THE MP for Redditch, Rachel Maclean, has written to Simon Trickett, the chief executive of the local Clinical Commissioning Group as she ramps up efforts to return the Garden Suite to the Alexandra Hospital.
During the pandemic the chemotherapy service was temporarily relocated to Kidderminster Hospital.
However, back in March, bosses from Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust publicly said that, in the summer, they could make the relocation permanent.
In response Mrs Maclean convened a meeting of the Alex Working Group and told health bosses that permanently removing the Garden Suite from the Alex would be unacceptable.
Meanwhile a public petition she launched on the issue has already received more than 4,000 signatures.
The CCG is responsible for commissioning chemotherapy services in Worcestershire.
In her letter, Mrs Maclean raised concerns about the distance Redditch residents will have to travel for their treatment.
She also raised the issue of NHS England’s ‘Standard Contract for Cancer: Chemotherapy’ which makes clear chemotherapy patients should receive the right treatment as ‘close to home as practicable’.
And she made it clear she doesn’t believe having to travel to Kidderminster for chemotherapy meets the principle of as ‘close to home as practicable’..
“By writing to Mr Trickett I wanted to make my opposition clear to any move by the acute trust to make the temporary relocation of the Garden Suite a permanent one,” she said.
“No one can claim that there isn’t massive support in Redditch to return this service back to our town’s hospital.”
To sign the petition visit: https://www.change.org/bringbackthegardensuite
