A CALL has been made for an accident-and- emergency department to be provided at Bordon's Chase Community Hospital, by a councillor and panellist on the Whitehill and Bordon Opportunity Steering Group. Town councillor Adam Carew said paramedic crews' response times to medical emergencies in the town were "not as good" as he hoped, and that efforts to improve local facilities in preparation for more housing was a chance to invest in Chase Hospital. The president of the Chase Hospital League of Friends and district councillor for Lindford, Yvonne Parker-Smith, told The Herald that residents were "in a triangle between hospitals in Guildford, Frimley and Basingstoke". She said that she thought the Chase site would be too small for an A&E department, but she would like to see a minor-injuries unit built there as part of the town's development plans. Mrs Parker-Smith, who represents Whitehill, Bordon and Lindford as a governor on the new foundation trust at the North Hampshire Hospital in Basingstoke, enc-ouraged residents to have a say in the running of the hospital by becoming members. Results from a county-coucil accessibility survey in Whitehill and Bordon, released in December, show that no residents can reach a hospital within an official-guideline travelling time of 30 minutes, while less than three quarters of households (72 per cent) can reach a hospital within an hour. The problem has been aggravated by fears the A&E department at Guildford's Royal Surrey Hospital could close as part of NHS cost- cutting maneouvres. Earlier this month, while delivering a petition against any closures at the Royal Surrey, Bordon's MP James Arbuthnot warned the loss of the hospital's "acute" services (including the A&E department) would be a "disaster" for all users. Mr Arbuthnot said: "Any reduction in acute hospital services would have a huge impact on local residents in Surrey and Hampshire. The knock-on effect on healthcare provision across neighbouring areas would be very damaging indeed. Mr Carew, who is also a district and county councillor, raised the possibility of an A&E department at Chase Hospital during an Opportunity Steering Group meeting last month. He said: "I still want to see this happen, and I know it's something quite a few people have been suggesting. At the moment, residents who need major treatment have to travel to Basingstoke (the North Hampshire Hospital), Portsmouth (the Queen Alex-andra Hospital in Cosham) or Guildford (the Royal Surrey Hospital). It takes people an awful long time to get to the town's parent hospital in Basingstoke, and there is a big question mark hanging over Guildford. "If patients want to travel from Bordon to Basingstoke without a car then it takes four or five bus journeys and by the time you get there you have to leave again. "Whitehill Town Council had to ask specifically for response times to medical emergencies in Bordon, and the figures were not as good as we had hoped. "There are co-responder schemes running to take the pressure off ambulances, and medical teams are trying to treat people on the spot where possible rather than take them to hospital. But if you are in an accident situation, you need to get to hospital as soon as possible." Mr Carew said it seemed that since the merger of the East Hampshire Primary Care Trust (PCT) into the countywide Hampshire PCT in October 2006, there had been an effort to centralise facilities at the North Hampshire Hospital. "For smaller hospitals that could be an issue if consultants don't come out to see patients, although I understand this isn't the case at the Chase," he added. Peggy Jones, secretary of the Chase Hospital League of Friends, said that new equipment bought by the league meant the hospital's twice-weekly X-ray clinics were "always busy" and there was a six-month waiting list for eye appointments. But she added that the hospital was generally "very quiet" and she felt that "it should be used more". Mr Carew continued: "If we are talking about almost doubling the size of the population and getting better facilities with it, then the chances are we will need more investment in the Chase. At the end of the day, it will be Hampshire PCT making those decisions, not us, but we should be pushing the subject." Mrs Parker-Smith said a smaller minor- injuries unit, such as that in Petersfield, would handle a lot of the cases dealt with in A&E and free up general hospitals to deal with more major cases. She said: "With all the proposed housing in Whitehill, Bordon and Lindford (the Chase Road development), we will have a lot more people needing medical facilities. "At the moment, it is a lot easier for people to go to Petersfield with minor injuries rather than spend three or four hours waiting in a bigger hospital. "The last time the issue was raised we were told by the PCT there were no plans for an minor-injuries unit at the Chase, but in light of all the forthcoming development, I think it would be extremely useful. "But I think we need such a unit now, before the new housing goes in, to serve not only the town, but also the satellite villages, which are also growing." She added that, in her role as a governor of the North Hampshire Hospital Found-ation Trust, she was keen to "represent the views of local people and strengthen the relationship between the trust and the community". Mrs Parker-Smith said the hospital was a national leader in efforts to eradicate the MRSA bug and had been chosen for a pilot programme to guarantee, by the end of 2008, that referral, diagnosis and treatment start for patients within 18 weeks. Mr Carew admitted a minor-injuries unit was more likely to happen than an A&E service, adding: "An minor-injuries unit would certainly be better than nothing, but we will have to wait and see what the PCT is prepared to put in." A spokesman for Hampshire PCT said: "There are no firm plans for an A&E department or minor-injuries unit at Chase Hospital at the moment, but we are working on a long-term strategy for our community hospitals and look forward to engaging our stakeholders in these discussions."
