Healthwatch Rutland reflects the public voice: The University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust consultation on reconfiguration of acute hospitals and maternity services

You told us 

• Travel to access health care is consistently a problem. People are worried this will get worse once Leicester General is no longer an acute hospital. 
• There remains a concern that plans may have under-calculated the number of beds needed going forward.
• More local outpatient appointments, diagnostics and procedures in Rutland are hugely desirable and suggestions about specific diagnostics and procedures have been suggested.
• There is no ‘one size fits all’ when considering remote video and telephone consultations – some love it, some hate it, others cannot use it.
• The majority of you like the plans to split emergency and planned care to prevent cancellations. 
• You wanted to know more about the ‘care closer to home’ offer so you could make fully informed comment to the consultation.
• Those who commented on the closure of St Mary’s birth unit mostly expressed disapproval.

Over the period of the consultation, 28 September to 21 December 2020, Healthwatch Rutland engaged widely with people in Rutland to hear your opinions. We heard from 162 people directly, through virtual engagement cafes, public meeting and presentations. Our indirect engagement through social media, podcast, newspaper and website articles has been substantial, with, for instance, a social media reach of over 9700 and 150 podcast plays.

All the feedback we have received has been consolidated into a summary response document that has been submitted to commissioners and shared with stakeholders. 

The document Healthwatch Rutland reflects the public voice highlights the travel difficulties and uncertainty about bed calculations which we first raised with commissioners in our analysis of the Pre Consultation Business Case in October. In this report, we go on to draw out the major themes which have emerged for the Rutland public during our public engagement events held in the consultation period.