Public Engagement Report: proposal to establish a single centre for liver metastates resection
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A joint Cambridgeshire, Norfolk and Suffolk Health Scrutiny Committee has been set up to consider the proposal from NHS England to reconfigure the liver metastases resection service. To inform the discussion of the Joint Committee regarding the impact on service users, Healthwatch Suffolk, Healthwatch Cambridgeshire and Healthwatch Norfolk worked together to carry out a public engagement exercise. They spoke to 165 people.
Overall, there was little difference between the patient experience in both of the hospitals. The public had not expressed a preference of either to be the single regional centre for liver metastases resection.
There was a general acceptance and broad support for service centralisation and development of specialist centres as a requirement. However when asked about the potential impacts, a number of themes were emerged from both the surveys and the telephone interviews.
It will be important for both service commissioners and providers to note the anxieties and potential issues identified by the service users in relation to service centralisation, and respond accordingly. In particular, the findings of this public engagement should be used by NHS England East Anglia Area Team to underpin the development of the engagement and service implementation plans for liver metastases resection service.