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Angry campaigners pledge to fight service cuts at hospital
Alexandra Wood
Quote:
RESIDENTS of an East Coast town have pledged to fight "disgraceful" cuts to hospital services, amidst accusations they have been "led down the garden path" by health officials.
Campaigners are furious about the sudden announcement last Friday of the closure overnight of the minor injuries unit at Withernsea Hospital.
The unit shut the same evening and remains closed between 9pm and 9am.
Yorkshire Wolds and Coast Primary Care Trust, which runs the hospital and three other facilities in East Yorkshire, faces a projected deficit of more than £8m by the end of the year, one of the worst in the country.
Managers claim the closure was brought on by one incident at the unit that sparked health and safety concerns, and was not allied to a review of hospital services, which amongst other recommendations said the unit should be reduced to a daytime service only.
Quote:
Residents found out last week that the podiatry service, which operates once a fortnight ,is to close in September, and they will have to travel to Withernsea, Bridlington or Driffield instead.
Coun Polly Worsdale said: "It is not acceptable for people to have to travel for miles for a service which used to be on their doorstep."
One of the problems for Pod depts is the fact that they have historically provided a limited service to rural/semi rural populations in substandard buildings.
Most of the other AHP services have been provided in Community Hospitals, Health Centres and GP Practices.
So when there is a review of services suitability of premises comes into being.
So many of the substandard clinics close and the service is then centered on the local Community hospital etc.
Certainly in my area the fetid crappy old Caravan has been withdrawn and the service is now making better use of Community Hospitals and ensuring the future of the service and the Hospitals.
If people choose to live in a rural area then that is their choice.
They must have made an intelligent decision by weighing up the pros and cons of that decision.
Another thing regarding Minor Injury Units closing at night.
A local PCT recently did an audit of use of the MIU.
Barely a handful of people used the Night service per month, so the impact upon the population is minor.
If it is an emegency then 999 is the correct way to deal with it.
Another thing regarding Minor Injury Units closing at night.
But it is an interesting insight into the nature of the problem. I assume money was thrown at a problem initially to provide the service --- as per usual when a service like this is provided, demand will always outstrip supply, so providing more money will not solve the problem. Its all about rationing services in in the context of this demand. It also appears that one of the problems with the Minor Injury Unit was the demand for the service from those who should not have been using the service.
Now we are seeing a good example of bad rationing of he limited health care $ ---- rationing by public relations - ie "the angry campaigners"
__________________
Craig Payne
Department of Podiatry
La Trobe University
Melbourne, Australia http://www.latrobe.edu.au/podiatry
__________________________________________________ ___________________________________ God put me on this earth to accomplish a certain number of things - right now I am so far behind, I will never die.
The views expressed above are those of the author and not that of La Trobe University This is where I am, where are you?
Angry campaigners pledge to fight service cuts at hospital
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