RUMOURS that patients across Surrey are being taken to Frimley Hospital's accident and emergency department instead of The Royal Surrey are still rife - with more than 100 alleged cases in recent months. An increasing number of worried residents have contacted The Herald over fears that ambulance drivers have been told to take people to Frimley, even though The Royal Surrey is nearer. And the ambulance service control room's excuse for the long-distance runs has not eased concerns - with the blame being put on a faulty computer system that was recognising all postcodes as being near Frimley. Several residents have expressed fears lately over rumours of patients being told they must be taken to Frimley. Some complain and insist on going to The Royal Surrey - including one man who lived so close to the Guildford hospital that he could see it from his house. However, some are told they have no choice and get taken to Frimley regardless. Although the fears started as rumours, Haslemere Hospital's League of Friends has now logged more than 100 cases. And two weeks ago, the wife of a retired doctor who had practised in the town since the 1960s, had a first-hand experience of the situation when her elderly neighbour had a bad fall at home. The doctor's wife, who asked to remain anonymous to protect the identity of her neighbour, asked the ambulance crew where they were taking her - and was told they had orders to drive to Frimley but were ignoring them. She also rejected the idea of a computer glitch being at fault, adding: "If it was a glitch, why did the crew tell me they were given instructions to take people to Frimley but were ignoring them? "And if I had not been around, would she have been taken to The Royal Surrey or Frimley? I told her afterwards of the prospect of going to Frimley, and she said it was her 'worst nightmare, waking up in Frimley where no-one could get to her'." The elderly woman received treatment at The Royal Surrey and is now recuperating at Haslemere Hospital, something that the retired doctor's wife believes should highlight the good care and service at the Guildford hospital - and prove that it should stay open. She added that she knew of a boy who had an accident in High Lane, Haslemere, and refused to be taken to Frimley. Haslemere's League of Friends spokesman Robert Knowles also poured scorn on the suggestion of a computer glitch being responsible. He said: "If it is genuinely a computer glitch, then who has been disciplined for the mistake? We fear it is the ambulance management's decision, but for what reason? 100 cases on a computer glitch? I find that unbelievable. "Either way it is scary. If it is a lie then it is outrageous, and if there was a problem then why was it allowed to go on for so long? It is all very worrying. "Then when the consultation comes out, we will be told there is no demand for the hospital because of this. Hasle-mere needs the hospital because we are so isolated." However, South West Surrey MP Jeremy Hunt said he believed the admission of the mistake, whether true or not, "blows a huge hole in the case to close The Royal Surrey". He said that when both he and Guildford MP Anne Milton began hearing increasing numbers of stories of patients being sent to Frimley, they decided to investigate. Mr Hunt admitted that the excuse of a computer glitch just as the Surrey PCT was looking into possible cutbacks at the hospital was "suspicious". He said: "There are no such things as computer glitches, it is the humans that work them, so it is highly suspicious that just when health bosses are making a case to close the hospital, they have a problem that diverts ambulances away from The Royal Surrey. "Anne Milton and I heard a whole bunch of these stories and smelt a rat, so we started looking into it. The fact is this is huge step forward because we have exposed that the figures are totally flawed. "Health bosses will now have to go back to square one in their case to close the hospital, and I believe they will find the demand for the A and E much, much higher."
