A WARRINGTON Hospital ward will close this month as part of a ‘reconfiguring’ of trauma and orthopaedic services.

The 20-bed B19 ward will stop admitting orthopaedic patients over the coming weeks as part of a Warrington and Halton Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust’s ‘redesign’.

At present there are three orthopaedic wards across the trust’s two sites, with the remaining wards at Warrington and Halton Hospitals to be given more beds as part of the move.

According to a draft project document, the ward could potentially close from mid to late December.

The document also states that seven-day trauma coordinator cover and seven-day early support discharge would be introduced as part of the move, with the number of beds on ward A9 to increase to 32 beds.

Project documents state that this will lead to a reduction in nurse vacancies on ward A9 and at the Cheshire and Merseyside Treatment Centre, as well as a reduction in agency nurse spending on A9.

Hospital chief operating officer Sharon Gilligan said: “Following consultation with all affected staff groups the trust will proceed with the reconfiguration of orthopaedic services across our Warrington and Halton sites.

“Our analysis showed that orthopaedic beds were often occupied by non-orthopaedic patients, such as those admitted as emergencies with medical conditions, and this was having some impact on orthopaedic activity at the Warrington site.

“We have therefore increased our orthopaedic provision at Warrington on ward A9 and worked with consultant colleagues to identify those patients that could receive their treatments at our state-of-the-art Cheshire and Merseyside Treatment Centre, which is consistently rated as five star by our patients.

“We will also align and increase our therapies provision and have developed an early supported discharge process where these patients can leave acute care but into a safely support or step-down environment.

“Ward B19 will therefore be available in future for escalation purposes during high-pressure periods as well as being able to decant into that area during essential estates work.

“We will stop treating orthopaedic patients on ward B19 over the coming weeks as we discharge current patients, and patients should continue to follow the instructions provided in their appointment letters.”