'Closing kids' A&E would be catastrophic'

PARENTS' FEAR AS FATE OF UNIT STILL IN BALANCE

- By ELLIOT JESSETT

PARENTS say they are afraid for the health of their children as fears grow over the potential loss of an accident and emergency department.

This Friday, March 13, a joint committee representing NHS Cheshire and Merseyside and NHS Lancashire and South Cumbria will meet to consider whether children’s A&E services should remain in Ormskirk or move back to Southport after more than 20 years.

In July last year the Liverpool ECHO reported that the NHS was consulting on the possibility of axeing A&E services in either Southport or Ormskirk and bringing services together at one or other location.

Managers said this would “ease pressures and allow us to provide round-the-clock emergency care”.

The Shaping Care Together (SCT) programme, an NHS project tasked with reforming urgent and emergency care services across Southport, Formby and West Lancashire, invited the public to choose between uniting children’s and adults’ A&E services at Southport Hospital or at Ormskirk Hospital.

In both cases a 24-hour, sevenday-a-week A&E service would be provided for all age groups.

The consultation concluded on Friday, October 3.