AS health chiefs admit to the latest cost cutting moves to help plug the massive hole of an almost three-and-a-half million pounds overspend, fears are running high of possible job cuts at Farnham Hospital and even for the future of the hospital itself. In a statement thsi week, the Guildford and Waverley Primary Care Trust (PCT) said it was "currently undertaking an assessment of bed usage and needs at Farnham Hospital and Centre for Health". The statement followed a call to The Herald by someone who did not wish to be named, claiming that six beds on the general rehabilitation Bourne ward had been closed since Christmas. It was common knowledge among staff at the hospital, said the caller, that three beds on the orthopaedic rehabilitation Bentley ward and three on its stroke rehabilitation Runfold ward would be closed as they are vacated. The caller added that the number of nurses on Bourne ward had been cut from seven to six. "We are appalled that that this should happen in such a new hospital," they said, adding that even more worrying was the situation regarding the difficult-to-treat MRSA superbug. "Because the NHS has overspent on its budget, it has stopped testing for MRSA and we have MRSA patients who are not being barrier nursed because it is not identified whether they have MRSA." It was a widely held belief, The Herald was told, that some patients sent from Frimley Park Hospital for rehabilitation did have MRSA. "We work at Farnham Hospital and we are all now worried. Some nurses will be too nervous to work there. MRSA isn't a thing you want to be taking home to your family," continued the caller. But a spokesman for the PCT denied the allegations concerning MRSA and said: "There is no truth in the rumour that MRSA screening has stopped. "Evidence-based infection control practice is followed and is informed by good practice, not cost-saving. Staff at the hospital are confident in their ability to maintain high levels of cleanliness and infection control." But the spokesman confirmed that it was "facing a challenging financial situation". "The PCT conducts risk assessments on its ability to safely staff the beds at Farnham Hospital and Centre for Health. This may mean that it is not always possible to have all the beds available for occupancy." The PCT, said the spokesman, "does not currently have the resources to use bank or agency nurses to staff such beds. Due to staff sickness the nurse-led beds are temporary unavailable, to cover them in any other way would require a review of the clinical model."
