HEALTH planners are to stop using the official name of a £400 million super-hospital scheme, because residents do not have a clue what it means.

Fit For The Future was first coined almost a decade ago to describe the project which will see a new hospital built at Hartshill and more than 100,000 out-patient appointments each year shipped out to newly-built community health centres.

But the term will now only be used internally by University Hospital of North Staffordshire and primary care trust bosses.

The move comes after research showed thousands of residents were unaware of what the title referred to.

A Staffordshire University survey of 2,500 staff, patients and relatives revealed three-quarters had no concept of what Fit For The Future was, while the rest thought it was part of a Government keep-fit drive.

Health campaigners said the decision to scrap external usage of the term showed NHS leaders had failed to engage with the community.

Ian Syme, pictured right, North Staffordshire Healthwatch co-ordinator, said: "There's nothing wrong with the name, but they have just given up the ghost when they should be getting out of their offices getting this message across to the public.

"We're told this is the most ambitious restructuring of an area's NHS anywhere in the country, but now we are left with services with no name."

Fit for the Future will reduce bed numbers at the Hartshill complex by nearly 300, but aims to compensate by increasing convalescent and rehabilitation places at community hospitals and bringing services closer to patients' homes.

And, less than three years before new services are due to be complete, the project team has decided to keep the name only for internal working within the NHS.

When talking to the public, they will refer to services only by the illness they cover.

A project spokesman said: "The NHS is one of the most recognised brands in the UK and we will rely on that alone, instead of using this term, which clearly is not being recognised by the public.

"In discussing proposals on redesigning individual care pathways, we are now looking at only referring to the particular conditions covered by each one – and will refer to them as NHS services.

"We believe that will be sufficient and avoid confusion."

The change still needs to be ratified at a meeting of the project steering committee.

The Fit for the Future programme was approved in 2001.

But two years ago, a top-level independent review savaged senior managers for leaving patients, relatives and even doctors out of the loop.

More than £500,000 a year was sanctioned to strengthen leadership and subsequent reviews found improvements had been made.