signed at https://www.change.org/p/stop-the-closure-of-ward-36-at-the-royal-alexandra-hospital
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