Saddleworth North Liberal Democrat Councillor Garth Harkness is proposing a motion at the next full meeting of Oldham Council condemning proposals to relocate specialist NHS medical services for Oldham patients with serious heart conditions to Yorkshire and the North East of England, and calling for them to remain local.

Cllr Harkness will propose the motion because he is seriously concerned that the move will adversely impact on the quality of care that heart patients receive in this region. He also has his own personal concerns.

He explained: “Like many people in this region, I have a heart condition. I rely upon regular health checks from NHS staff based at the Manchester Royal Infirmary, I am reassured that my current health can be managed within the region and at the moment, I would not have to travel outside the region to access specialist services. Sadly this is not the case for many others and the situation could get worse.”

“Regrettably, despite the work being done to promote healthy life choices, heart disease remains one of the biggest killers of adults in this borough and in this region. Many thousands of local people rely on the local NHS for their specialist treatment.”

“Despite this, as a result of a recent review where NHS England find it acceptable to consider relocating specialist services to Leeds, Newcastle and Sheffield, and to expect local patients, many of whom are seriously ill, and their carers to travel there for treatment. This will mean that they will incur additional costs and the stress and time involved in travel; not great for patients who are not in good health and for households who are often likely to be reliant on welfare benefits. This is now already happening because surgeons have left Manchester and they can’t replace them.”

“Most worrying the review says that in the event of an emergency attendance at a local hospital, patients will be ‘stabilised and managed’ by doctors until fit for transfer to a specialist centre. I am sure that heart patients who take a turn for the worse will have higher expectations of treatment than merely being ‘stabilised and managed’ until they can be shipped out of their local area for real treatment. What if these emergency patients do not survive the journey?”

“This is a National Health Service and heart patients should expect to receive the same level of high quality of care wherever we may live, whether this be in Oldham or Otley, Oxford or Ottery St Mary.”

“The Oldham Liberal Democrats are saying ‘Don’t Kill Off’ our heart services and demanding that specialist services stay in Greater Manchester. We want this Council to back that demand and to enlist the support of our local Members of Parliament and the new Greater Manchester Mayor in support of our campaign.

The motion reads:

Council notes that:

• Heart disease remains one of the biggest killers of adults in this borough and that it debilitates many more.
• The Oldham Locality Plan for Health & Social Care Transformation reports that “Our adult population is less physically active, smokes more, and carries more excess weight than the England average and we have higher than average alcohol-related admissions to hospital. These unhealthy behaviours mean we have significantly higher numbers of people with recorded diabetes, and deaths from smoking-related diseases, cardiovascular disease and cancer are significantly higher than the England average.”
• There has recently been a review of congenital heart disease treatment services in this region.

Council is concerned that, under the current proposals resulting from this review:

• Some patients will be obliged to access services, and surgery outside the North West, at specialist centres in Leeds, Newcastle and Sheffield.

• In the event of an emergency attendance at a local hospital, patients will be “stabilised and managed by doctors until fit for transfer to a specialist centre”.

• The capacity of the Manchester Royal Infirmary to carry out specialist procedures has over past months been reduced as key medical staff have left the hospital as they had no guarantee their services would be required following the review.

• The proposed merger of the South and Central Trafford NHS Trusts has created further uncertainty of employment for specialist staff in our region as the two hospitals providing heart services – Manchester Royal Infirmary and Wythenshawe – will be brought under one trust.

Council believes that:

• It is unreasonable to expect patients with such conditions, and their carers and families, to make significant journeys to centres outside of Greater Manchester for the more specialist procedures or surgery.

• It is unacceptable that in a National Health Service patients in the North West are subject to a ‘postcode lottery’ as to where they are sent for treatment and cannot access their own specialist centre in their own region.

Council therefore resolves to ask the Chief Executive to make representations on this matter to:

• The Secretary of State for Health

• The Manchester University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, which manages the Manchester Heart Centre

• The Greater Manchester Mayor

Requesting they maintain specialist provision in our region.  And also to the three local Members of Parliament seeking their support for the Council’s position.