STRUCTURE: Maintaining the current model of paediatric services on Teeside may not be a “sustainable” or “safe” option in future, according to board papers.
Commissioners and providers on Teeside have considered the future of paediatric services, identifying that “maintaining the current number of acute centres across this area, each striving to provide a comprehensive range of high quality children’s services, would prove increasingly difficult”.
It was discussed at a meeting of the Tees Strategic Forum - including the chief executives of the area’s four local authorities, three acute and mental health foundation trusts, lead GPs of five emerging clinical commissioning groups, and the interim chief executive of NHS Tees.
A paper by the NHS Tees chief executive says the forum, “considered the challenges facing paediatric services on Tees and beyond into North Yorkshire, Darlington and County Durham”.
It states: “There was a general consensus that the status quo may not be a sustainable, safe option in the future. We understood that maintaining the current number of acute centres across this area, each striving to provide a comprehensive range of high quality children’s services, would prove increasingly difficult.
“There was a commitment to work with stakeholders to undertake a service review with options for the future and for this work to begin with an initial mapping of patient flows,” it adds
Source
Source date
September 2011
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