SEVERAL specialist services will be removed from Wycombe Hospital under plans published by the NHS this morning.

Bucks health bosses say patients needing an overnight stay for medicine, respiratory, gastroenterology and diabetes services should be directed to Stoke Mandeville Hospital.

This would bring the closure of 67 beds at Wycombe, with urgent medical patients no longer directed to the hospital’s Emergency Medical Centre, which handles admissions to those departments.

However, the proposals say some services should be enhanced at Wycombe Hospital, including the breast care unit.

This would mean patients from the north of the county travelling to Wycombe for inital assessments and appointments at a breast care unit.

The plans, laid out in a consultation document called 'Better Healthcare in Buckinghamshire', would mean Wycombe Hospital sees about 7,600 fewer people per year – a reduction of about three per cent on its current activity.

About 225,000 people went to Wycombe Hospital in 2010/11 for all outpatient, day case emergency or inpatient treatment.

Dr Graz Luzzi, medical director for Buckinghamshire’s hospitals, said the centralisation of specialist medical care at Stoke Mandeville would ensure “high quality outcomes for the small number of patients who need these services”.

The plans also include:

• A new day assessment unit for older people at Wycombe Hospital to allow them to be cared for without overnight admission to hospital.

• A step-down ward for elderly and medical patients at Wycombe Hospital – who still require 24 hour hospital care but with less specialist input.

• Urgent next-day outpatient appointments to help patients avoid hospital admission.

• Full specialist diagnostic support for GPs to help them better manage patients in the community or at home.

See link below for more on this story and a link to the consultation document.

Dr Geoff Payne, medical director for NHS Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire Cluster said: “During our consultation phase, we will work hard to reach as many individuals and organisations as possible, to discuss our proposals and hear what people think.

"There are some very committed individuals in our local communities who will want reassurance that what we are suggesting is best for local patients.

"We need to listen and take account of their views. We hope that they will continue to stay involved so that we can have open and honest conversations about what we want to change and why.

"At the end of the day, we all have a common purpose – to ensure high quality, patient-centred, accessible, safe and sustainable services for people in Buckinghamshire.”