The Queen Elizabeth Hospital, King’s Lynn (The QEH), has issued a statement in response to news articles in recent days regarding the future of services at the hospital. It had been reported that discussions were ongoing over the potential closure of A&E, intensive care and maternity units at the site, as part of wider plans to combine services with The Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital and the James Paget University Hospital, Gorleston.
A statement on The QEH website reads:
“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.
Senior clinical colleagues from across the Norfolk and Waveney University Hospitals Group are currently working together to develop a long-term clinical strategy for Norfolk and Waveney. The purpose of this work is to ensure we can provide the best possible healthcare for the people who rely on us now and into the future.
We have identified many of the clinical and operational challenges and improvement opportunities we need to address and are beginning to explore potential options for the future that will need to be fully evaluated.
The New Hospital Programme is central to delivering the healthcare we want to provide for future generations. We have a responsibility to make the best possible use of the £2.8 billion investment in new hospitals at The QEH and the James Paget Hospital and to ensure these facilities are designed around the healthcare needs of the populations we serve.
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.
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.”