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BFP urges Brown to look again at hospital cuts
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| Listen to us: your chance to write to Gordon Brown |
TODAY the Bucks Free Press urges readers to hold Gordon Brown to a promise to listen to voters and look again at cuts to Wycombe Hospital.
Writiing today in your paper the prime minister hails the vital role' of newspaper campaigns - and pledges we are listening'.
Yet four years ago tens of thousands of readers opposed plans to remove doctor-led births from the hospital through a BFP campaign - to no avail.
This week we print a form for you to complete and send a clear message to Mr Brown, which you can also complete by clicking the link at the bottom of this page.
We argue the changes at the hospital - particularly birthing services, which are massively delayed - must be looked at again.
It comes after worried residents packed into a public meeting in Marlow to voice their anger over the plans.
Terry Price, who organised the meeting, said: "We support the Bucks Free Press in making this call to Gordon Brown and demanding he listens to us."
A staggering 40,000 of you objected to plans to move doctor-led births out of Wycombe Hospital in our Hands Off Our Hospital' campaign, which began in 2004.
Yet health chiefs pressed ahead with the changes despite the strength of feeling from the public.
They argue the move will give patients better care as specialist doctors will not be spread across hospitals.
Yet, despite the decision being made in November 2004, the changes to birthing services have been massively delayed and will not happen until the end of this year. Emergency trauma services have already moved away from Wycombe.
Many residents are outraged that efforts are not being made to keep the services in Wycombe - and worries persist about travel times to other centres and pressure on beds.
Writing to papers across the country this week as part of Local Newspaper Week, Mr Brown says: "I want readers of this newspaper to know that when you participate in these campaigns, we are listening to you."
He said: "Local newspapers do not just hold the Government to account for the local impact of the changes we are making. They also play a vital role in campaigning for the changes which local people want to see."
However, Terry Price, of Marlow 50+ Action Group, said a public meeting called last week to discuss the changes showed many felt they had not been listened to.
And there were concerns whether Aylesbury's Stoke Mandeville Hospital - where mums can choose to go - will be able to cope with the extra demand.
He said: "There has been a massive influx of people so consequently the estimates of population growth in 2004 are now totally out of date."
Estimates used by councils and the NHS show Aylesbury Vale will see 20 per cent more people to 2026 - compared to less than one per cent in the rest of Bucks.
Hospital bosses last month said European migration had been underestimated' and said projections were being reviewed - though the PCT said this was not correct'.
Mr Price said people were dismayed by the trust declaring during the 2004 Shaping Health Services' consultation that no change is not an option'.
Mr Price said: "We found that to be extremely arrogant. There was not enough information given about what would happen if there was no change."
Yet Anne Eden, who took over as chief executive of Buck-inghamshire Hospitals NHS Trust in 2006, said of the birthing changes: "The fact of the matter is that builders are already on site at Stoke Mandeville and have been for some time."
The new-look services were a reality', she said, but she accepted the delay was too long' but it had been partly caused by the damning investigation into super-bug deaths in Aylesbury.
When doctor-led births go, only midwives will deliver babies at Wycombe Hospital. Ms Eden said the real involvement I believe the public can have now' is to choose to give birth here. In 2007/08 just 126 women used the facility - bosses warn it will close unless this rises to 450.
The changes could have been referred for Government decision by members of the Overview & Scrutiny Committee for Public Health Services watchdog panel, but members refused. Its chairman, Councillor Mike Appleyard, said debate had been one-sided' against the plans.
He said decisions should be made on the basis of facts and not opinion' and the changes meant an improved service'.
Wycombe MP Paul Goodman said readers should try to effect change when the trust gains foundation status. These have thousands of members' and are run by governors'.
Mr Goodman said this meant residents could choose what services they wanted in the future at Wycombe Hospital'.
Complete the form and we will take them all to Downing Street.
9:19am Friday 9th May 2008
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CommentPosted by: Catflap, work on 10:01am Fri 9 May 08
through the Freedom of information act can the BFP find out how many ambulances are direct to Wexham and how many to Stoke. This would give clear and factual figures on patients being taken out of the Trusts hospitals. allso there must be figures on emergency procedures during birth that warranted a doctor being present rather than just a midwife.
through the Freedom of information act can the BFP find out how many ambulances are direct to Wexham and how many to Stoke. This would give clear and factual figures on patients being taken out of the Trusts hospitals. allso there must be figures on emergency procedures during birth that warranted a doctor being present rather than just a midwife.
Posted by: erm, ermsville on 12:50pm Fri 9 May 08
[quote]and send a clear message to Mr Brown[/quote]
roll on the election to do that...not that any other party will do any different
and send a clear message to Mr Brown
roll on the election to do that...not that any other party will do any different
Posted by: segedunum, High Wycombe on 2:26pm Fri 9 May 08
Maybe the forms should go to the local NHS Trusts not Downing Street as they are the bodies with the authority to shape the services and being local should be the ones doing the listening to the tens of thousands of local residents. Seems to me that the Tory dominated Overview & Scrutiny Committee failed us last time round so why aren't they being held to account not the PM? And now we see the Tories spreading alarmist stories about closures of services and the hospital that aren't true and were admitted not to be true at the meeting in Marlow last week. This sort of thing doesn't help at all either
Maybe the forms should go to the local NHS Trusts not Downing Street as they are the bodies with the authority to shape the services and being local should be the ones doing the listening to the tens of thousands of local residents. Seems to me that the Tory dominated Overview & Scrutiny Committee failed us last time round so why aren't they being held to account not the PM? And now we see the Tories spreading alarmist stories about closures of services and the hospital that aren't true and were admitted not to be true at the meeting in Marlow last week. This sort of thing doesn't help at all either
Posted by: Matthew, Bucks on 5:49pm Fri 9 May 08
Why don't the bucks free press have an online petition link to resume all services at Wycombe hospital they can forward it on to Brown
Why don't the bucks free press have an online petition link to resume all services at Wycombe hospital they can forward it on to Brown
Posted by: stafford, Marlow on 10:06am Sat 10 May 08
Dear Mr Brown,
Despite media mickey taking, you have shown yourself to be a rare politician - one who listens to the people and I think that is an amazing thing.
Please continue to do so and listen to us.
The people of this area need their medical facilities to remain accessible and it cannot be beyond the wit of man to devise a system that works for the health professions and for the community they serve.
We do feel that the changes have been railroaded through without taking note of our needs and this is what we are asking you to put right.
Dear Mr Brown,
Despite media mickey taking, you have shown yourself to be a rare politician - one who listens to the people and I think that is an amazing thing.
Please continue to do so and listen to us.
The people of this area need their medical facilities to remain accessible and it cannot be beyond the wit of man to devise a system that works for the health professions and for the community they serve.
We do feel that the changes have been railroaded through without taking note of our needs and this is what we are asking you to put right.
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