Reassurances Over Hospital Closure Fears

FOLLOWING fears for the future of Thame Community Hospital, expressed by trustees of the Day Centre yesterday, the Vale of Aylesbury Primary Care Trust have admitted that they should keep their stakeholders better informed and sort today to allay some of those fears.
Colin Foster, Director of Finance for the PCT, contacted ThameNews.Net today and said the following:
?We are working on a Business case for the development of the hospital which will have to be approved by the Strategic Health Authority. We are working very closely with the doctors on the site and trying to look at the needs of the Thame locality and how we can meet those needs and not just looking to bolt a few more beds on.
?Unfortunately this is taking a bit longer than anticipated but we are now dedicating resources to the plan and hope to have it ready by May this year.
?When we did our original Option Appraisal, one option was to find another site for the hospital but now we are concentrating on looking at other possibilities to better utilise the site. For instance, there are bits of building behind the hospital used for storage, kitchen etc, where we could perhaps provide another building without knocking down the existing hospital.
Mr Foster said that as well as looking at the possibility of rooms for the GPs, currently at the Health Centre, to use, the provision of a minor injuries unit is also a possibility.
He added: ?If we want to invest in the building we will have to get the money from somewhere; some charitable money is available but not enough and that is why we have to make a good business case to the Health Authority who have the money and the power.?
He concluded: ?Everything we are looking at, at the moment will preserve those elements already there at Thame Hospital, or add something new; we are not intending to diminish it in anyway.?

Sarah Taylor, Chair of the Hospital League of Friends, told ThameNews today that she was of the opinion that because of the PCTs undertaking, under the Stoke Mandeville PFI, to open more community beds, Thame Hospital is in a very strong position.