Due to a temporary suspension of walk in treatment, Staffordshire families are being advised not to take their children to the emergency centre.
While adult Accident & Emergency is unaffected and will continue with its normal 8am – 10pm opening hours, staffing issues have forced services for under 18’s to be suspended with immediate effect.
Philip Atkins, Leader of Staffordshire County Council, said: “While this is very disappointing news for families in Stafford and the surrounding areas, the safe treatment of children has to be the absolute priority. The emergency centre has been open just over a year and we look forward to seeing the centre re-open its doors, but only when it is safe to do so. We will now be contacting the trust urgently to see what plans are being put in place to allow this to happen as swiftly as possible.”
Advice from hospital bosses is that children with minor illnesses and injuries should be seen by primary care services such as their GP or community pharmacists. For emergency treatment, families should dial 999 for an ambulance.
The hospital’s operating entity, University Hospitals of North Midlands NHS Trust, has assured that continuing care for all children’s outpatients appointments and nurse-led care for those with chronic or long term conditions will still be provided in Stafford.
A number of safety concerns were highlighted in a draft report by the West Midlands Quality Review Service, and the clinical model implemented as part of the Mid Staffordshire NHS Trust Special Administrator recommendations has been deemed unviable at the current time due to the lack of sufficient numbers of staff with very specific levels of paediatric and anaesthetic training, including resuscitation and life-support competencies. The Children’s Emergency Centre service was created in May 2015 as part of the three year integration of the Trust.
Stone MP, Sir Bill Cash released the following statement; “The Children’s Emergency Centre at County Hospital, along with the paediatric clinics and outpatients, provides a vital service to my constituents. I am working with and strongly support the hard work put into protecting and preserving this vital service by Jeremy Lefroy and it is crucial that necessary training is carried out and that the Centre is put back in service without delay. There are important questions to be asked over the decision to suspend the service and the plans to reinstate it – and the Acting Chief Executive of the Trust will need to answer them. I have written to both the Trust and the Health Secretary, supporting the efforts of the Member for Stafford, and insisting we have children’s services accessible to all, and pointed out that our services must be accessible to all parts of our area, including those in or nearby to towns and in the rural villages and deeply rural areas. I am pushing for this service to be restored as soon as possible.”
