Airedale fights to keep cancer services

Board members were asked to comment on a vision statement issued by Yorkshire Cancer Network to create centralised specialist units for the treatment of some forms of cancer.

The review is driven by the belief that there will be improved care if cancer specialists are dealing with more cases.

Director of planning and performance Doug Farrow said: "Essentially it is about the rarer cancers and centralising that work in specialist units, mostly in teaching hospitals such as Leeds or specialist satellite units linked to the cancer centre."

He said that reaction to the proposals were mixed.

"There is a great strength of feeling within the trust that we provide excellent cancer services in Airedale," he said, adding that he was unwilling to see change unless it benefited the patient.

"Nothing should change until there is a service which can at least equal the service at Airedale. If the benefits of centralisation do not materialise there needs to be a commitment to reverse that direction."

In draft comments presented to the board, it was stated that Airedale saw more cancer for its size of population than Bradford, but the proposal did not acknowledge its achievement and experience.

"The hospital will act as little more than a diagnostic centre and the only surgical oncology that would take place would be breast and colorectal. This will have major implications for Airedale, which would cease to function as a general hospital," the report states.

But Mr Farrow warned that "opting out" of centralisation was not an option.

"The National guidance is that for cancer care to improve, some of the rarer cancers will have to move for their surgical treatment to specialist centres. While not everyone accepts that guidance, it is national policy.

"I don't think there is an option for us to opt out and say, 'We are Airedale, we are an island'."

Board members agreed that while the overall principle was broadly supported, they wanted to ensure that the impacts were fully evaluated with all interested parties and measures were put in place to safeguard Airedale's capacity to provide other services.

Members also wanted to ensure that no service change was made until a replacement service was in situ, which was at least the same standard currently provided.

However they disagreed with the movement of non-surgical oncology, wanting this to continue at the hospital. They also wanted to see specialist nurses put in place to assist the patients dealing with different organisations.

"We also think if patients increasingly have to travel for their cancer care it is important they are supported in that journey by specialist nurses," Mr Farrow said.

He stressed that the implications of the move were not known, and not all cancer services would be removed from Airedale.

The report states that most or all of the general hospitals will be cancer units or part of a cancer unit and will diagnose and treat the most common cancers.

"Patients are still going to be coming here for their initial diagnoses and may well have to come back after surgery. Not all cancer care is being taken from us," he said.

But there were real fears about the long-term impact on Airedale.

Mr Farrow explained: "We don't just employ surgeons as cancer specialists, we employ them as surgeons.

"There are real worries if they are not doing the elective specialist work in cancer will they be able to retain those skills to deal with a cancer in an emergency?

"Will the clinicians want to move, and, even if they want to stay with Airedale, what are the implications of that decision for our ability to recruit a successor?"

He added the staff disputed the extent of the problem. Some felt it would have a very small impact on cancer services at Airedale, but some feared larger implications.

Mr Farrow did express doubts as to whether the plans would come to fruition, saying: "A lot of people think it won't get that far down the road before there is a U-turn."

Comments are being sought by February.