More beds to go at hospitals in plan to improve community care

The Primary Care Trust has recently agreed to trial "enhanced community services" which aims to ensure community healthcare in the Malton and Whitby areas is delivered in the most appropriate setting and most efficient way.

The aim is to maintain the provision of the community hospitals with a range of services including access to diagnostics, theatres, inpatient and outpatient facilities, minor injuries units and hospital-based rehabilitation. Officials also want to strengthen community services, including the provision of an overnight nursing service – something not currently available – to support patients safely at home when they do not need the level of care provided in the hospital setting.

They argue the proposal would see the balance between community services and those provided in a hospital setting altered to reflect the need of the population.

This would be achieved by incrementally reducing the number of beds open for admission, while slowly transferring some staff into the community.

Whitby Hospital already has empty beds and there is a plan to staff it accordingly, effectively reducing nursing capacity by the equivalent of five beds.

Patient watchdogs recently called a public meeting to discuss the future of Malton Hospital after the number of beds at Ryedale Ward – recently refurbished at a cost of 1m – was reduced from 16 to five.

Now there are plans to close five more beds at Malton immediately whilst this new model is tried out. The impact will be reviewed on a weekly basis.

Janet Probert, managing director of North Yorkshire and York Community and Mental Health Services, said yesterday: "We have absolutely no intention of closing either Malton or Whitby hospitals. There will always be a need for community hospital services but we must use our resources flexibly to meet changing patient needs in the 21st century. We believe our plan represents the best solution for patients and value for money."

Patients who need more intensive levels of treatment and observation will be admitted to their local hospital, but patient surveys showed high levels of satisfaction with hospital at home schemes, and some preferred them to admission, she added.

"By providing more specialist support within the community, evidence shows that patients' conditions can be better managed, levels of recovery are better and hospital admissions can be avoided," she continued.

She understood local people were apprehensive about the new way of working. "But at a time when people are living longer and placing more demands on an NHS it represents a solution that benefits patients and enables us to maintain good quality, safe and sustainable health care services," she added.

A review in April next year will establish how the service is measuring up. If judged a success, more consultations would be undertaken before any changes were made permanent.

As reported by the Yorkshire Post, Tory MP Anne McIntosh, who represents Thirsk, Malton and Filey, is to discuss the future of Malton – and in particular Ryedale Ward – with Health Minister Simon Burns. Yesterday she said the meeting was set for Tuesday next week.

She added "I am most grateful to the Health Minister for agreeing to meet me to discuss the future of health service provision to Malton Community Hospital, following my recent parliamentary question and campaign to save the beds on the ward and the whole of Ryedale Ward from possible closure."