More than 20 A&E wards could be 'shut down or downgraded'
Over 20 accident and emergency wards in England are under threat of closure or of being downgraded as part of an NHS shake-up that would affect 33 hospitals.
Research by the Health Service Journal (HSJ) showed around 24, or 15%, of A&Es were targeted as each region is called upon to draw up plans setting out their response to the increasing financial pressure hospitals face.
There are definite public proposals to downgrade or close seven hospitals emergency departments, including Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospitals Trust's City Hospital and Sandwell District General Hospital, which are due to be replaced by a new department at the Midland Metropolitan Hospital scheduled to open in 2018, the HSJ reported.
Other hospitals are under discussion and no final decision has been made.
The King's Fund's director of policy Richard Murray told the HSJ that the number of potential downgrades "is not high enough to conclude we are seeing a radical redrawing of urgent and emergency care, but it is high enough to suggest a lot of political noise and require a lot of potentially noisy public consultations".
Dr Chris Moulton, vice president of the Royal College of Emergency Medicine, warned the NHS does not have enough capacity for a growing and ageing population.
"Any A&E closures must be very carefully considered for patient safety, patient convenience and the effects on neighbouring departments that would have to absorb the extra patient attendances," he said.