HEALTH chiefs have been fiercely criticised after their decision to temporarily close 10 beds at Farnham Hospital. At a meeting last Thursday, the Guildford and Waverley Primary Care Trust (PCT) decided to temporarily axe 10 beds at Farnham Hospital and 14 beds at Cranleigh Hospital because of cost-cutting measures. The bed closures, that will save an estimated £219,000 per year, are directly attributable to the major financial crisis the PCT is currently facing due to a predicted £6.2 million overspend on their annual budget. Jane Dale, interim chief executive of the PCT, warned board members at the meeting that if the bed closures were not ratified immediately, even more radical cuts to health services may have to be made in the future. "We are between a rock and a very hard place," she said. "Bed closures are directly attributable to our financial position and the reality is that we must start to take action about our financial position now or we will be in a worse position in the future. "These are extremely difficult decisions to make but the clock is ticking and we don't have any more time." Ms Dale acknowledged the concerns of fellow board members that the bed closures would compromise the standard of patient healthcare. "We are aware of the impact," she said. "We will be undoubtedly be taking capacity out of the system with the proposal to reduce the number of beds." Chris Grimes, the chairman of the PCT, urged the board to support the proposals to temporarily close the beds at both hospitals and this was unanimously agreed. Yet in a dramatic late twist, board members also agreed to accept a financial rescue package funded by the Cranleigh Village Hospital Trust that has removed the immediate threat of the 14 bed closures at Cranleigh Hospital. Despite this good news, the decision to close the 10 beds at Farnham Hospital has been met with dismay by staff. A senior member of nursing staff, who does not wish to be named, informed The Herald about their concerns over the bed closures. "I am extremely upset and I, and a number of other members of staff, are thinking of resigning over it. "On the ward I work, there could just be three individual members of staff looking after 11 patients and sometimes it can take three people to lift one patient. I went into nursing to do good and I just feel like we are being mistreated." This feeling of despair is common among staff at the hospital. Only last week, a National Health Service professional who works at the hospital, spoke to The Herald about their concerns over the affect the bed closures will have on patient care. "Cutting beds is never safe. Somebody always needs a bed and if someone is going to suffer it is going to be the elderly. We are going to lose our jobs if they close these beds because they won't need us. Around 20 jobs are under threat in the three wards, Bentley and Bourne (rehabilitation) and Runfold Ward (stroke unit). It is ridiculous and we don't need to close beds." This opinion is shared by local MP Jeremy Hunt. Mr Hunt, who had urged the PCT to postpone their decision at the meeting, has written to Surrey County Council's health and scrutiny committee to complain about the PCT's plans to close the hospital beds. He said: "The PCT has rushed into the decision with virtually no consultation. I asked them to postpone the decision at least until November but they charged ahead and now I am gravely concerned about what will happen over the winter. We all know they are in a financial crisis, but they also have a responsibility to ensure no one suffers through an over-hasty decision." "The PCT must put patient care above financial considerations, and while I understand the predicament this puts them in, we must all do what we can to ensure patients get the quality of care they deserve in an appropriate setting."
