A FORMER nurse turned district councillor has voiced concerns over possible health cuts in south Warwickshire.
Coun Hazel Wright (Lib Dem, Studley South & Sambourne) has spoken out after hearing the five-year blueprint for future health care for the area – known as the Sustainability and Transformation Plan (STP) – could be facing a ‘funding gap’ running into £267 million.
Studley and Alcester fall under the Coventry & Warwickshire STP, a programme which is largely community and primary care driven but which also covers acute services provided by general hospitals like those at Warwick and Coventry’s Walsgrave.
“I’m worried about the impact on patients. We may be in Warwickshire here but look towards the Alexandra Hospital in Redditch for hospital treatment. If money is going to be tight and cuts have to be made you can just imagine the sort of arguments that are going to take place,” said Coun Wright.
In Worcestershire, which is paired with Herefordshire for its STP, health chiefs have already said hard choices will have to be made over what to prioritise and what to stop doing altogether.
They are looking for individuals, families and communities to take greater responsibility for their own welfare with a higher emphasis on community and GP-led primary care, leaving hospitals for the seriously ill.
“I’m concerned about this funding gap – some things are going to have to go and I just do not see where the savings are going to come from without people being directly affected,” said Coun Wright.
A spokesman for Coventry and Warwickshire STP said: “Based on projections if health and social care organisations did not work together to make local services more sustainable over the next five years the financial gap in health alone will be around £267m.
“If all organisations achieve their planned savings this will close this gap to around £66m. Work streams have been tasked with ensuring this gap is fully closed, however what is clear is that we believe this £66m can be saved without closing hospital beds and without reducing the number of staff.”
