The Norfolk and Waveney University Hospitals Group has issued a statement following reports which raised concerns about the future of key services at the QEH.
The Group, which brings together the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital and James Paget University Hospital, confirmed that senior clinical teams are looking at how healthcare could be delivered across Norfolk and Waveney in the years ahead.
However, it has stressed that this work is still at an early stage and no decisions have been made about the future configuration of services at the QEH, or at either of the other hospitals in the Group.
Clinical and operational challenges have been identified and teams are now beginning to explore potential options for the future.
The Group says those options will need to be fully evaluated before any conclusions are reached.
The clarification follows concern locally over reports suggesting services at the King’s Lynn hospital could potentially be reduced or provided differently in the future.
For patients and families across West Norfolk, where travelling to another major hospital can mean a considerable journey, exactly what happens to services at the QEH is understandably an important issue.
Planning healthcare for the future
At the heart of the work is a new long-term clinical strategy covering Norfolk and Waveney.
Senior clinicians from across the three hospitals are working together on the strategy, looking at existing challenges as well as opportunities to improve care.
The Group says the aim is to ensure services can provide the best possible healthcare for people now and in the future.
Importantly, that work is taking place alongside plans for the new Queen Elizabeth Hospital.
A combined £2.8 billion is being invested through the New Hospital Programme in new hospitals at the QEH and James Paget.
The Group says it has a responsibility to make the best possible use of that investment and ensure the new facilities are designed around the healthcare needs of the communities they will serve.
Any major changes would require consultation
While different ideas are being considered, the Group has also explained what would have to happen if that work eventually resulted in a proposal to make significant changes to existing services.
Any such proposal would need to be supported by robust clinical evidence and pass through the appropriate NHS governance process.
Staff would need to be involved and, importantly for people across West Norfolk, there would also have to be public engagement and consultation before decisions could be taken.
In its statement, the Group said: "No decisions have been made about the future configuration of services at The Queen Elizabeth Hospital King's Lynn (The QEH) or any other hospital in the Norfolk and Waveney University Hospitals Group."
It added: "The current work is focused on understanding the evidence, considering a wide range of ideas and assessing the benefits and implications of different approaches before any conclusions are reached."
And on the possibility of future changes, it said: "If, at a later stage, this work resulted in proposals for significant changes to services, those proposals would require robust clinical evidence and would need to go through appropriate NHS governance, staff engagement, public engagement and consultation before any decisions could be taken."
For now, therefore, the position is clear.
Work is taking place to consider how hospital services across Norfolk and Waveney should operate in the future, and different options are being explored.
But no decision has been made to cut or remove services from the Queen Elizabeth Hospital.
With the QEH playing such an important role for communities across West Norfolk, the development of that strategy, and any proposals which eventually emerge from it, will undoubtedly be followed closely.
