The local NHS in mid and south Essex is seeking people’s views and ideas on proposals for future arrangements for inpatient services at local community hospitals, as well as services at St Peter’s Hospital in Maldon.
The proposals that the NHS is asking local people to consider are:
- Potential changes to the places where some community hospital intermediate care and stroke rehabilitation services are provided
- Making permanent the temporary move of the freestanding midwife-led birthing unit from St Peter’s Hospital in Maldon to the William Julien Courtauld Unit at St Michael’s in Braintree
- The possibility of moving all other patient services at St Peter’s Hospital in Maldon to other locations, mostly in and around Maldon.
A consultation is running until 25 March, led by the Mid and South Essex Integrated Care System, the organisation that oversees all health and care services in Basildon, Braintree, Brentwood, Castle Point, Chelmsford, Rochford, Southend and Thurrock.
Local people can give their views via an online survey and also join in-person and online discussion sessions which are running across the area.
Dr Matthew Sweeting, Interim System Medical Director for NHS Mid and South Essex Integrated Care Board (ICB) and a consultant geriatrician at Broomfield Hospital said: “It is essential that we are thinking about how services can best serve our growing population now, and in the future.
“We want to make sure everyone can receive the care they need in a safe environment, staffed by a highly skilled workforce, so that everyone has the best chance of a good health outcome.
“Our clinical teams have been developing different proposals around these services so that we can openly share information through a wide public consultation.
“It’s important we involve people in any decisions that might affect them.
“We’re a long way from making decisions.
“We are keen to explain to local people the challenges we have been facing, and the different ways we think we could make services better.”
For more information about the proposals, visit the Integrated Care System website.
To give your views, visit the Mid and South Essex virtual views website which has a link to the online survey as well as details of information events where you can talk to NHS staff about the proposals.