THE borough council has sent a series of letters to health chiefs repeating its call for the local health authority to look to other neighbouring trusts to safeguard services in the town.
The letters, the result of a council-led health commission into the consultation on the future of acute hospital services in Worcestershire, run in direct contradiction to the current health policy of Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust and local doctor-run clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) which is to keep the bulk of health provision within the county.
Council leader Councillor Bill Hartnett said he hoped the health chiefs would sit up and take notice of the commission’s findings: “We had three presentations, 450 people taking part with more than 15,000 watching via Facebook followed by a full council hearing and not one councillor voted against the recommendations, so I hope they will listen to what we have to say.”
Coun Hartnett has also offered to meet with representatives from the local CCG to discuss the concerns of local people.
Other letters stating the commission’s position have been sent out to the Secretary of State for Health Jeremy Hunt, NHS England, and NHS Improvement.
The news comes as the CCGs confirmed that it would not halt the consultation process despite receiving more than 600 letters asking for it to be halted.
“They call it a public consultation but this means they have ignored the wishes of a sizeable number of people,” said Neal Stote of OurNHS Worcestershire.
“We also do not know if the changes that have already been put in place were a contributory factor in the tragic death of Callum Cartlidge.
“They need to answers some basic questions – why was Callum discharged from Worcester Royal at 11pm at night after being taken their as an emergency by ambulance, and then, crucially, why, the following day, why was an ambulance request to take him to the Alexandra Hospital denied?”
It is understood that, with the end of the consultation, members of the CCGs will reflect on all the responses received before taking a final decision on the model of care later this year.
