Health bosses to update on urology services merger
Health bosses in Wolverhampton are set to provide an update on proposals to merge the city’s urology services with neighbouring Walsall.
A meeting of the Health Scrutiny Panel next week will examine the planned merger of urology services at the Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust (RWT) and Walsall Healthcare NHS Trust (WHT).
In a report to members of the panel, Jane McKiernan, Senior Programme Manager-for Strategy at the Wolverhampton Trust, said: “The case to merge the urology services at RWT and Walsall Healthcare NHS Trust was made at a meeting in July 2021.
“The aim of the merger of services is to ensure more responsive, safer and quicker urology care provision for the residents of Wolverhampton and Walsall with urology consultants, specialist nurses and associated management staff working as one team across both sites.
“The proposed merged service model between RWT and WHT will facilitate an increase in the number of elective cases that each consultant in the newly merged team undertakes each year, resulting in a shorter waiting time for elective surgery for patients.
“This is against the background of Wolverhampton having some of the longest and largest, waiting times for urology patients in the country.
“A focus on high-volume, low-complexity urology procedures – day cases – being undertaken at one site – Walsall Manor Hospital – thus freeing up capacity and theatre space at The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust’s hospital sites for more specialist and complex cases,” she added.
“There will be opportunities to drive continuous improvement in outcomes – for instance, greater opportunities for participation in research, and for combined investment in service developments.
“It will enable us to maintain elective throughput to the highest possible levels throughout the pressurised periods by creating facilities and pathways that are as protected as possible from both Covid 19, and other urgent and emergency care pressures on beds, staff, and theatres.
“Supply chain difficulties and continuing staffing and patient care pressures caused by the pandemic in 2021 has resulted in delays to the building work at RWT and its planning processes.”
Wolverhampton’s Health Scrutiny Panel is set to review the proposals next Thursday.
