No decisions made to close, reduce or relocate hospital services as part of a review
NHS Norfolk and Suffolk Integrated Care Board (ICB) has agreed that there is sufficient evidence to progress further work exploring how hospital services across Norfolk and Waveney could be improved for the future.
At its public meeting on Wednesday 4 November, the ICB Board considered the Norfolk and Waveney University Hospitals Group’s Case for Change, which sets out the challenges facing local hospitals, including growing demand, workforce pressures and the need to ensure services remain safe and sustainable.
The Board’s decision does not approve the closure, reduction or relocation of any hospital services, including maternity services. No preferred options have been agreed and no formal public consultation has been authorised.
Instead, the ICB will commission and oversee the development of a Pre-Consultation Business Case (PCBC), which will assess a comprehensive range of options.
As the organisation responsible for planning and commissioning NHS services, the ICB will ensure that any future proposals are considered in the context of the whole health and care system, with patient safety, clinical quality, access to care and reducing health inequalities at the heart of the process.
Ed Garratt OBE, Chief Executive of NHS Norfolk and Suffolk ICB, said:
“Our priority is to ensure that people across Norfolk and Waveney receive safe, high-quality care, now and in the future. We want to see a greater proportion of care delivered closer to home, which we believe will improve health outcomes.
“The Case for Change highlights important challenges that we must plan for, focused by the opportunity of the two new replacement hospitals planned for the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in King’s Lynn and the James Paget Hospital in Gorleston.
“I want to reassure patients, families and staff that no decisions have been made through this review to close, reduce or move services at any of our three hospitals.
“As commissioners, our responsibility is to look at the whole picture – ensuring that any potential changes are clinically safe, improve outcomes, protect access to care and reflect the needs of our communities, particularly those who already experience health inequalities.
“Patients, staff and local communities must have a meaningful voice in shaping this work, and their views will be central to the decisions that follow.”
What happens next?
The ICB will oversee the development and assessment of potential options, considering patient safety, workforce, hospital and community capacity, travel, access, affordability and health inequalities.
The forthcoming Healthwatch Norfolk engagement findings will help inform this work, alongside further involvement with patients, staff, partners and local communities.
The completed Pre-Consultation Business Case will return to the ICB Board for a separate decision before any formal public consultation. An update on the next stage of work, including more detailed timescales, will be brought to the next ICB Board meeting.
No decisions have been made as part of this review about where or how individual hospital services will be provided in the future.