Minutes:
The Chairman had agreed to the following speakers:
Maggie Swain (Secretary of the Wantage Hospital League of Friends and a member of ‘Save Wantage Hospital Campaign Group’ and Julie Mabberley a member of ‘Save Wantage Hospital Campaign Group’; and Cllr Jenny Hannaby as local member for Wantage – all in relation to Agenda Item 12 – Chairman’s Report; and
Joan Stewart ‘Oxfordshire keep our NHS Public’ – in relation to Agenda Item 8 ‘Health & Care Transformation in Oxfordshire Update’.
Maggie Swain and Julie Mabberley, speaking together, stated that, in their view, there had been much misinformation about the status of Wantage Hospital and wished to make the following points in addition to the facts already known:
· The Hospital was scheduled to close its doors to in-patients the next day. Staff and patients appeared to be unaware of the closure and it also appeared to be the imminent closure that the Trust had stated it was trying to avoid;
· Nearly 10,000 people had signed a petition and over 400 people had marched through Wantage Town Centre recently to demonstrate support for keeping the hospital open;
· Although bacteria had been present in the water system last year, action had been taken and no bacteria had been detected this year – there was currently no risk to patients. The bacteria was eradicated in January without moving the patients;
· In their view Legionella bacteria had been detected in other hospitals within the Trust, but there had been no other imminent closure;
· Although the Trust had stated that they would that they would keep Physiotherapy and Maternity services at the Hospital open, the doors of the Physiotherapy services ‘were locked and the lights were out’;
· In their view, because of the lack of maintenance in the Hospital over the years, there was a large amount of remedial work that needed to be done to the building; and it would be easier and cheaper to do this at the same time as replacing the water pipes. The Trust had informed them that the £300k that it was believed would be the cost of the renovations, was currently available;
· They believed that the handling of the situation had been ‘badly managed’, staff were worried about their jobs and without sufficient staff the Trust would seek to close the facilities.
They asked the Committee to confirm that there was no imminent risk to the patients and therefore no reason to close the hospital on safety grounds. They asked that the Hospital be kept open to in-patients until the results of the consultation were known.
Cllr Jenny Hannaby, local member for Wantage, referred to the letter from this Committee sent to Oxford Health following discussion at the February 2016 meeting, seeking clarification on a number of areas. The letter, Oxford Health’s reply and their subsequent press release was attached the Agenda as part of the Chairman’s report (Agenda Item 12). She stated her belief that the Committee had not devoted sufficient time to scrutinising the associated issues surrounding the problems experienced at Wantage Hospital, adding that more questions could have been asked and more information sought. She stated also that it was only when pressure from the Campaign Group intensified, that the Trust softened its approach and decided to keep Physiotherapy and Maternity services open. Cllr Hannaby asked again why the Trust continued to admit patients after January if they were so concerned about the bacteria. She appealed to the Committee to ensure that everybody has their say when the consultation got underway. She concluded that, in her view, Oxfordshire was closing down a safe hospital in order to save money, amidst a situation in which Oxfordshire had one of the worst bed blocking problems in the country.
Joan Stewart expressed concern that there was no accompanying paper on the Health & Care Transformation Plan in Oxfordshire on the website and only 2 of the 67 slides were given over to the footprint; adding that this was one of the most significant changes in Health and Social Care since the 2012 Act. Thus, in her view, the public were not being permitted to take part in the public debate. She stated also her view that this Committee were being given only selective key messages. Joan Stewart informed the meeting that research had shown that cost savings were unlikely in Oxfordshire and very little reductions in bed days. The purpose of the Plan was ultimately to bring an already underfunded NHS into balance by introducing new models of care which would give £22b in efficiency savings. She therefore asked that the opportunity be taken up to inspect, assess, risk assess and scrutinise the Plan in its entirety be taken up.