Health plan “could be harmful to Warrington”

HEALTH bosses have been accused of preparing a plan which is confusing, unclear and could have a harmful impact on the population of Warrington.
The criticism comes from the borough council’s health scrutiny committee, which is urging members of the executive board to reject the NHS Cheshire and Merseyside Sustainability and Transformation Plan (STP).
Scrutiny committee members have already unanimously agreed that they cannot support the STP as it stands – even though NHS England has confirmed that no A&E services in the region are to be closed.
The committee held talks with officers from NHS England, Warrington Clinical Commissioning Group, Warrington and Halton NHS Foundation Trust, Bridgewater NHS Foundation Trust and 5 Boroughs NHS Foundation Trust before adopting its stance.
They concluded there was a lack of detail and firm proposals in the STP as it stands.
“We do have grave concerns, based on the historical track record of the local NHS and the national regulations in which they work, that the opportunity to develop an accountable care organisations will not materialise.”
“We therefore request the NHS to develop firm and clear proposals for an accountable care organisations in Warrington which  (1) is designed to deliver both health and social care and addresses the wider determinants of health through investment in preventio9ns; (2) is accountable to local democracy and transparent to the local communities in Warrington; and (3) takes forward a truly integrated system in all its features to improve health outcomes across the whole of Warrington, including the distribution of health outcomes in our borough.”
A report by Cllr Tony Williams (pictured above), chairman of the health scrutiny committee, indicates that NHS officers in talks with his committee admitted that a lack of details and timescales in the SDP rendered the plans little more than broad proposals and  would not enable meaningful consujltation.
The report will be considered by the council’s executive board on Monday.