Women’s Services Committee Chair’s Briefing - August 2024

Welcome to the latest update from the Women’s Hospital Services in Liverpool Programme, my first since taking over from Raj Jain as Chair of the Women’s Services Committee in July.

This update is coming to you slightly later than intended, owing to a pause in our communications during the pre-election period. However, the programme has been continuing to move forward, and a number of key developments have taken place over recent months.

A draft clinical case for change has now been developed, setting out the challenges and risks facing hospital-based gynaecology and maternity services in Liverpool, alongside the latest insights about the impact of current arrangements. We’re now in the process of taking the case for change through our governance structures, and holding conversations with some key stakeholders to gather feedback and refine the document ahead of it being finalised. We’ve also held discussions with colleagues at NHS England, which oversees service change processes, to update them on the programme.

We’re aiming to publish the case for change in the autumn, at the point it will be presented to NHS Cheshire and Merseyside Integrated Care Board (ICB) for approval. Subject to the board’s approval, we then plan to hold six-weeks of public engagement, to gather people’s views on the issues described and their own experience of women’s services. The plans for this are currently in development, but we’ll share more information nearer the time. It’s important to stress that the case for change won’t set out proposals for how services might look in the future. We’ll need to do more work – including considering the feedback we get from the public engagement – to begin developing potential options.

Although the public engagement will be a key opportunity for us to gather feedback, we’ve been clear about our commitment to involving people throughout the programme. As part of this, during July we began recruiting to a Lived Experience Panel, open to anyone with experience of hospital gynaecology and/or maternity services in Liverpool, either as a patient, family member or carer. It’s been a priority to ensure that as far as is possible the panel reflects the communities we serve, and it’s been great to have the support of so many local groups and networks to help promote the opportunity to get involved. We’ve been really pleased with the response we’ve received, and we’ll be working with panel members to make sure that our plans for public engagement are as accessible and effective as possible.

As the Women’s Hospital Services in Liverpool programme progresses, it’s important to highlight that work is continuing on a range of short-term quality and safety initiatives to support gynaecology and maternity services. This includes looking at how different local hospitals work together to make sure that the right care is in place for people whose condition is deteriorating, and a number of new recruitment and training developments. While this work is separate from the main programme, it’s critical for ensuring that services remain safe and effective while we look at how best to address longer-term challenges.

I hope this has been a useful update, and look forward to bringing you more news in the autumn, as we prepare for publication of the case for change and the start of public engagement.

Professor Hilary Garrett CBE, Chair, Women’s Services Committee