Some ‘good news for patients’ with blood services set to return

Walk-in facility at Leek Moorlands Hospital

AN INTERIM blood testing walk-in service is to be introduced at Leek Moorlands Community Hospital.

An announcement when the new service will start will be made in the near future.

Currently patients from the Moorlands need to attend clinics in either Meir, Cobridge or Bradwell if they need to give blood for testing urgently.

Dr Alison Bradley, a Werrington GP and Clinical Chairwoman of the North Staffordshire Clinical Commissioning Group said: “This is good news for Moorlands patients.

“This is a service local people have been calling for and demonstrates that we are listening to patients.

“I would like to stress this will be an interim service.

“We are currently consulting on changes to local health services in Northern Staffordshire, and the longterm future of this service will depend on the outcome of the consultation.”

North Staffordshire and Stoke-on-trent aim to join together key services in the community through integrated care hubs, and the hubs are likely to be where such services are based.

The CCGS are currently running a consultation, the Future of Local Health Services, to look at how to address this issue and help people to have better outcomes and gain their independence back as quickly as possible.

The consultation runs until this Sunday, March 17.

The CCG proposed to build one hub in the Staffordshire Moorlands where a range of services would be available.

The proposals are rebuild the current estate at Leek Moorlands Community Hospital, which is the preferred option; refurbish Leek hospital to turn it into a hub; one hub service delivered from a new site Kniveden in Leek or one hub delivered from Cheadle Community Hospital.

With regard to the beds, 77 would be part of Haywood Hospital which has a 25- year mortgage at £6million a year to run.

Options for the remaining 55, which are presently out for consultation, are that all 132 go in the Haywood; or 55 go at either Leek, Cheadle, Longton, Bradwell or at NHS commission care homes, which is the CCG’S preferred option.

Meanwhile a second public consultation meeting took place in Leek on Monday night.

Chairman of Save Leek Hospital group, Pam Wood, said: “The night went very well and involved two hours of questions to the CCG. These included the services that are proposed at one of hubs, community beds and nursing homes.

“The government is saying that care should be close to home.

“The group are now arranging a private meeting with the CCG’S chief accountable officer Marcus Warnes.”

The consultation survey can be completed online at www. healthservicesnorthstaffs.nhs. uk.

Alternatively, they can email consultation. northstaffsstoke@nhs.net for a hard copy which can then be returned by freepost.