THE accident and emergency department at Barnsley Hospital should stay open, a review into hospital services has recommended.

The Hospital Services Review has been led by Professor Chris Welsh and looks at how current services across the region are provided.

It was commissioned by Health and Care Working Together in South Yorkshire and Bassetlaw.

Five services came under scrutiny: urgent and emergency care, maternity services, hospital services for children who are particularly ill, services for stomach and intestines conditions including investigations, and stroke services.

The review ended last month, and a series of recommendations have been published.

A report said hospitals must work together even more closely. It states local people should get as much hospital care as possible in their local hospital and includes a recommendation to keep all seven emergency departments in Barnsley, Doncaster, Rotherham, Bassetlaw, Chesterfield, the major trauma centre and emergency departments at the Northern General Hospital in Sheffield and at the Sheffield Children’s Hospital.

But it is proposed that different hospitals could take the lead for each of the five clinical services reviewed, and could be responsible for recruiting staff.

New ways of working would be designed with patients, the public and clinicians to deliver a service to a specification agreed across all hospitals, ensuring they work together to provide safe, sustainable, high quality care in a more co-ordinated way.

Professor Welsh said: “We are fortunate to have some excellent services and staff from all professional backgrounds who are dedicated and skilled, and strive to deliver good care in the face of tremendous pressure.

“But the NHS is facing enormous challenges. Within the region, demand is increasing faster than ever predicted. Part of this comes from resource shortages, but part of it is the consequence of a system designed to provide treatment in every hospital for every condition that now needs to adapt to much more specialised and advanced treatment which can deliver better outcomes for patients. The system must change to meet these new needs.

“If the hospitals in South Yorkshire want to continue to provide excellent services and attract and develop the best staff to run them, then it is my strong recommendation that they work together even more closely and in ways that connect teams across all sites.

“We have unfortunately seen some services withdrawn at short notice due to skill shortages because of the impact this can have on patient safety. Whilst the new networks of care may not be able to avoid reduction in local services in every case it will give by far the best opportunity to stop this happening in the future.”

Also among the proposals are two new regional centres of excellence: a Health and Care Institute linking universities, colleges and schools with the NHS and local authorities and an Innovation Hub which would spot and roll out innovation schemes, such as new technologies.

The review has identified challenges in sustaining some services in every district hospital, in particular children’s and maternity services. It calls for more choice for women and more care in communities and midwife-led units, and further development of home birth services.

It also recommends expanding services for children in the community and in short stay units, and that overnight and weekend services for emergency gastrointestinal bleeds are consolidated onto three or four sites.

The report will be received by the South Yorkshire and Bassetlaw Health and Care Working Together Collaborative Partnership Board in June and the collective committees throughout June and July.

Should the recommendations be accepted, additional work would be undertaken over the next year to further scope the options and the team would continue to hear from patients, public and staff.

Any required consultation would take place next year, with another one to two years before changes took effect.