Our priority is, and always will be, patient safety. The ITU at Bassetlaw Hospital plays a vital role in caring for the most seriously ill patients and supports the resilience of wider hospital services, including urgent and emergency care and maternity services. Patients rightly expect that when they need intensive care, they will be treated by professionals with the right skills and experience.
Why we are introducing a rotation
Maintaining those specialist skills requires regular experience caring for patients with complex and critical conditions – at present, the number and complexity of patients treated within the Bassetlaw ITU alone is not sufficient to maintain these specialist skills throughout the year.
For this reason, we have proposed a short, reciprocal rotation between Bassetlaw Hospital and Doncaster Royal Infirmary. A rotation means nurses spend a planned, temporary period working at the other hospital before returning to their usual base. It is not a permanent move or a change of role.
Under this arrangement:
ITU nursing colleagues at Bassetlaw would spend around eight weeks each year working at Doncaster Royal Infirmary, and colleagues from Doncaster Royal Infirmary would also rotate into Bassetlaw Hospital to ensure both of our units remain open.
This shared approach helps nurses maintain specialist expertise by caring for a wider range of critically ill patients, while ensuring both units remain safely staffed and fully operational.
The two hospitals are approximately 18 miles apart – around a 30-minute journey – and similar rotational working arrangements are common across the NHS to support safe, sustainable services.
Industrial action and contractual duties
As a Trust we fully respect the right of colleagues to take lawful industrial action.
At times when patient numbers in the Bassetlaw Intensive Treatment Unit are low, colleagues may be asked to support busier ward areas elsewhere in the hospital. This is a standard contractual duty for nursing staff across the NHS.
Where individuals chose not to undertake these duties, they were advised not to attend work until they were willing to fulfil their contractual responsibilities, in line with national NHS terms and conditions. Any decision to attend work despite this is therefore a personal choice and not one directed by the Trust.
Supporting local services for the future
We want to be clear that these proposals are not about reducing or removing critical care services at Bassetlaw Hospital.
In fact, the purpose of the rotation is the opposite – to protect and sustain local services by ensuring staff maintain the specialist skills required to deliver safe intensive care in both Bassetlaw and Doncaster.
The reciprocal nature of the rotation strengthens collaboration between our hospitals and helps secure the long-term resilience of critical care services in Worksop and surrounding communities.
What this means for patients
Bassetlaw Hospital remains open and safe to use as normal.
Patients should continue to attend urgent and emergency care, appointments and planned services exactly as they usually would.
We remain committed to working with colleagues, partners and our community to ensure high-quality hospital services continue to be available locally, now and in the future.
