Pennine Acute Trust announces ward closures at Infirmary

Date published: 17 August 2007

Wards in the Stonehill unit at Rochdale Infirmary are to be closed until further notice due to a fire safety risk. Pennine Acute Trust has declared that the closure is only temporary but it is unlikely that the closed wards will re-open in their current guise as their future lies in the hands of the Healthy Futures service reconfiguration decision, which is currently being awaited and would see permanent down-sizing at Rochdale Infirmary if passed.

The Stonehill building has been hit because changes in the law have dictated that the fire service require the Infirmary to ensure that patients with mobility problems are no longer housed above the ground floor as safe evacuation could not be guaranteed in the event of a fire if they were housed on higher floors.

Only patients who are mobile will be given beds on the first or second floor.

At present three wards at Stonehill will remain open. The physiotherapy unit will continue to be housed there, whilst the general medical ward will be moved to one of the lower floors, swapping places with the programmed investigation unit. Three other wards, gastroenterology, respiratory and rehab, will be moved to Fairfield General Hospital. There may also be some patient flow to North Manchester General Hospital and the Royal Oldham Hospital.

Karen James, director of operations for Pennine Acute Trust, has insisted that the moves are being done on a temporary basis but staff still face redeployment and fear that their jobs may be lost or that they may be forced to quit if they can not relocate for the temporary period.

Pennine Acute Trust hope to move quickly to develop plans for the move, seeking input from staff at both the Infirmary and Fairfield General, as well as GPs, social services, the ambulance service and patient groups. The Trust will ensure, through weekly communication, that staff are fully informed of the details of the movement project.

A statement from the Trust read: "Our key priorities are to ensure that patients have access to the services they need and that they can also be evacuated safely in the very unlikely event of a fire.

"Staff and patients in Stonehill should not be worried. We have existing evacuation plans and fire inspections take place regularly. This move is a precautionary one only, and relates to the need to plan for the future use of the building."