Why is this change happening?
These changes have come about because North Manchester General Hospital (NMGH) is no longer part of the Northern Care Alliance NHS Foundation Trust and is now run by the Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust (MFT). Both organisations have been working together to strengthen the care we provide, and this includes some reorganising of services.
Therefore, from September 2022 the Haematology service at NMGH will be delivered by MFT.
How is the service currently provided?
Currently, the Northern Care Alliance NHS Foundation Trust provides full Haematology outpatient services at Rochdale Infirmary (RI), Royal Oldham Hospital (ROH) and Fairfield General Hospital (FGH), as well as at NMGH, with any hospital admission for more specialist care being at ROH. Some day case services are also available at NMGH.
Patients can currently attend any outpatient clinic site, and although the majority of patients attend their nearest hospital site, they can choose to attend an alternative site if preferred.
What will these changes mean?
From September 2022, care for patients at NMGH will be provided by MFT. The Haematology service is largely outpatient based, and outpatient clinics at NMGH will continue. However, inpatient and day case care for North Manchester patients will be provided at Manchester Royal Infirmary (MRI).
Patients who are registered with a Bury, Rochdale or Oldham GP will continue to have their care provided by the Northern Care Alliance NHS Foundation Trust with outpatient appointments at either FGH, ROH or RI. There will be no change to the range of inpatient services provided by the Northern Care Alliance NHS Foundation Trust on the ROH site, and the service offer at other sites will be unaffected.
You will continue to receive the same quality of care, and both organisations are committed to ensuring that there is no disruption to the service you receive.
When will this change happen?
The changes came into effect from September 2022.
Which patients are affected?
The main group of patients affected are patients who attend Haematology outpatient clinics at NMGH, their care will now be provided by MFT Consultants.
A small number of patients who are registered with a Bury, Rochdale or Oldham GP and attend Outpatient clinics at NMGH, will have their outpatient appointments at either FGH, ROH or RI from September 2022.
Existing patients who already attend outpatient appointments at FGH, ROH or RI, are not affected by these changes.
How will I know if I am affected by the change?
The Northern Care Alliance NHS Foundation Trust is writing to patients affected by this change to advise them of any impact on how their care is delivered. Patients will be given a choice about whether they would prefer to remain with their current consultant, or to continue to attend outpatient appointments at NMGH.
What about Patient Choice?
Patients will continue to receive the same quality of care, whatever clinic they attend. However, patients may choose either to remain under the care of their current Northern Care Alliance NHS Foundation Trust consultant, or to continue to attend outpatient clinics at NMGH.
For patients wishing to remain under their current consultant, future outpatient clinics will be available at either FGH, RI or ROH with any inpatient or day case care taking place at the ROH.
Patients wishing to carry on attending outpatient appointments at NMGH can continue to do so under the care of an Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust consultant, with any inpatient or day case care taking place at the MRI.
Details of how to exercise this choice will be included in the letters to affected patients.
What consultation has there been regarding these changes?
Both organisations have worked with local health commissioners to ensure that they are informed and supportive of these changes. A patient survey has been conducted in the NMGH outpatient clinic, and in addition, there is ongoing engagement with the Manchester Patient and Public Advisory Committee (PPAC) and Manchester Health Watch. There are also plans to gather views from North Manchester Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprise (VCSE) Assurance Group which has strong links into the local community in North Manchester.
What impact assessment has been undertaken?
A full Quality Impact Assessment has been undertaken to ensure the proposed changes are safe and the new service arrangements will be clinically effective. For the small number of risks that have been identified, suitable mitigating actions are in place.
An Equality Assessment has also been undertaken, and this has demonstrated that there will be no detrimental impact on any protected groups. Potentially, the change will have a positive impact for patients with conditions such as Sickle Cell Disease who present with acute problems at NMGH, due to streamlining of pathways to the specialised services provided on a GM-wide basis from MRI.
How will patient journeys be affected?
A travel analysis has been undertaken to provide information about the travel effects of the proposed changes.
Travel arrangements to outpatient clinics will not be affected, as they will continue to be available at NMGH. For patients travelling to MRI instead of Royal Oldham Hospital for specialist day case or inpatient care, the impact of travelling by car and by public transport was assessed. For those travelling by car, parking may be more or less expensive at MRI than ROH, depending on the duration of the stay, but in general terms the costs are similar and both sites offer discounted arrangements for frequent attenders. For North Manchester patients dependent on public transport, MRI is a significantly more accessible site than ROH.
Further information on getting to the MRI site and parking arrangements can be found at https://mft.nhs.uk/mri/patients-visitors/visitors/getting-here/
Outpatient clinics remain available at RI, FGH and ROH which are easily accessed by Bury, Oldham and HMR patients. These patients already attend the ROH site for day case or inpatient care, and there would be no impact on current travel arrangements.
For further information on getting to the FGH, RI and ROH sites and parking arrangements please use the following links: