UK Government has decided to reduce accident and emergency services at local hospitals and concentrate them at specialist regional centres.
“Every service cannot be offered by every A&E department – it never has been, and never can be – so it makes sense to create networks of care with regional specialist centres to give people the best possible treatment to the sickest people,” George Alberti, the Department of Health’s national director for emergency access, said.
The government says the reconfiguration of services is designed to improve patient care, but opponents say the changes are being driven by a desire to cut costs.