Invitation to Cheshire and Merseyside Vascular Services Consultations

Vascular services are changing nationally to improve patient experience and provide better outcomes for patients following surgery. The NHS is planning to make changes to the way vascular services are provided to save lives and improve patient outcomes in every part of Cheshire and Merseyside.

What are Vascular Services?

Vascular services consist of planned treatment for conditions where there is not enough blood reaching an organ or parts of the body such as the arms, legs or head, caused by a partial or total blockage.

Vascular services also include planned treatment for aneurysm (a fluid-filled bulge in an artery that can weaken it) and treatment for other types of abnormal blood vessels. In addition, vascular specialists are needed to support other medical treatments such as kidney dialysis or chemotherapy access.

As well as planned treatment, vascular services also include emergency treatment. These include life threatening emergencies, such as when a large artery bursts; where there is a critical lack of blood to a limb; when the lack of a blood supply can be limb threatening; or injuries from road traffic accidents.

The review.

Currently, across Cheshire and Merseyside, a number of local hospitals carry out vascular surgery, but the most complex surgery (about 20% of the current number) requires sufficient numbers to ensure the surgeons develop the highest skills, with the best possible outcomes for patients. This means we need to concentrate this specialist surgery into fewer centres – something widely agreed on amongst the clinicians.

In response to this, last year Cheshire and Merseyside began a review of its vascular services. We began the review by holding engagement events and surveys to seek the views of patients, members of the public, elected representatives and NHS clinical staff on the proposed service changes. The engagement resulted in patients, public and clinicians overwhelmingly supporting the approach to concentrate the specialist surgery in hospitals in order to improve patient safety, even if this meant that this specialist surgery was not carried out at their local hospital.

Following the engagement events, the hospitals were invited to make application to become a specialist arterial centre and to form a network of hospitals supporting this model. This element of the review has been concluded and it is proposed that there are two specialist arterial centre’s developed one will be based at the Royal Liverpool Hospital, working in a network with hospitals north of the Mersey, and one proposed for the Countess of Chester hospital, working with hospitals south of the Mersey

As a member of Sefton LINk you have been invited to share your views on this stage of the proposal as part of a formal 12 week public consultation. I have attached the consultation document which provides a detailed explanation of the proposed changes, why they are necessary, what benefits they will bring and how they will be delivered.

A series of opportunities are available for you to make comment:

Public events and exhibitions will be visiting local hospitals, primary care and local authority settings, signposting patients to events and a website to complete an on-line survey (if you want to access this on-line material the address is: www.vascularconsultation.org.uk.)

There have been a range of direct mailings to patients and the public via local LINks, community groups, and patient groups. If you cannot access a website, or attend an event, or complete a survey by post, you can contact the free phone telephone number to register your comments by calling 0800 085 1547.

There are four consultation events being held in Merseyside (including a Warrington event) which you can attend, irrespective of your home address.

Warrington Event
Friday 02nd March 2012
10.00 pm - 2.00 pm (registration from 9.30am)
at the Halliwell Jones Stadium, Winwick Road, Warrington WA2 7NE.

St Helens Event
Wednesday 28th March 2012
10.00 – 2.00pm (registration from 9.30am)
at Reflections Gallery, The World of Glass, Chalon Way East, St Helens, Merseyside, WA10 1BX

Halton Event
Tuesday 3rd April 2012
10.00 – 2.00pm (registration from 9.30am)
at The Bridge Suite, Stobart Stadium Halton, Lowerhouse Lane, Widnes, WA8 7DZ

If you plan to attend an event, you must register in advance, by calling Kelly Jones on 0151 244 3457.