We are currently investigating more about the county plans (the Sustainability & Transformation Plan/Partnership) that will affect our local hospital. We are already asking what exactly is the nature of our A&E but now our list of questions is growing. Look at the following from the February Sustainability & Transformation Partnership Newsletter…
So £25million for Hinchingbrooke? Great if that is to maintain a full 24hr Blue Light A&E – what do they mean by “emergency medicine”? Plus we are a little bewildered at the phrase “a centre of excellence for rehabilitation”. Elective care (non emergency) is also mentioned in the announcement and this with “rehabilitation” is sending us signals that Hinchingbrooke could become the county hospital for planned operations – eyes, hips, knees etc whilst centralising all acute and emergency services to Addenbrookes and Peterborough. And it might become the centre for those not being served by social services. What do local people think?
This sudden input of money… is it a fund given with no strings attached?Or is it a loan to be paid back through ridiculous Private Finance Initiative style repayments?
But the biggest question at the end of reading the newsletter piece is: Will the building of a world leading Children’s Hospital for East of England mean losing the already existing award-winning Maternity & Paediatrics Wards at Hinchingbrooke and other hospitals in the region?
One of our members confronted the January STP Board meeting with this question:
I would like to ask about the new children’s hospital to be built on the CUH (Addenbrookes) site. Does this new development involve the planned closure of the paediatric ward at Hinchingbrooke and transfer of services? If it does not plan the closure of these wards then what steps will be taken to train and recruit additional paediatric nurses and doctors because there is a national shortage of paediatric nurses and doctors and the staff at Hinchingbrooke and PCH may understandably want to move to the new hospital so destabilising the peripheral units.
We will keep you posted when we discover some answers.