Dewsbury A&E downgrade plan put off until 2017

Dewsbury District Hospital is due to lose its A&E as part of major changes by The Mid Yorkshire NHS Trust, with an urgent care centre being created instead.

Earlier this year, trust chiefs announced plans to try and bring the moves forward to this September, months earlier than planned.

That sparked a backlash from MPs in the area, who said the necessary infrastructure might not be in place in time and staffing issues needed to be addressed.

Now hospital heads have said they will work to the original timetable.

David Melia, acting chief nurse at The Mid Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust, said the reconfiguration would take place in April 2017.

“Earlier in the year we announced that we were looking at our plans to assess the possibility of moving this element of the reconfiguration forward, however we have taken the decision that, in order to ensure these changes are delivered safely and we have the appropriate staffing levels in place, it is in everyone’s interests to stick to the original timescale.”

Plans to bring forward the A&E centralisation followed criticism from the CQC over staffing levels and hygiene.

Batley and Spen MP Jo Cox said: “Underlying these issues are the very serious staffing problems at the trust, which are currently having a severe impact on service delivery.

“I have been pushing them to find a resolution to these issues and I will continue to.”