ANGRY Haslemere residents have taken their opportunity to criticise health chiefs about proposals to close beds at Haslemere Hospital. On Tuesday night at Wispers School, the League of Friends of Haslemere Hospital held its second public meeting to discuss plans by the Guildford and Waverley Primary Care Trust (PCT) to close beds at at the town's community hospital. The plans form part of the PCT's public consultation, Modernising Your Local Healthcare, that contains proposals to close local hospital beds and alter health services currently provided at Farnham, Haslemere, Milford and Cranleigh hospitals as the PCT bids to save costs and avoid a financial crisis. A large turnout ensured that a number of probing questions were asked of Jane Dale, the PCT's interim chief executive, who attended the meeting. Dr Christopher Taylor, senior partner at the town's surgery, pointed out to loud applause that Haslemere Hospital fulfils the objectives of the PCT set out in the consultation document. He therefore said that could not see why it was being suggested that beds should close at Haslemere. Dr Phil Ridsdill-Smith questioned Ms Dale whether the proposal to move the Godwin Unit from Haslemere Hospital to Farnham Hospital was viable, as Farnham could not accommodate the wheelchairs needed in the unit. Ms Dale admitted that this was presently the case but that Farnham Hospital would need to be refurbished if the unit was to be moved. She also told the meeting that the cost of all the proposals is unknown. Dr Nicky Lee, the chairman of the League of Friends, said: "This was an opportunity for local people to put their questions and views without the meeting being controlled by the PCT. It showed the deep thought that has been given to the proposals and the heartfelt views of residents in the Haslemere area. "Members of the public came to indicate that they wanted to see Haslemere beds retained. They are not interested in spin and modernising the local health service, they know that is code for a reduction in service." The PCT continues to face fierce criticism of its plans to cut local health services. Last Thursday, Surrey County Council's health scrutiny committee (HSC), an independent health watchdog that has the power to refer health issues to the Secretary of State for Health, met the board of the PCT in Godalming to discuss the public consultation document. HSC members questioned PCT board members about the motives for their proposals to cut community health services in the wake of a government White Paper released last week promoting community care, and comments by Health Secretary Patricia Hewitt, who urged PCTs to rethink their community hospital closure plans, particularly when they were being put forward as a cost-saving measure. The HSC also wanted to know why the public consultation is going ahead when there is so much uncertainty because of a reformulation of PCTs throughout the country. This could mean that the Guildford and Waverley PCT could be reconfigured into a Surrey PCT - a new organisation that could decide to deal with the impending financial crisis differently. At the end of meeting, the HSC urged the PCT to delay its consultation and to rethink its proposals to cut local health services. "At the meeting, the committee heard a number of criticisms about various aspects of the consultation document from a number of different sources," said a spokesman for HSC. "The committee believed that many of of the criticisms about the lack of detail in the document were justified and will take this into account when formulating its final response. "From a scrutiny point of view, there was not enough information in the document about the health quality outcomes and improvements that the proposals are aimed to achieve, or processes by which they would be measured in order to provide clear evidence of that health improvement. "The stated timeline for making a decision on this matter was given as a board meeting on March 23. The committee does not feel it was reasonable to expect the PCT to provide additional information to the committee and then to receive a response from the committee within the time available. "In summary, the committee found it would be difficult to make recommendations to the PCT board based on the information presently available. It preferred more time in which to complete its work and to gather further evidence and listen to the views of staff and stakeholders, especially GPs and the finance director. "It occurred to the committee that the PCT might welcome a period of reflection itself, bearing in mind the complexity of these proposals, and their impact on local people, and taking into account also the implications of the White Paper and what it has to say on the subject of community hospitals." While the HSC has asked the PCT to delay its proposals, local MP Jeremy Hunt believes that the PCT should abandon the plans completely. "It is clear that the PCT has seriously misjudged the local community's commitment to saving its community and rehabilitation services, said the SW Surrey MP. "Its consultation also appears to pre-empt the government's White Paper, which calls for the local community's views to be taken into account before any decision is made on the closure of community hospital services. "To make matters worse, the PCT has then failed to clearly work through its own proposals and provide its local community and HSC with enough detail for them to be able choose between the options. The only choice left is for the PCT to abandon its consultation." Mr Hunt will be taking part in a protest march on February 25 against the proposals to close hospital beds at Haslemere Hospital. "We will be meeting at 2 pm at Lion Green, Haslemere and marching to Haslemere Hospital," he said. "There will then be short speeches from myself and Dr Nicky Lee, chairman of the League of Friends of Haslemere Hospital. " I strongly urge everyone who can to attend."
