Report highlights impact of emergency surgery closure at Epsom Hospital (From Epsom Guardian)

Report highlights impact of emergency surgery closure at Epsom Hospital

4:10pm Friday 20th November 2009

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Re-admission rates increased among general surgery patients after all emergency surgery was transferred to St Helier Hospital from Epsom.

The withdrawal of emergency surgery at Epsom General Hospital took place in October 2006 and in June 2008 the hospital trust called for an independent review of the changes.

Fewer patients, 9 per cent, were admitted to St Helier than were expected while other hospitals in the area were 10 per cent busier according to the review.

Epsom and St Helier University Hospitals NHS Trust is also to investigate the possibility that patients admitted through A&E at Epsom are being discharged and re-admitted to Epsom as elective surgery patients to avoid them having to go to St Helier.

A report on the changes in surgery at Epsom and St Helier and efforts made to improve services was compiled for last week’s meeting of the Trust’s board.

While re-admission rates for non-elective surgery had risen from 7.9 per cent in 2005-06 to 9.7 per cent in 2008-09, it was still below average for similar hospitals.

The independent report said there was a public perception that St Helier had a high infection rate and poor standards of care.

The Trust’s response was to establish relative infection rates and publicise standards and hospital performance.

There has been no MRSA on surgical wards at St Helier since 2008 and C difficile numbers are decreasing.

Another problem was the “them” and “us” attitude between doctors at the Epsom and St Helier sites but many of them now work at both sites.

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