Beds cut at Thame hospital
THE number of beds open at Thame Hospital has been slashed from 12 to 8 to coincide with a cut in medical cover at the hospital.
The new arrangements have been negotiated between Buckinghamshire Primary Care Trust and a large private company which has said it can cover the hospital with only four hours of medical time per week. Local doctors maintain that this is not enough.
Local GPs say the were saddened last week to receive P45s from the PCT in respect of their work at Thame Community Hospital, but insist that their campaign to continue their responsibility for medical cover at the hospital goes on.
Dr Duncan Keeley said: “The PCT tells us that this reduction in the number of beds at the hospital is temporary, but we are very worried that it is a warning of further reductions to come, and that the changes the PCT are making to the medical cover at the hospital are a threat to the future of the hospital.
“We have offered to the PCT to use our practice?s prescribing savings to make up the financial shortfall between the cost of these new arrangements to the PCT and the cost of providing double the number of hours of medical care for the hospital from local doctors. We have even had offers of financial support from the community to make up this shortfall, such is the level of local concern.”
The doctors are continuing their appeal to the PCT and to the Strategic Health Authority for the decision to be changed.
Signatures are still being collected to the petition, which 2,500 local residents have already put their names to. The League of Friends of the Hospital and local GPs will be presenting their case to a public meeting in High Wycombe next Friday, September 11th, 2009, of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee of Buckinghamshire County Council.
The meeting is open to the public and the League of Friends of the hospital is organising a coach to take along any members of the local community who wish to attend that meeting. To arrange a place contact Elizabeth Orde-Brown on 01844 216515.
