A PANEL of experts have now recommended Basildon Hospital becomes a specialist A&E centre for Essex - but have questioned whether the ambulance service would actually be able to cope with the change.

The Mid and South Essex Success Regime has now published two independent clinical reviews of the emerging plans to reshape services at the county’s three main hospitals - Basildon, Chelmsford and Southend.

The plans will see a major specialist emergency centre created at one of the hospital’s A&Es while the remaining two are set to be downgraded.

The latest reports were prepared by the East of England Clinical Senate, made up of senior clinicians from outside Essex and patient representatives.

The group stated, based on “geography and travel times”, the specialist emergency centre “would be best placed on the current Basildon and Thurrock hospital site”.

However, the panel said it was concerned the “full impact of the need for patient transfer across and within the system had not been worked through”.

The specialist emergency centre would treat the most gravely ill patients before stabilising them and returning them to their local hospital for further recovery.

The panel said this would involve up to 40 per cent ambulance transfers being redirected and the transfer of a “significant number of patients”. It added it was concerned that the full impact on the ambulance service had not been fully assessed. The senate also said it was concerned about the safety of implementing the changes over the regime’s five-year timescale.

The report said: “Whilst recognising the need for rapid transformation, the panel was concerned whether the desired proposed pace was achievable whilst appropriately balancing against the need to ensure that the right change and to the right degree was made to best ensure safe, sustainable services.”

Despite the hospitals suffering problems with bed-blocking, where patients can’t be discharged because of a lack of community care, the clinicians said there was also “a lack of clarity” over step down care for patients.

The panel made more than 20 recommendations to address these and other issues, which the regime will now consider before making any final decisions by March.

Dr Ronan Fenton, joint medical director for the Regime, said: “We are delighted that the Clinical Senate supports our proposed direction of travel for health and care services in mid and south Essex, and we accept the panel’s recommendations about further work to make sure that we explore fully the implications of service change for local people. We will continue to do this over the next few months as we narrow down the potential options for change.”