Doctors at Salford Royal hospital will treat some of the most critically ill patients in the North West in a major change to the way health centres operate.
It means patients from across the region will now travel to Salford for all high-risk emergency operations, such as bowel or stomach surgery.
A year-long consulation called Healthier Together looked at all the hospitals in the region to decide which should provide specialised services, and which should stay as general care hospitals.
It said all patients should be able to get to a ‘super hospital’ within 45 minutes.
A combined team of surgeons from Salford, Wigan and Bolton will now provide emergency general surgical services at the Stott Lane hospital.
Health bosses hope the shake-up will reduce the vast inequality between outcomes for patients across the region.
Patients in the North West are twice as likely to die after surgery in the poorest-performing hospitals than in the best.
The Care Quality Commission found in March 2015 that Salford’s Accident and Emergency provision, as well as its general care, was ‘outstanding’, but surgery was given a “requires improvement” grade.
Worsley and Eccles South MP Barbara Keeley said the decision “makes sense”.
She said: “The decisions affecting services at Salford Royal highlight the drive to develop specialised services at a small number of hospitals.
“Choosing Salford Royal to deliver emergency general surgery for the very sickest patients shows confidence in the fact that Salford Royal strives to be the safest hospital in the country, and has already achieved a great deal”
“Drawing a combined team of surgeons from Salford, Wigan and Bolton to provide these makes sense.”
“We need to develop improved community health services and invest more in social care services in Salford to integrate with the excellent provision at Salford Royal and I hope to see real developments in those areas in the months ahead.”
