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Infirmary's blood blow
Alice McKeegan27/ 8/2008
FEARS are growing over the long-term future of another Rochdale Infirmary service after it emerged the pathology department could move to other hospitals.
Health bosses have agreed to a trial which would see significant changes being made to emergency blood supplies.
An emergency stock of around 12 pints of blood would be stored at the Infirmary and it is unclear whether operations will be able to continue.
Blood samples belonging to patients needing emergency transfusions will be sent for analysis to other hospitals, believed to be the Royal Oldham and Fairfield General, by taxi or shuttle bus during the trial period.
The Observer has learnt that Pennine Acute Hospitals NHS Trust, which runs the Infirmary, ran up a £50,000 taxi bill on transferring samples from the site to other laboratories last year.
It is expected that if services were permanently moved elsewhere, transport costs would increase to £70,000 a year with samples being transferred by shuttle bus. All staff in the pathology department would also be relocated.
We submitted a series of questions to the trust about the proposals and how they would affect operations, but a spokesman failed to comment on whether surgical procedures would be affected. He also said that no timescales for the trial have been decided.
Councillor Jean Ashworth, who works on the children’s ward at the Infirmary, fears the proposals signal ‘the beginning of the end’ for the hospital.
She said: "It’s absolutely disgraceful and I believe it will be dangerous for patients. It will be putting their lives at risk.
"What will happen to patients with a bleed or who need a major operation? Even a minor operation carries risks and if something went wrong it could have devastating consequences.
"Four pints of blood will not save anyone’s life. By the time a taxi has been sent to collect more blood, the person could be dead.
"This decision could mean that a lot of procedures will have to stop. I think it signals the end for the Infirmary. They shouldn’t be doing this."
A spokesman for Pennine Acute Hospitals NHS Trust said: "We are starting discussions with scientists and clinical staff about the possibility of running a trial service for urgent blood transfusions, as we believe this could bring benefits for both urgent and non-urgent work.
"If adopted, emergency blood would still be available at the Infirmary. Currently there are two emergency stock fridges with four units of O negative each, which can be used for any patient. Each unit is 250ml. This would remain the same.
"In addition, there would be an emergency stock of probably around 20 units of O positive. The precise stock level would still have to be decided on as part of the discussions with clinicians ahead of the trial.
"As discussions among clinicians are only starting on this we do not have final details or a proposed start date, but we will let people know if that is finalised.
"Most of the pathology functions have already been transferred from Rochdale to our other labs. If the trial was successful the staff would transfer and all routine analysis would be done at other labs.
"This relocation of staff would strengthen the overall service and enable us to provide higher quality. There is certainly no imminent transfer planned and any move would take place in line with our normal processes."
He added the changes were not part of the controversial Healthy Futures or Making it Better programmes which will see maternity and children’s services being axed at the Infirmary early in 2011. The A and E unit will also be downgraded.
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27/08/2008 at 15:13
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27/08/2008 at 16:56