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| East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust | |
|---|---|
| Type of Trust | |
| NHS Trust (Acute) | |
| Serves | |
| East Lancashire, England | |
| Beds | |
| Royal Blackburn Hospital | 668 |
| Burnley General Hospital | 327 |
| Pendle Community Hospital | 72 |
| Total Beds | 1067 |
| Emergency Facilities | |
Royal Blackburn Hospital
|
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Burnley General Hospital
|
|
| Trust Details | |
| Employees | 7000 |
| Chief Executive | Diane Whittingham |
| Links | |
| Website | Trust website |
| Wiki-Links | List of NHS Trusts |
East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust is an NHS hospital trust in Lancashire, England, part of the NHS North West strategic health authority.[1] It was formed in 2003 as the result of a locally controversial, cost saving merger of Blackburn Hyndburn and Ribble Valley (BHRV) NHS Trust and Burnley Health Care NHS Trust, first announced in 1999.[2] The trust covers the local government districts of Blackburn with Darwen, Burnley, Pendle, Hyndburn, Rossendale, and Ribble Valley. A total area of 474 square miles (1,228 km2), with a population of 521,100 (2010 est.)
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 3 Hospitals in total:
A fourth hospital Rossendale General, was shut down over a 4 year period, finally closing in September 2010.[3]
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.
The Trust operates the following departments:[4]
The Trust controversially closed the Accident and Emergency department at 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.[5] 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 some critically ill/injured patients could be airlifted to the department by the North West Air Ambulance charity.
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 the aforementioned speculations of the Hospital being made significantly smaller.[6]
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, [7] using the M65 to quickly shuttle between both hospitals. The service runs at a frequency of roughly 20 minutes.
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 hoped be authorised as a Foundation Trust was in early 2009.[8] As at February 2010, this has not taken place. The trust appear to remain committed to this goal and produce regular newsletters regarding this. http://www.elht.nhs.uk/pdf/InTouch05.pdf
The trust recently began accepting small numbers of medical students for components of their clinical training. All students allocated to Royal Blackburn Hospital are based either at Royal Preston Hospital or Salford Royal Hospital in Greater Manchester.