healthmedicinet

• Proposals by Shropshire Clinical Commissioning Group to close and downgrade Accident and Emergency departments
• Patients with potentially serious complaints will be sent to walk-in centres
• Plans mean there could be one AE department for more than 600,000 people across Shropshire, Telford, Wrekin and Powys

By
Jo Macfarlane For The Mail On Sunday

Published:
16:07 EST, 16 August 2014

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Updated:
06:49 EST, 17 August 2014

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Thousands of patients needing urgent medical treatment could have their conditions diagnosed remotely by doctors using Skype video calls under proposals to close and downgrade Accident and Emergency departments.

Under plans seen by The Mail on Sunday, patients suffering from potentially serious symptoms such as chest and abdominal pains, pneumonia and fractures will be sent to walk-in centres to see GPs rather than go to casualty wards.

But because the centres are staffed by less qualified medics, advice could come from specialist colleagues at a separate AE ward using Skype calls. The astonishing proposal is among those being considered by the Shropshire Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG), which is planning to centralise emergency services in the region.

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The walk-in centres are staffed by less qualified medics, advice could come from specialist colleagues at a separate AE ward using Skype calls

The plans mean there could be only one AE department for more than 600,000 people across Shropshire, Telford, Wrekin and Powys. Campaigners warn it is ‘like death is being built into the system’.

The draft proposals, contained in official documents lodged within the July board minutes of the CCG, also say:

• AE could be ‘ambulance only’ – so walk-in patients would be diverted to an Urgent Care Centre (UCC).
• Unwell or feverish children would need to go to an UCC rather than AE – but the report acknowledges that ‘not all GPs and generalists have [the skill set to treat them]’.
• Paramedics may have to decide on the scene whether patients need to go to hospital or an UCC. But the report also says studies have found paramedics cannot ‘safely and accurately’ predict this.
• Patients who have attempted suicide, are suffering from potentially life-threatening deep vein thrombosis, and children having a wheezing fit would all be brought to UCCs.
• UCCs will be dealing with more serious cases, so staff will need specialists on the rota or ‘timely access’ to them via Skype.

The proposals are the latest planned cuts to casualty units up and down the country, and come despite a new independent report insisting AE provision needs to expand to meet rising demand for services. The Mail on Sunday has been fighting for two years to save AEs from closure. The latest threats mean there are now 18 units across England facing the axe. 

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