FEARS for the future of Haslemere Hospital have been expressed in the wake of the proposals to temporarily "close" 51 beds across Waverley.
The failure to push ahead with proposals to rebuild the community hospital and the financial crisis in the local health service has "alarmed" Haslemere Hospital's League of Friends.
As reported by last week's Herald, the plans to temporarily close the step-down beds have currently been stopped in their tracks. This is because the health scrutiny committee, which acts as a health watchdog, deemed the proposals to be a "substantial variation" in the local health service carried out without proper consultation.
It has summoned the interim chief executive of the local primary care trust, Jane Dale, to meeting on Monday to explain the decision.
The PCT's plan included the temporary closure of all the 16 beds in Elizabeth Ward, which are step-down beds used by patients who have been in an acute hospital but are not well enough to go home. These patients are now to be cared for at home.
However, the PCT proposed to immediately reopen the 16 beds as step-up beds for patients who are unwell but do not need to be admitted to an acute hospital. The hope is that a short stay in a step-up bed will prevent an acute admission – saving money in the long run.
Despite this, the chairman of Haslemere's league of friends Dr Nicky Lee criticised the PCT's reasoning.
"It had never been explained where the people who currently were in the beds would be cared for," she said. "If it was possible for them to be cared for in the community, why had they been admitted to hospital?
"It is not like an operation which can be delayed, people become unwell and may need a hospital bed. Care in the community for mental health was widely acknowledged to fail many patients who received inadequate care."
The league said it is also concerned there will be no beds for the vulnerable elderly recovering after operations or recuperating from serious illness.
The league said that it understood the reason for closing the beds are financial and not clinical, but the PCT should make administrative cuts ahead of clinical cuts.
The league said recent accounts show management costs for the PCT had increased by 25 per cent to £3.73 million, administrative staff had increased over the year by 15 per cent, and nursing staff by only nine per cent. It also pointed to the hefty paperwork and reports being produced by the PCT as another area where costs could be cut.
"The reports, minutes and attachments produced for the July 2005 PCT board meeting weighed 1.5 kg and was 3 cm thick," the league said in a statement.
The league also criticised the delays in agreeing a long-term future and plan for the hospital, despite the fact that July's trust board meeting had received a report recommending the rebuilding of the hospital.
"Perhaps less than five minutes was spent discussing the 12-page report and the decision was yet again deferred in favour of another review," said the statement.
"Reviews were carried out earlier in the year over the future of Milford, Cranleigh and Farnham.
Dr Lee said it was vital the PCT consider the future of Haslemere Hospital as soon as possible.
"The PCT needs to recognise before reaching any further decisions the fact that Haslemere, being at the furthest reach of the PCT, does not have equality of access to a near by hospital," she said.
"It has an elderly population and many of the homes are already rural, meaning public transport is impractical, unlike the more urban area covered by the PCT close to hospitals in Guildford or Frimley.
In response to the league's cristicisms, the PCT defended its "urgent decision" to close the step-down beds temporarily which it agreed with the Surrey and Sussex Strategic Health Authority.
"This urgent and temporary measure was considered necessary to ensure the PCT met its statutory requirement to achieve financial savings in order to meet its control total of £10 million in this financial year," said the PCT statement.
"The PCT is concentrating its efforts on developing services that reduce the need for patients to be admitted to the acute hospital, in line with our four-year strategy approved by the board in July.
"A formal consultation on the future of the community hospitals, the specialist rehabilitation hospital at Milford, and proposed service developments at Godalming will start on December 1, 2005, and finish on February 28, 2006.
"The local community will have an opportunity to have their say on the changes being proposed during the consultation period.
"The savings on management costs outlined in the financial recovery plan are higher than the overall savings target," the statement said.