Hospital laughs off closure fears despite inpatient shift

HOSPITAL bosses have moved to head off concerns over the future of Rotherham’s trailblazing BreathingSpace centre after confirming its inpatient services have been “relocated” to Rotherham Hospital.

Hospital bosses insisted the new Respiratory Support Unit at the hospital would still offer the same provision as was available on the site on Badsley Moor Lane, East Dene — which provides treatment and support for patients with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) and other respiratory conditions.

A spokesman for the Rotherham NHS Foundation Trust said the main building itself will remain open and all outpatient services will “operate as normal” and confirmed there would be no staff redundancies as a result of the move.

But the future of BreathingSpace remains in doubt as all respiratory services are under review by Rotherham Clinical Commissioning Group.

The hospital trust spokesman said: “Senior clinicians within the Trust have been assessing the best configuration of beds and services for acute respiratory care for several weeks with the aim of better aligning patients, settings and resources.

“We have concluded that to support improved patient outcomes, the inpatient services currently provided at BreathingSpace should be relocated to the Rotherham Hospital site.”

The relocation of inpatient facilities took place on Monday but only a few patients were affected, the hospital spokesman said, as there was a seasonal dip in acute respiratory cases. 

The spokesman said BreathingSpace had been originally designed for out-patient respiratory provision and remained “an integral part” of the trust’s strategy in that sector.

It is yet to emerge how the former inpatient unit will be used at BreathingSpace, but the spokesman said the facility would remain as a “dedicated unit for patients with respiratory conditions”.