A DIRE warning that local health services may be under threat as health chiefs attempt to claw back a massive overspend of more than £15 million in the current year, has come from local MP Jeremy Hunt. It follows last week's board meeting of the Guildford and Waverley Primary Care Trust (PCT). The board heard during its public meeting that, despite an increase in resources of more than £18 million on its budget of £238 million, it faced a huge overspend from last year of £5.9 million, as well as the predicted shortfall for this year. The board was told that the PCT "faced an extremely challenging financial position". A warning came from the chief executive of the PCT, Liz Slinn, that if cost-cutting plans between now and September don't bring about the desired effects, "it will be forced to review the use of community hospitals in order to make savings". The news of the huge financial problems for the trust has led the newly elected Conservative MP for South West Surrey to voice his strong concerns about "potentially devastating cuts" in local health provision that may follow as a result. "The PCT is being forced to chop more than £8 million from the amount it spends on acute services over the next three years. Community hospitals will meet some of the shortfall, but inevitably some patients will find it harder to get the referrals they need," said Mr Hunt. It is a point highlighted by the introduction of a new service by the PCT, which aims to cut costs and monitor GP hospital referrals. In the PCT statement, Liz Slinn commented on plans to focus efforts on managing the demand for services through establishing a new clinical assessment service to review and monitor referrals from GPs, before they reach the acute hospitals. Mr Hunt believes the cost-cutting measures could have devastating knock-on effects elsewhere within the trust. "The alternative is probably to close Milford or withdraw the beds from Cranleigh," believed Mr Hunt. And he questioned the reasons for the cuts in patient care. "We are caught between a rock and a hard place. Why is it that when health expenditure is going up nationally we are having to make these cuts locally?" Along with possible cuts in services, the warnings also bring new fears of temporary hospital bed closures until March 2006, a decision that will be taken by the PCT board this September. And it could also bring Milford Hospital and PCT plans to close the hospital and transfer its 50 rehabilitation beds and services to hospitals in Farnham, Haslemere Cranleigh and the Royal Surrey as part of a cost-cutting and efficiency exercise back under the microscope Although a decision on the fate of the hospital has been put on hold until the autumn, to allow the PCT to look at the long-term future of the hospital and its services, a spokesman for the PCT said on Wednesday that "no part of any of the services to do with the PCT will not be looked at and monitored over the next few months". Confirming measures to help take the pressure off demands for non-emergency and emergency services in the area, the PCT said it also intends to "increase integrated community-based health and social care services as well as reducing the amount of emergency and unscheduled care currently taking place in acute hospitals." With more efforts being put into persuading more people to use walk-in centres - at Guildford and Haslemere - rather than attending Royal Surrey A & E department, the PCT statement said that "the aim is to see, treat and discharge these patients quickly". Ms Slinn said: "We remain committed to improving our services for patients by making them more accessible, efficient and cost- effective and will continue to develop new ways of working to achieve this objective. With the trust expected to report back in detail to the board in September, Ms Slinn said: "The challenging financial position we face puts enormous pressure on us and the plans we have put in place will be carefully monitored." Proposals to use beds at Farnham Hospital for avoiding admissions to acute hospitals - for instance for patients who only need to be admitted for the purpose of a diagnosis, were reported by The Herald a month ago. The full findings of a review into the use of the hospital will not be known until the end of the year.
