'We've been let down over hospital plans'
CAMPAIGNERS have accused health chiefs of "letting them down" after ditching promises for a round-the-clock doctor-led accident and emergency (A&E) unit at a Westcountry hospital, writes the WMN's Petra Mann.
In January 2007, health bosses said West Cornwall Hospital, Penzance, would have a 24-hour consultant-led A&E unit – the plan was later downgraded to a staff grade doctor leading the department.
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But by April this year, health chiefs had announced the unit would be headed by a nurse practitioner from 11pm to 9am.
Last night, about 300 people crammed into St John's Hall, Penzance, to hear health bosses outline the latest plans for the hospital.
Andrew George, West Cornwall MP, Peter Colclough, chief executive of Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust, and Martin Watts, chairman of the trust, made up a panel of 10 speakers.
The panel presented and then discussed the trust's recently published Draft Strategic Plan 2010-2014.
The hospital's future has been the subject of controversy dating back to 2002 when more than 20,000 people marched through the streets to vent their anger over plans drawn up by the then-West Cornwall Primary Care Trust to downgrade it.
Members of the audience expressed anger over the trust's refusal to give the hospital what was originally promised.
Graham Webster, vice-chairman of Health Initiative Cornwall, said: "The trust has let us down.
"We have been campaigning for many years for proper 24-hour, seven days a week doctor-led A&E cover. They are selling us very short.
"This trust strategic plan is a missed opportunity.
"Although there are some very good things in it, there's a lot that's not so good. It is a bit short on detail."
When asked how the wider community would view the new document, Mr Webster replied: "With suspicion. The management board of the trust has yet to prove itself.
"Over the past few years, it has stumbled from crisis to crisis and they have a lot of work to do."
The audience was told that over the next five years, there would be a number of improvements to services including an eye treatment service, skin cancer services, chronic pain services, a third operating theatre, new outpatients department and an improved renal dialysis unit.
Peter Colclough, chief executive of the Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust, said: "This plan has been developed with the help of our clinicians at its heart. Extensive clinical discussions with all our specialities have informed our work and these will continue as we develop our plans in greater details over the next three months."
The final plan will be completed by April 1 next year.
Andrew George said it was important to fight to keep hospital services that the community deserved. "The hospital has significantly changed its status in the last two years.
"There are elements of this plan which should be welcomed – particularly the extension of clinics which should be capable of treating more patients and providing a wider range of diagnostic facilities.
"However, we should still press the trust on its longer-term vision for the future of West Cornwall Hospital and to ensure patients are treated closer to home. The Government wants Cornwall to absorb another 70,000 houses in the next 16 years. Penwith alone would have to build the equivalent of another Penzance.
"I receive many complaints from local patients who have been referred to clinics in Truro when they could have been seen at West Cornwall. The trust acknowledge that this should be put right.
"There are many others – often elderly or vulnerable – who have been taken by ambulance to the A&E at Truro and discharged in the small hours by taxi to Penwith at the cost of over £50 because no other transport is available."
5 Comments
by Anthony, Penzance
Monday, November 23 2009, 6:41PM
“My wife had her appointment at Treliske changed 3 times. The last change meant we had to catch an earlier train to ensure that we were at Treliske out-Patients in good time. Our appointment was for 11.10, by 12.30 when we had still not been seen, my wife started a panic attack and we left after informing the nurse in reception. At our previous visit I recognised 7 people from Pz. Why cannot 1 specialist travel to WCH rather than countless Penwithians having to travel to Truro? My own experience is having Treliske insist that a test could only be conducted there, when I could, and did, have it in my GP's surgery.
They want everything at Treliske, even though they are unable to cope. Nothing is going to stand in the way of these faceless bureaucrats. We will have to march again and ensure National coverage. Last time we marched, the National News, in the headlines, said massive protest march! It turned out to have been a march in London of about 3,000 people. There was no mention of PZ and WCH. We have to change that, but still remain within the law.”
by miss Rowe, Penzance
Sunday, November 22 2009, 8:37PM
“I live 300 yards from west cornwall hospital. My partner suffers from athsma and carries an epipen for his severe allergies. If he had a athsma attack or went into anaphalactic shock late at night what will happen to him? Will we have to travel to treliske? How long would the ambulance take? And why should we travel a minimum of 40 minutes for an emergency doctor?
Surely the trust can't expect to rely on the air ambulance, a charity that works hard to earn funding?”
by Malcolm Lawrence, Penzance
Sunday, November 22 2009, 5:41PM
“With reference to the meeting about West Cornwall Hospital at St. Johns Hall Pz. The Health Community inherited a £32 million deficit from the Cornwall & IOS HA. The previous Chief Executive before John Watkinson was appointed by the Conservative Government when they were in control. That Chief Executive put the Trust into further Debt. I commend the present RCHT Board to try and sort out the Trust Finances to enable them to apply for the Foundation Trust (In my opinion.this will be very difficult to achieve) more power to their elbow to try to achieve this. It raises the question in my mind, "Have the Cornish M.P's put up a strong enough case to the Treasury to convince the Cornish Health community is so far underfunded that Cornwall has been over many year? even during the previous Governments 18 years they were in control?. I have tried time and time again over many years to try and get a coalition Government the same as we had during the Second World War. We won that, All that has happened because of the financial control of the NHS in Goverment we lost a new Hospital that was going to be built for West Cornwall, by a change of Government with masses of money being wasted on drawing up plans etc. for that build. When the new Government took control RCH(Treliske) was built, There was not enough money in the pot to staff Treliske as the remainder of the Health Groups in Cornwall (Hospitals) were penalised financialy to provide 25 S/Nurses to be employed at that Hospital. By the time the 1st phase of that Hospital was built, it was obsolecsent because by that time the new Government had changed the Goal Posts yet again on Hospital Biulds. Hence my continual pushing for a Coalition Government, so whichever Government were in power the NHS woild go forward in the best and financialy cost effective way.
I believe I know a little about the NHS having been employed in Cornwall in the NHS for 29 years, before I was forced to progress my career for a further 10 years in the NHS in the Thames Valley.
Malcolm Lawrence
I can be contacted on my Mobile on 07840288017 If you require any clarification on the content of the corespondence.”
by Pat Cull, Devon
Sunday, November 22 2009, 5:25PM
“I am appalled at the negligence of the Government regarding the care of the severely mentally disabled and their carers. Monies allocated for this use and for rehabilitation have been diverted to other purposes. The Management has been bad, but the professionals worked too hard, and there are too few for a chiefly rural area.”
by Timv, Pz
Saturday, November 21 2009, 4:04PM
“Why does it seem impossibly difficult these days, to get the kind of local quality heath service the tax paying public want and need? Is it because the administration of services is becoming ever more remote from their customers? We appear in this country to be slipping into a soviet-style, unrepresentative and unresponsive form of governance, without the means to stop it.”