Plans to downgrade A&E at Macclesfield Hospital being 'kept secret'

Plans that could see the A&E at Macclesfield downgraded have been kept secret from the public, a report claims.

Health bosses in the Cheshire and Merseyside region which covers Macclesfield, as well as 43 other areas across the country, are drawing up strategies setting out how they will save money, change services and improve care.

There is a £909m hole to plug in the region by 2020.

The sustainability and transformation plans (STPs), some of which have been published or leaked, could see hospitals, A&E units or maternity units close, and other services merged.

The proposal for Cheshire and Mersey includes changes in Macclesfield, Warrington, Knowsley and Southport and the downgrading of at least one A&E department – with Macclesfield A&E in the firing line, to possibly become an urgent care centre instead.

The King’s Fund, a think-tank and charity which aims to improve health and care, has analysed the STP process and criticised NHS England, which leads the NHS and is overseeing STPs, for keeping the public in the dark. Its report says NHS England told local health managers not to reveal details of the plans to the public and media, and even to refuse Freedom of Information requests. It says the STPs have not involved frontline staff.

The report said: “As well as the timeline creating a barrier to meaningful public engagement, national NHS bodies also asked STP leaders to keep details of draft STPs out of the public domain. Two main reasons were given for this. The first was that national NHS leaders wanted to be able to ‘manage’ the STP narrative at a national level, particularly where plans might involve politically-sensitive changes to hospital services.

“The second was that national leaders did not want draft proposals to be made public until they had agreed on their content.”

The Merseyside and Cheshire STP was due to be published today (Wednesday).

Sir Bruce Keogh, NHS England Medical Director said: “Claims of secrecy have been overtaken by the fact that we’ve asked that all STPs are now published over the next few weeks. And the extra time this has provided has given local hospitals, GPs and mental health service leaders the time they need to develop a starting-point for local conversations.”