Inpatient ward to remain closed at Rothbury Community Hospital

Tyne Tees
Rothbury
Northumberland
Health
Thursday 17 November 2016 at 6:00pm

Rothbury Community Hospital Credit: ITV News

A review has recommended the temporary suspension of inpatient admissions at Rothbury Community Hospital should continue until a consultation on its future is complete.

On 2 September, the decision was taken to temporarily suspend new inpatient admissions to the hospital, for a period of three months, in light of the continued low use of the ward.

Following this temporary suspension, the Northumberland Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) undertook a comprehensive review of inpatient activity and presented its findings at a public meeting at Jubilee Hall, Rothbury.

The data showed:

Inpatient bed occupancy has been very low since 2013 alongside a notable increase in the use of local community services.
In the period 2015 to 2016, only 53 per cent of the beds at Rothbury were occupied
Community nursing contacts peaked at 7,629 in the period from October 2015 to September 2016.

Local people say, with the nearest hospitals in Wansbeck and Cramlington, they want to be able to get quick medical attention, or keep in close contact with relatives and loved ones who need treatment right here:

The review also found that there is a continued need for the hospital’s wider services and efforts should remain to support the local community.

It recommended that the CCG's executive board consider a period of formal consultation and extend the temporary suspension of inpatient admissions until the consultation is complete.

The fact that the bed occupancy rate in Rothbury has been so low, for such a long time, simply cannot be ignored. This is particularly so when considered alongside the pressures experienced elsewhere in the NHS and Northumberland’s healthcare system and the need to ensure that effort is concentrated where patients need it most. The CCG’s aim is always to make sure patients receive the treatment and ongoing care at the most appropriate and safest place for their individual needs, however, it also has to consider the most sustainable ways of delivering this in the future. We wholeheartedly understand the concerns recently raised but the fact inpatient beds have been so underused is a result of significant improvements in the levels of care that can now be delivered at home. We would like to reassure the people in Rothbury that no permanent decision has been made on the future of the inpatient ward and we look forward to the forthcoming formal consultation which will give local people another opportunity to comment. Consultation details will be published as soon as they become available and I would encourage everyone to have their say. As we move forward, local views will continue to be very important to the CCG."