ALARM has been raised that the Alexandra Hospital in Redditch has no specialist consultant cover in gastroenterology – because the one expert they have in the field has gone on holiday.
It is understood that there is no on-site cover at the Woodrow site until September 16 when a replacement for consultant physician David Al Dulaimi, who resigned earlier this year, arrives. Mr Al Dulaimi would have given three months notice.
The news was leaked by concerned staff and Ian Johnson, vice chairman of the Save the Alex campaign group said: “I wish I could say I was surprised by this latest news, unfortunately our hospital trust seems to be perpetually cascading from one crisis to another.
“Where is the openness and transparency that they purport to hold so dear? Why not be proactive rather than reactive?”
However a spokesperson for Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust (WAHT) moved to re-assure patients, saying: “Patients will continue to be admitted to and managed at the Alexandra Hospital during this consultant leave period. Input and advice from the county-wide consultant-led Gastroenterology service will continue to be available during this time.”
A gastroenterologist cares for someone with bowel, liver and stomach problems.
This latest blow to the Trust comes as a Government ‘Learning From Mistakes’ league table places WAHT in 219th position out of 231 being branded as having a ‘poor reporting culture’.
