Northwich News
Fears for Victoria Infirmary Northwich service
10:30am Friday 10th February 2012
LOW use of infirmary services should be investigated and turned round rather than being slashed, according to concerned councillors.
The out of hours service at the Victoria Infirmary Northwich (VIN) is under review because evening and weekend demand is so low.
But Northwich Town Council is reluctant to see the service reduced.
Clr Paul Dolan said: “It’s really disappointing and depressing to read that there’s a proposal to reduce the out of hours service to the people of greater Northwich, which is 80,000 to 100,000 people.
“I’m really concerned that this is the thin end of the wedge and threatens the reduction, not only of the out of hours service, but the whole infrastructure of services at VIN.
“Why is there such a low take up of this service when we know that a lot of people are showing up at A&E at Leighton?
“One of the key priorities is to see less people turn up at A&E unplanned.
“What we have here is the perfect model but there’s not enough awareness being raised with people in the area about this service.”
The consultation is being led by East Cheshire NHS Trust, which states that the average weekday evening take up is four out of 13 possible appointments per night and up to one home visit between 6.30pm and 10pm.
At weekends demand is higher in the day but falls significantly in the evening.
The proposal is to stop the weekday 6.30pm to 10pm out of hours service and reduce the weekend and bank holiday service times from 9am to 10pm to 9am to 6pm.
After this time appointments for patients who need to see a GP would be available at Leighton Hospital, in Crewe.
The consultation deadline is March 23.
For more information visit eastcheshire.nhs.uk/Get-Involved/out-of-hours-service.htm.