Heath Trust accused of 'negligence' during heated exchange at Board meeting (South West Surrey Liberal Democrats)

South West Surrey Liberal Democrats <info@swsurreylibdems.org.uk>

Heath Trust accused of 'negligence' during heated exchange at Board meeting

February 10, 2005 4:49 PM

Angry exchanges took place at the Board meeting of Guildford and Waverley Primary Care Trust (PCT) with chief executive, Elizabeth Slinn, denying that the PCT was acting "negligently" over the plan to close ten orthopaedic beds.

Speaking from the public gallery, leading campaigner Simon Cordon accused the PCT of two "serious failures" in the paper before the Board calling for the bed closures. Simon said he was "angry" at the cavalier manner in which the PCT was seeking to close the beds. In describing the approach as "negligent" he said, "I do not use that word lightly".

Simon rounded on the PCT for "scaremongering" over staff shortages and recruitment problems at the hospital and for failing to address a single health or clinical issue relating to the closure of the ten beds.

The PCT claimed that the beds needed to close because there was a serious staff shortage at the hospital and that this began in March 2003. Simon told the Board: "It's hardly any surprise these so-called problems began in March 2003 as that is when you started this whole unnecessary bid to close the hospital". He also attacked the PCT for having a deliberate freeze on recruitment at the hospital. "If there are staff shortages it is of the PCT's own making and represents a failure of management on their part. The answer is to solve any staffing shortfall not close beds by stealth", he said.

Simon's heaviest criticism came over the lack of any assessment on patient care contained within the PCT's paper. "There is nothing in this paper about patient care and the loss of access to services that will result if you close these beds", he said. "That omission is disgraceful. To have a proposal to change any service and not look at the impact on patient care is just not acceptable. It is negligent and I do not use that word lightly".

On behalf of the cross-community campaign group for Milford Hospital Simon had earlier written and submitted a formal objection paper about the ten beds to the Surrey Health Scrutiny Committee. They have a responsibility to scrutinise proposals from the PCT. Referring to discussions with the Scrutiny Committee, Mrs Slinn said that the committee would not be agreeing to the closure of the ten beds until they had investigated the issues raised in Simon's objection paper. She recommended to the PCT Board that a decision on the beds be deferred. However the Board rejected her advice and backed an alternative proposal from Chairman Chris Grimes to agree to the closure of the beds subject to the Scrutiny Committee approving the decision at a later date.

After the meeting Simon said: "These beds provide a crucial service and we have been given no evidence that the service can be reprovided at the Royal Surrey as the PCT are suggesting. But these beds are about more than that. The PCT has so far failed to close the hospital in one go and now they are trying to close it bit by bit. We have won important battles in our fight for Milford Hospital. The battle over these ten beds is probably the most important so far, and win that we must, and shall".