Furness General Hospital chiefs put on spot at public meeting
Last updated at 16:09, Friday, 08 March 2013
MORE than 350 people turned out to a public meeting to discuss the future of Furness General Hospital, with fears raised over ward closures, cost cutting and the future of maternity services.
The event, held last night at The Forum in Barrow, was hosted by Thousand Voices campaigners, who fear an ongoing review of services across Morecambe Bay could see Barrow’s maternity unit being downgraded from consultant-led to midwifery-led, dealing with only the most routine of births.
The review is being carried out by the Cumbria and Lancashire Clinical Commissioning Groups, who are set to take over responsibility for deciding what health services are provided in their counties, in conjunction with UHMBT clinicians.
The meeting was planned following the University Hospital of Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust’s recent decision – subsequently reversed – to transfer top-level services and the FGH special care baby unit to Lancaster due to a staffing crisis.
The panel, which included UHMBT chief executive Jackie Daniel, trust medical director, George Nasmyth, lead commissioning GP for Furness, Geoff Jolliffe, and Barrow and Furness MP, John Woodcock, was questioned over a range of fears and rumours surrounding services at FGH.
Other concerns raised included the suggested closure of three wards, including one medical, one surgical and gynaecology, previously reported by the Evening Mail.
Challenged by several members of staff in the audience, Ms Daniel was forced to admit the amount of money the trust needed to save meant some beds must go.
UHMBT needs to save £50m over the next five years and the ongoing service review will be a major part of its efforts to do that.
Ms Daniel said any bed cuts would be done with as little effect on permanent employees’ job security as possible, especially as the trust is spending too much on locum and agency staff, and that more information would be shared with the workforce next week.
Other issues raised by the Evening Mail in recent months and brought back to the public’s attention at the meeting included the proposed removal of specialist vascular services from UHMBT, the suggested shift from freshly cooked to frozen meals for patients at FGH and transferring some urology services to Kendal.
And UHMBT bosses were challenged over the trust’s spending on locum staff and higher management at a time when cost cutting has been cited as the reason for some of the tough decisions facing health chiefs.
Dr Jolliffe was quick to add reassurance to those present when one member of staff on the FGH oncology ward expressed fears over rumours it was to close and deal only with outpatients.
FGH staff received several comments of praise throughout the meeting, members of the public citing their own excellent experiences in the hospital.
Bringing the evening to a close, meeting chairwoman and Thousand Voices organiser, Mandy Telford, thanked the panel again for attending and sharing honest answers with the room.
She said: “I’m an optimist and I like to think people will listen, but maybe people will only listen if we shout loud enough.”
First published at 16:05, Friday, 08 March 2013
Published by http://www.nwemail.co.uk
i was at the meeting and it was good to hear the hospital staff speak out. they had to give their name first and then comment and i hope their cards are not marked for speaking out.
View all 3 comments on this article
Have your say
i was at the meeting and it was good to hear the hospital staff speak out. they had to give their name first and then comment and i hope their cards are not marked for speaking out.
Posted by watching on 10 March 2013 at 01:08