As KOSHH have long predicted, the Epsom & St Helier Hospitals NHS Trust have now announced their plans for the future of hospital services in our area. Please watch the short video below for a summary of what is being proposed.
The Trust have launched what they call an "engagement" where they are seeking the views of the public.
The literature they have produced paints a very glossy image, but does not explain the direct or indirect consequences of their plans.
For example, nowhere in the documentation does it make clear that in all three of the scenarios they offer, their plan would involve the removal of Acute emergency services such as A&E, Maternity, High Dependency Unit and Inpatient Paediatric Services (any many many other services) from ONE OR BOTH of Epsom Hospital and St Helier Hospital.
Most people would have further to travel for emergencies
Furthermore it does not explain that most people in our area would have further to travel for emergency services such as those listed above.
And nor does it explain that before the 2017 General Election, the now MP for Sutton and Cheam, Paul Scully posted a video in which he said that the former Sutton Hospital site does not sufficient transport links to support a secondary school - surely a hospital deserves transport links which are at least as good as are required for a school? Thankfully the video in question can be seen below:
Don't help them hurt your hospital services
We would urge you all to make sure you are fully informed about the details of exactly what is being proposed before you offer any feedback to the Trust on their worrying plans.
The Trust's "Aspiration"
The Trust has for some time cited that their "aspiration" was to have something like the Northumbria Specialist Emergency Care Hospital - a facility which opened in 2015, and quickly led to the removal of A&E facilities in the three nearest hospitals (Wansbeck Hospital, North Tyneside Hospital, and Hexham Hospital), and has been in the press for all the wrong reasons.
Please watch the following video which KOSHH published in November 2016.
It is 15 minutes long, but do please stick with it until the end:
Even this was not news however, as this story originally surfaced in April 2015, when management consultants from Deloitte were overheard having a meeting on a train by a BBC reporter. Deloitte had been commissioned by the Epsom & St Helier Trust, along with Merton Clinical Commissioning Group and Sutton Clinical Commissioning Group to draw up a plan for them, and it seems the individuals concerned might have released more information than perhaps was intended:
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