Changes to hospitals services for women and children to go ahead in September
Planned changes to hospital services for women and children in North Kirklees and Wakefield will go ahead in September.
The changes are part of a major redesign of healthcare in the district which was signed off in spring 2014 and will ensure people have fast access to specialists, giving them a better chance of recovery.
Changes are being delivered over a three year period and (when they are completed) will mean
- Pinderfields will be the main centre for people from North Kirklees and Wakefield who have a very serious illness
- Most people who need an emergency ambulance will be taken to Pinderfields
- Dewsbury and Pontefract Hospitals will have open access to urgent care for people who attend using their own transport
- Dewsbury and Pontefract will provide more planned care and will treat people with less serious illness
- Patients with long term and complex conditions will be able to have more of their care provided at home by teams of health and social care workers
Following confirmation by NHS North Kirklees Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) and NHS Wakefield CCG at a joint meeting yesterday (July 6th), the next phase of changes which affect services for women and children will go ahead on the weekend of September 17th and 18th.
New midwife led birth centres will open at Dewsbury Hospital and Pinderfields Hospital and – from this date – all births that need to be under the supervision of a consultant will take place at Pinderfields. Women will still have their care during pregnancy and after the birth provided at their local hospital or clinic.
A new specialist service for women with gynaecological problems or complications in early pregnancy will also open at Pinderfields, enabling women to receive specialist care in a dedicated unit rather than in an emergency department or surgical ward.
The children’s assessment unit, which opened at Dewsbury in September 2014, will change its opening hours and will be open from 10am to 8pm every day. Children who need to be in hospital for more than a few hours will be admitted to Pinderfields.
Neonatal care for babies who need extra care in hospital when they are born will also be centralised at Pinderfields. There will also be a transitional care unit for babies that need extra care but are well enough to be looked after alongside their mother.
The CCG governing bodies also agreed in principle to make some of the planned changes to surgical services in September 2016, which will mean more planned operations being provided at Dewsbury Hospital and more unplanned surgery being provided at Pinderfields. This will be confirmed in August.
Dr David Kelly, clinical chair for NHS North Kirklees CCG, said: ‘In 2013 we made a commitment to improve care for the 500,000 people who live across North Kirklees and Wakefield. We are now making the changes that will ensure local healthcare is safer and more sustainable in the future.’
