DOCTORS across the county have said they have ‘no confidence’ that the trust running the Alexandra Hospital can implement proposed changes to local health services.
The Worcestershire Local Medical Committee also said that Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust has been instrumental in delaying a solution to the situation.
In addition they believe that the changes proposed – moving overnight child care, consultant-led maternity cases and seriopus accident and emergency incidents to Worcester, ‘carry a real risk of fatally weakening the Alexandra Hospital and overburdening the already struggling Worcester Royal Hospital.
The doctors also threw their weight behind GPs in Redditch and Bromsgrove who described the trust’s plans, as ‘unsustainable’ while not allaying fears of clinical risk ans called for other options, provided by other health trusts, to be considered.
Neal Stote, chairman of the Save the Alex Campaign, said: “What the LMC has said confirms our grave doubts that the trust was capable of delivering a sustainable model.
“It clearly states that this should not be about saving a particular health trust but about providing the best possible mix of service for patients, and that is what the NHS is all about.”
He called for a clear, well thought-out solution taking into account other health providers to ensure the proper care of local people for years to come.
“This sort of major change should only be happening once ever five to ten years and we don’t want a quick fudge and to discover it’s not capable of delivering what is promised,” he added.
The bottom line is that after four years the health trust does not have the answer and it goes right back to day one for me when we said the only way forward is to look at all the providers, and not just one.”
