Orsett Hospital to close in healthcare shake-up
- Published
Orsett Hospital will not close before 2020
A hospital is to close and stroke patients face being moved between facilities as part of a healthcare shake-up in mid and south Essex.
The services currently provided by Orsett Hospital are to be moved to locations within Thurrock, Basildon and Brentwood.
The plans were approved by a committee made up of Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs) on Friday.
Critics have said the move will amount to a "postcode lottery".
The range of proposals were approved at a meeting of the Mid and South Essex Sustainability and Transformation Partnership CCG Joint Committee.
They included "treat and transfer", which would see patients with conditions such as strokes and complex lung problems stabilised at their local hospital before being moved to sites with specialist teams.
But the CCGs said 24-hour accident and emergency provision would remain at all three hospitals - in Basildon, Southend and Broomfield.
Mike Bewick said the plans would mean better care in the future
Mike Bewick, chairman of the CCG committee, said the move would mean better care in the future but he was aware people would have concerns.
He said: "I understand people's concerns about being transferred during their illness, but surely it is better to get to the place where you get the best treatment and that's as near to home as we can make it."
Kate Sheehan, from campaign group Save Southend NHS, said patients and their families were going to be disadvantaged by the changes.
She said: "This is the imposition of a post code lottery for care and that is what we are against."
The new centres which will replace Orsett Hospital are not expected to open until 2020-21 and the facility will not shut before that.
The committee also confirmed £12m of capital funding accounted for in the proposals would mostly come from the sale of the site.
Dr Bewick said: "It is about relocation, not about closure, we are not taking away something without putting something in place."