Good news about the burns unit

News Release from NHS

Burns Care

NHS North West Strategic Health Authority has the responsibility to ensure that the quality and outcomes of NHS services across the region, and in the case of burns services, across the North of England, are as high as they possibly could be. In this regard, the Authority has received proposals from the Northern Burns Care Network which the Network believe would improve the outcomes from our current services.

The Review’s proposals suggest the creation of a new supra regional centre to complement the existing regional specialist services at Alder Hey, Whiston and South Manchester. The Network propose that this new service could be provided without any detriment to existing services, indeed they contend that by managing the care of people with minor or moderate burns with more support from the regional specialist services, overall outcomes i.e., reducing pain, long term health problems, and survival rates, would improve.

NHS North West, the SHA, considered these proposals for the North of England in July 2009 and concluded that there was no compelling evidence to demonstrate that the new supra regional service would improve on existing outcomes for those patients with the most severe burns.

NHS North West has agreed that, if evidence should emerge in the future that demonstrates people with severe burns in the North West and across the North of England have significantly lower survival rates than in other regions, then the Authority will re-examine the proposals. To fail to consider such evidence, should it emerge, would be grossly irresponsible.

However, NHS North West has also made it clear that, should such evidence of improved survival rates emerge, then it would need to be assured that improvement in outcomes for those patients with the most severe burns were not at the expense of the outcomes for all burns patients. In other words, that a new supra regional service dealing with the most severe cases would not undermine the ability of existing regional centres to deliver care to all patients with burns.

If, and only if, this could be established would the proposals then be passed for consideration to individual PCT Boards and their Specialised Commissioning Groups who, if minded to see this as a priority for expenditure, would be required to consult fully with the local population on the new service proposals.