East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust

Hospitals

East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust was the result of Blackburn Hyndburn and Ribble Valley (BHRV) NHS Trust and Burnley Health Care NHS Trust merging in 2003. [ [http://elht.nhs.uk East Lancashire Hospitals] ] The Trust's two major bases are the Royal Blackburn Hospital, and the Burnley General Hospital. The Trust's headquarters and the majority of management is based at the Royal Blackburn Hospital, the larger of the two.

The Trust Manages 4 Hospitals in total:
*Royal Blackburn Hospital
*Burnley General Hospital
*Rossendale General Hospital
*Pendle Community Hospital

The Trust also provides services for, and deals with: The Accrington Victoria Hospital, Clitheroe Hospital and the Longridge Community Hospital, which are part of the East Lancashire Teaching Primary Care Trust.

Departments

The Trust operates the following departments: [ [http://www.elht.nhs.uk/index.php/elht/patientsvisitors/22/ East Lancashire Hospitals: Departments] ]
*Breast Surgery
*Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services
*Cardiology
*Dermatology
*Paediatrics / Child Health
*Emergency Department
** Accident and Emergency
** Intensive Care Unit
** High Dependency Unit
** Urgent Care Centre
* ENT (Ear, Nose and Throat)
* General Medicine
* General Surgery
* Gynaecology
* Neurology
* Ophthalmology
* Oral & Maxillo-Facial
* Orthopaedics
* Rheumatology
* Urology

Emergency Services

The Trust controversially closed the Accident and Emergency department at the Burnley General Hospital in November 2007, replacing the department with an Urgent Care Centre, to treat less serious emergencies, whilst more critical cases would have to travel (by ambulance) to the Accident and Emergency department at the Royal Blackburn Hospital. [ [http://www.eastlancs.nhs.uk/why.htm Putting Healthcare First in East Lancashire] ] The Royal Blackburn Hospital also has an Urgent Care Centre in a separate building outside its own A&E department.This has enabled the Accident and Emergency department at Royal Blackburn to concentrate on the more serious cases from across the Trust, for which it is better equipped, with emergency theatres and an Intensive Care Unit. Following this move, a Helipad was constructed several meters from the entrance to the Accident and Emergency Department at Blackburn, so any critically ill/injured patients could be airlifted to the department.

Hospital Refurbishment

The Trust has undergone a large amount of change in recent years. The Blackburn Royal Infirmary (BRI), which also housed Blackburn's only A&E department was decommissioned in the summer of 2006, and a new hospital building was built at the existing Queens Park Hospital (QPH) site in the town, so to merge the two sites into a single hospital for Blackburn. This meant the moving of many departments, and much publicity was made about the moving of the Accident and Emergency departments, so to avoid public confusion of the exact time when the A&E at BRI shut, and the A&E at the newly merged Royal Blackburn Hospital site opened.

Also, much consolidation has come into effect since the merging of the two original trusts. This has involved the closure of wards and departments at the Burnley General Hospital, with much speculation of the site's belittlement. Despite this, a new building was completed at the Hospital in late 2007 (known as Phase 5), and other buildings at the site are due to be rebuilt. The Burnley General Hospital still remains a major asset to the trust, this was observed by the Trust's Chief Executive, Marie Burnham, in response to to the aforementioned speculations of the Hospital being made significantly smaller. [ [http://www.elht.nhs.uk/index.php/elht/inside/166/ East Lancashire Hospitals Trust: Burnley Activity on the Increase] ]

huttle Buses

Since the consolidation of many departments, patients have recently been required to attend clinics at a different site from their local hospital. Also, staff frequently move between the Blackburn and Burnley hospitals to go about their work. Because of this, a free shuttle bus has been introduced between sites, [ [http://www.elht.nhs.uk/index.php/elht/patientsvisitors/73/#Shuttle East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust: Shuttle Bus] ] using the M65 to quickly shuttle between both hospitals. The service runs at a frequency of roughly 20 minutes.

Foundation Trust Application

East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust is in the process of applying to be a Foundation NHS Trust ("See NHS Foundation Trust"). This would give greater powers over budgets and spending, and would allow the local public, and staff to be members, giving members a voice on issues in the management of the Trust. The Application began in 2007, but was hampered by the resignation of the then current Chief Executive, Jo Cubbon. The earliest that the Trust could be authorised as a Foundation Trust would be in early 2009. [ [http://www.elht.nhs.uk/uploads/aboutthetrust/Members_news_-_July_2008.pdf Foundation Trust Members' Newsletter July 2008] ]

Reference