Plans to cut NHS services 'kept secret from the public'

Plans that could result in the closure of hospitals and A&E departments have been kept secret from the public and barely involved frontline staff, a think tank has revealed.

Health managers in 44 parts of England have been ordered to come up with strategies to reduce costs, change services and improve care with the NHS currently battling at £2.45bn deficit.

NHS England has told them not to disclose plans to the public or the press until they are finalised and have been approved by their own officials, according to the King's Fund.

Managers were told by the national body to refuse Freedom of Information requests from the media or the public wanting to see the proposals.

The sustainability and transformation plans (STPs) could see some hospitals, A&E units or maternity units close, and other services merged.

In Cheshire and Mersey there is a proposal to downgrade at least one A&E department, while in southwest London the number of acute hospitals could be reduced from five to four.

In northwest London there are plans to reduce the number of sites that offer a full range of services, while the STP for Birmingham and Solihull proposes a single "lead provider" for maternity care.

NHS England and some health experts argue the changes will improve care and are necessary to fulfil the Health Secretary's plan for full seven-day services.

Campaigners say they are just a way of cutting services.

Some councils have ignored NHS England's demand to keep the documents private and have published them on their websites.

The report from the King's Fund, based on a review of plans and interviews with local managers, said NHS England had set very tight timescales, which is part of the reason why patients and doctors have been shut out.

The think tank said expensive management consultants have also been brought in, but clinical teams or GPs have often only been "weakly engaged in the process".

Its report said: "It is clear from our research that STPs have been developed at significant speed and without the meaningful involvement of frontline staff or the patients they serve."

It added: "Patients and the public have been largely absent from the STP process so far."

Katherine Murphy, chief executive of the Patients Association, said the "secretive nature" of the plans was "simply not good enough".

Despite these criticisms, the King's Fund said STPs still offered the "best hope" of improving health and care services.

NHS medical director Professor Sir Bruce Keogh defended the plans, saying "this is not a moment to sit on our hands".

He said: "There are straightforward and frankly overdue things we can do to improve care.

"We are talking about steady incremental improvement, not a big bang. If we don't, the problems will only get worse."