AMBULANCE bosses say closing Poole’s A&E and maternity unit to make Royal Bournemouth Hospital the major emergency centre will ‘make journey times shorter for many patients.’

South Western Ambulance Service has analysed 22,000 patient records and has published an independent report into how NHS Dorset CCG proposals for its Clinical Services Review could impact on maternity services and both adult and children emergency transfers.

They conclude if the plans go ahead to make Poole Hospital a planned centre and RBH a major emergency hospital, the average emergency journey times will remain similar to the current model and ‘for many patients, journey times will be shorter.’

However it states ‘the change of Poole Hospital from an emergency department to an urgent care centre will mean that some critically ill children from within the Poole Hospital catchment area will have to be transported further to the nearest emergency department.’

It adds hospital transfers between Poole Hospital and RBH are currently the highest in the South West and the reduction due to having just one A&E in the east of the county will ‘improve journey times and patient safety.’

Adrian South, deputy clinical director South Western Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust, said: “Before and during the CSR consultation lots of people raised concerns about safety and travel times if they were experiencing an emergency.

“International evidence shows that patients are far more likely to have a better outcome if they are taken directly to a hospital which provides the specialist care they need. That’s why for over a decade in Dorset thousands of patients every year are taken by ambulance to a hospital that is further away than their nearest one. This has worked well ensuring patients with life-threatening conditions such as a heart attack or major trauma receive the best possible care.

“I’ve looked very carefully at how the plans might affect the ambulance service in Dorset and most importantly how they may affect our patients. I am confident the plans will improve emergency care for the people of Dorset by allowing the ambulance service to take patients safely and quickly straight to the best hospital where they receive the best care. Because of the way services are currently provided in Dorset we have to transfer more patients between hospitals than in any other area of the south west. The proposals will mean the majority of these emergency transfers no longer have to happen and instead patients will go to the right hospital from the start.”

He added less than one per cent of healthcare is for life-threatening emergency situations and more than half of patients who call 999 for an ambulance are treated without going to hospital at all.

Tim Goodson, Chief Officer of NHS Dorset CCG, said: “We hope that this report reassures people that these proposals are designed to ensure that people get the best possible care and that we are focusing on getting the best outcomes for people in Dorset who will be using these services in future. This report demonstrates that, through public consultation, we have listened to those people who expressed their concerns about having to travel further or for longer to get emergency care.”