REDDITCH Borough Council has called for the break up of the local health trust ‘as soon as possible’ after it was branded inadequate by the national health watchdog the Care Quality Commission.
The cross-party motion, backed by local MP Karen Lumley, was proposed by Redditch’s Labour Leader Councillor Bill Hartnett and seconded by the leader of the Conservative group Coun Juliet Brunner and was approved unanimously.
In addition members also called for the trust’s review into the future of acute services in Worcestershire be abandoned.
The motion was brought forward as an urgent item at full council on Monday (evening December 7) asking: “That council notes the recent unacceptable events not only at The Alex but across the whole of Worcestershire Acute Hospitals Trust, and endorses the proposed action by the Leader and the local MP Karen Lumley, to request that the Secretary of State, NHS England, and the Trust Development Authority to investigate the breaking up of WAHT as soon as possible, abandon the ongoing Acute Services Review and allow other high performing trusts to provide healthcare services in Worcestershire”.
WAHT, which will almost certainly now be put into NHS special measures, is currently running at a projected loss of £61 million for the financial year 2015/16, although this is likely to increase.
It has seen four A&E consultants resign from the Alex over downgrades in services mooted under the acute services review, has recently closed the Redditch hospital’s maternity unit – giving just six days notice, and has already moved emergency gynaecology cases to the Worcestershire Royal Hospital in Worcester, 18 miles away.
“Issues have escalated over the last couple of weeks with the movement of maternity services to Worcester with less than a week’s notice and the trust has now been put into special measures essentially due to failings in the senior leadership – we find this absolutely unacceptable,” said Coun Hartnett (Lab, Church Hill).
Coun Brunner (Con, M’borough) said: “It is with a huge sense of relief that I second and wholeheartedly support this motion.
“I am proud to live in a town where all political parties can stand shoulder to shoulder to get the best for the people of Redditch. I would also like to thank our MP Karen Lumley who has been fighting our corner. I know how hard she has been working on this.”
Coun Paul Swansborough (Ukip, Winyates) asked if the local doctor-led Clinical Commissioning Group should also be included in the motion, as they were the ones who commissioned the services from the trust, however councillors heard that the CCG was obliged to use the trust with little opportunity to commission services outside WAHT.
Coun Pat Witherspoon (Lab, Church Hill) said: “I find this all very worrying; the staff shortages in maternity was not about maternity nurses but neo-natal nurses and the management had known about this for four years but had done nothing about it.
“I really think we should pull he rug out from under the management.”
Borough Mayor, Coun Pattie Hill added: “As someone who works at the Alex I would just like to say how grateful we are to the staff there. I was there when they made the announcement about the closure of maternity and although the staff were shocked they still managed to pick themselves up and I am sure everyone sends them their best wishes.”
Coun Hartnett said he would now be approaching the leaders of Bromsgrove and Stratford district councils, and their MPs, to seek their support for the motion too.
