INVESTIGATIVE equipment used to help diagnose injuries from complex falls in the elderly will be axed at Solihull Hospital – The Observer can reveal.
The Heart of England NHS Foundation Trust has confirmed the Tilt Table and Syncope Service is set to move to Heartlands Hospital in a bid to ‘provide a better standard of care and a more robust service for all of our patients’.
The service is an investigative procedure which helps diagnose patients who have been experiencing symptoms such as loss of consciousness such as blackouts and fainting episodes, dizziness or severe light headedness.
This is the latest in a string of services which have moved from Solihull Hospital to Heartlands Hospital.
There are concerns over the impact the cuts will have on the frail and the elderly who use these services.
Not only will it be an inconvenience to Silhillians who use the service to have to travel to Heartlands Hospital but there are fears the waiting lists will be longer so patients will have to wait longer for a diagnosis.
A spokesperson confirmed the service is moving between sites from Solihull Hospital to Heartlands Hospital and said this is a service offered across all of their sites.
They added: “This will provide a better standard of care and a more robust service for all of our patients.
“We can confirm that we are continuing the Tilt Table and Syncope Service.
“The falls assessment service is based at Heartlands Hospital and this will continue to be the case with all tilt table testing to be carried out from this vicinity.”
