GUILDFORD and Waverley Primary Care Trust has come in for a stinging attack over the plan to close 10 orthopaedic beds at Milford Hospital. At a meeting of the board last Thursday, the trust was accused of being "cavalier" and neglecting the welfare of patients, by prospective Lib Dem parliamentary candidate Simon Cordon. Earlier in the meeting Mr Cordon had submitted a formal objection paper to the Surrey health scrutiny committee about the potential loss of the 10 beds. Speaking from the public gallery on behalf of the cross-community campaign group, Mr Cordon claimed that the trust had not given any thought to the implications for patients if the beds are lost. "There is nothing about patient care contained within the PCT's paper (PCT's board update report)," he said. "There is nothing in this paper about the loss of access to services that will result if you close these beds. That omission is disgraceful. To have a proposal to change any service and not look at the impact on patient care is just not acceptable." The PCT has claimed that the beds need to be closed at Milford Hospital because of staff shortages and that the service would be "re- provided" at the Royal Surrey County Hospital at Guildford. Milford Hospital currently has 50 specialist rehabilitation beds and 10 orthopaedic rehabilitation beds located on three wards, which were purpose-built in the early '80s. The 10 orthopaedic beds were opened in 2002 as an interim measure to help Royal Surrey County Hospital (RSCH) to reduce waiting times. The PCT claims that the Royal Surrey has reduced its waiting times and is now in a position to incorporate the 10 orthopaedic beds. In the report, "Modernising Your Local Healthcare", it states that in September 2003, a 96 per cent of beds were occupied at the Royal Surrey, but by August the following year, this had fallen to 89 per cent. It goes on to predict that the figures will fall because of ongoing improvements in efficiency. But Mr Cordon remains unconvinced. "These beds provide a crucial service and we have been given no evidence that the service can be re- provided at the Royal Surrey as the PCT is suggesting," he said. "But these beds are about more than that. The PCT has so far failed to close the hospital in one go and now it is trying to close it bit by bit. "We have won important battles in our fight for Milford Hospital, The battle over these 10 beds is probably the most important so far, and we must win." As part of the proposals, a further 22 beds have also been earmarked to be transferred to Farnham Hospital. At the meeting, the PCT chief executive Elizabeth Slinn recommended that the committee should defer a decision on the beds until the points raised in Mr Cordon's objection had been investigated. But the board chose to back an alternative proposal from chairman Chris Grimes to agree to the closure of the beds subject to the scrutiny committee's approval. "The PCT remains in an ongoing dialogue with the public as part of the consultation process which is expected to run until May 27," said a spokesman. "There will be a series of public meetings in March and the outcome of the process will be heard an an extraordinary meeting of the PCT board at the end of June."
