Thame GPs want public meeting over hospital changes
CAMPAIGNERS for keeping local doctors for local hospitals are urging the Primary Care Trust to hold a public meeting in Thame, as part of a review into changes in medical cover at Thame hospital.
At a meeting of the board of the Buckinghamshire Primary Trust on Tuesday (September 29, 2009), Elizabeth Orde-Browne from the League of Friends of Thame Hospital, Mike and Beth Doyle from Thame and Drs Richard Harrington and Duncan Keeley from the Rycote Practice, learned that a review group was being set up by the PCT to look into the new arrangements for medical cover at the community hospitals.
Elizabeth Orde-Browne asked whether at least one member of the public from the Thame area would be included in the review board, and whether the review board would be happy to attend a public meeting in Thame to hear the views of local people, but Mr Stewart George, Chair of the PCT Board, said that it would not be right for him to determine how the review should go about its work.
Dr Duncan Keeley asked for the exact reasons for the reduction from 12 to 8 beds at Thame hospital that had taken place just as the new medical cover arrangements started, and received an undertaking from PCT Chief Executive Ed Macalister-Smith that he would write after the meeting with the answer to that question.
Dr Richard Harrington asked about the re-launch of the group to advise on the redevelopment of Thame Hospital of which he had been a member, and was assured that the group would start work soon.
Mike Doyle asked for reassurance that the PCT would listen to local voices and taken proper professional advice in deciding the way forward.
The board received the latest signatures to the petition to keep local doctors responsible for medical cover at Thame Hospital, which now carries over 3,800 signatures.
After the meeting Dr Keeley said: “We very much welcome the announcement of the review. We will be very keen to see adequate public representation in the group?s membership, and strongly support the idea of a public meeting being held in Thame so that local people can hear the arguments and make their voices heard. We still feel that while the public consultation is in progress the previous and better arrangements for medical cover at Thame should be put back in place so that the closed beds can be re-opened.”
Dr Harrington added: “We would urge local people who are concerned over the changes to sign the petition if they have not already done so, and we would encourage anyone who is interested to write with their views to Mr David Lunn Chair, Medical Cover for Community Hospitals Review,
Buckinghamshire Primary Care Trust,
3rd Floor
Rapid House
Oxford Road
High Wycombe
HP11 2EE
The review group will be Chaired by Mr David Lunn, former Chief Executive of the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead, and a non-executive member of the PCT board. The group will also include at least one member of the public.
The review group will take written evidence from all interested parties. Precise details of the membership and procedures of the review group will be presented to Councillor Mike Appleyard and the Overview and Scrutiny Committee (the council?s health watchdog) at its next meeting on October 9th, and the group hopes to have completed its work by the end of November at the latest.
The Overview and Scrutiny Committee unanimously ruled three weeks ago that the change in medical cover at the hospitals amounted to a substantial change in service. Councillor Appleyard, who was present at the PCT board meeting, emphasised that what his committee members wanted to understand were the implications for patients and patient outcomes of the change in medical cover.
