Petition against proposed cuts to Scarborough Hospital services

York Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, NHS Scarborough and Ryedale CCG and NHS East Riding of Yorkshire CCG are planning to review acute services at Scarborough Hospital.

However, some hospital doctors and local GPs fear that the proposed changes might mean the end of Scarborough's A&E department (to be replaced by a Minor Injuries Unit) and Scarborough's paediatric ward, and the reduction of emergency surgery and elective surgeries.

There are also fears that outpatients appointments could be pushed onto GPs and the obstetric cover could be reduced to a midwifery-led unit.

This will effectively force patients and their families to travel as far as York and Hull for emergency and elective surgery, any complications experienced during surgery and pre and post-operation appointments.

The potential changes are being discussed at three public meetings, which are taking place today and tomorrow in Scarborough and Bridlington.

These will be held today, from 3.30pm to 5pm and from 6pm to 7.30pm at The Royal Hotel, Scarborough, and on Tuesday from 2.30pm to 4pm at East Riding Leisure in Bridlington.

The petition can be found at change.org

Scarborough Borough Councillors are this afternoon due to receive a briefing on proposed changes.

A statement released by NHS East Riding of Yorkshire CCG said: "Healthcare is changing, people are living longer and there is a growing need for different types of health and care services, which are often provided outside of hospitals.

"This should mean that, with increased out-of-hospital care, fewer people will require the types of services that acute hospitals currently provide.

"Whilst this is good news for patients, it puts pressure on hospitals such as Scarborough where we are already seeing challenges in recruiting enough specialist staff or seeing enough patients to make services sustainable.

"The review will look at the services that are currently provided and through detailed analysis will seek to understand exactly what these services look like now, as well as what they might look like in the future.

"We are involving GPs, hospital doctors and other healthcare staff in this work, and would like to offer you the opportunity to be involved during this early stage of the review.

"In particular we are seeking your involvement in shaping the evaluation criteria that we will use when considering the options that will be developed in the coming months of the review.

"To do this, we are holding a number of workshops. At these workshops there will be the opportunity to discuss why such a review is needed (the case for change) and also for you to share what is most important to you in terms of your care and what you think we need to consider when developing future service options. This feedback will be used, alongside feedback from healthcare staff, to come up with the evaluation criteria."

People who want to attend the consultation are encouraged to book a place at https://www.yorkhospitals.nhs.uk/stakeholder-engagement-booking-form/