Gynaecology operations in cabin on Burnley hospital car park

8:50am Tuesday 18th November 2008

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By Camilla Sutcliffe »

GYNAECOLOGY operations will be carried out in a cabin on a hospital car park to tackle bed shortages.

The move is to be launched in a bid to free up space to treat “unprecedented” numbers of A&E patients.

To make room for new A&E beds, a gynaecology theatre and 22-bed ward at the Royal Blackburn Hospital closed yesterday.

A portable cabin is to be built on the Burnley General Hospital car park to treat gynaecology patients from all over East Lancashire.

But this will take three weeks to construct. No planned gynaecology will take place during this time, although emergency cases will still be treated at the Royal Blackburn.

In the meantime, A&E at the Royal will get the benefit of the gynaecology staff across the three weeks.

A total of 15 gynaecology operations were called off yesterday (MON) and dozens more will be cancelled before work is complete.

Surgery to repair prolapse and incontinence, as well as investigative surgery and planned hysterectomies, will be carried out in the cabin, while the beds vacated in the move will be used for emergency patients.

The cabin will be used until a new £30 million women’s and newborns’ centre, which is being at Burnley General, opens in 2010 Bosses at East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust, which runs both Burnley General and the Royal Blackburn Hospital, said they had taken the unusual step in a bid to ease its beds crisis.

But a women’s health charity said the move was “unsatisfactory”, and Blackburn health watchdog Roy Davies said it was no substitute for the extra capacity needed.

Patrick Shervington, chief executive of national charity Women’s Health Concern, said: “This sounds unsatisfactory and does worry me, but the proof of the pudding will be what happens to the patients.

“There will certainly be some women who will be uncomfortable at the prospect, but temporary buildings can be made secure and private. The staff, as always, will make the real difference over whether or not this will work.”

Coun Davies, chairman of Blackburn with Darwen Council’s health scrutiny committee, said: “This is indicative of the real problems the hospital is having in coping with the extra patient numbers, and the fact is that we need more beds and more staff at the coal face.”

“Temporary measures is not the way to go about it, particularly when we are talking about such a sensitive branch of medicine.”

Pendle councillor Ann Kerrigan added: “There is so much going on and so much disarray at the moment, and the people need answers.”

The trust has seen patient numbers jump by 14 per cent in the past two years, leaving the hospitals on “red alert” for capacity for almost a third of the time.

Last Monday, the Royal Blackburn Hospital was forced to close its emergency department for three hours, as eight ambulances queued up outside, with 12 more on their way. Those patients had to be taken to hospitals including Bury, Rochdale and Airedale, 28 miles away.

And last week a GP Iain Ashworth slammed the hospital for ‘releasing patients too early’ and warned of ‘third world scenes’ if there was a flu pandemic.

Rineke Schram, medical director and consultant obstetrician for East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust said the move would help them deal with this “unprecedented demand” on A&E.

She said: “Once this additional operating theatre is in place, within two to three weeks, we do not anticipate needing to cancel any further gynaecology operations.

“Emergency gynaecology surgery is currently continuing to take place at Royal Blackburn Hospital as are gynaecology clinics, early pregnancy assessment and other specialist outpatient services.”

Staff on the ward said they were concerned for women’s health. One, who asked not to be identified, said: “We have gone from a 24 hour service to this. The staff are very angry. There are probably nine or 10 listed hysterectomies next week and we’ve no idea what we are supposed to be doing.

"I am just furious for the women.”

Blackburn’s Urgent Care Centre - the “walk-in” part of the traditional A and E - is housed in a similar structure to the temporary gynaecology building planned for Burnley.

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