Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt will probably decide whether Huddersfield keeps it A&E.
That’s according to Huddersfield MP Barry Sheerman in a letter he has written to Mr Hunt urging him to intervene in a plan which would centralise emergency care in Halifax.
Mr Sheerman says in the letter: “I suspect the proposals will ultimately be referred to you to be reviewed by an Independent Review (sic) Panel.”
A joint Kirklees and Calderdale health scrutiny committee is reviewing The Right Care Right Time Right Place (RCRTRP) plan and is expected to report its finding at the end of this month.
If it has misgivings about the proposal the committee may refer it to an NHS Independent Reconfiguration Panel.
The panel will then make a recommendation to the Health Secretary which he can ratify – or decline.
Mr Hunt has already said a decision on the plan should be decided locally.
Greater Huddersfield and Calderdale CCGs (clinical commissioning groups), the local NHS organisations behind RCRTRP, will announce whether the plan will proceed on October 20.
In his letter Mr Sheerman says: “I really feel as though the CCG are sleepwalking towards a disaster and I implore you to do everything within your power to urge them to think again.
“Our local Joint Health and Scrutiny Committee are due to publish their report at the end of September and, as you will know, the CCGs will then have an opportunity to respond.
“A process of mediation will follow and I suspect the proposals will ultimately be referred to you to be reviewed by an Independent Review (sic) Panel.”
The CCGs are expected to submit their Sustainability and Transformation Plans (STP) to NHS England, on October 21, the day after their announcement.
The national STP scheme heralds a radical shake-up of the NHS where health providers will have to produce sustainability plans to qualify for ‘transformation’ funding.
Critics have said the STP scheme will led to ‘devastating’ cuts and facility closures across the NHS.
In Parliament Colne Valley Conservative MP, Jason McCartney, said: “I’m hearing that STP plans will be released on October 21, the day after my CCG makes its decision.
“So how will this impact on the future of a full A&E at HRI?”
