Last Medical Wards To Close

[craig finton]

This so infuriates me it's hard to put it into words. I look at Northallerton and compare the local council's response to the threatened closure of their Friarage Hospital to the two-faced performance of our own council and I just want to vomit.
What other town in England would allow its hospital to be closed down without any meaningful fight and without even a 100% guarantee, which apparently The Trust STILL won't give, that the new hospital would go ahead. 

[mk1]

Silence bought  for the bargain basement  price of 5,000 quid.

[fred c]

When are HTH`ers getting an Invite to the Malibu Penthouse

Sad to say, Craigs comments are spot on, not only were we badly let down by our MP & Councillors, like most things in life the man & woman in the street, Talked the Talk..... But didn`t Walk the Walk....

The easy thing was to sign the petition & claim you had done your bit, the difference to what has happened in Northallerton is that the towns MP, Councillors & Members of the public stood up for what they want........ not what some unelected QuangoTwat who thinks he knows best wanted.

[Stig of the Seaton Dump]

I think Hartlepool people did their best in their fight for the A&E but then gave in and voted too many of the same old faces back in.

I took part in the A&E march, even made a new friend in the process and would have marched again and again given the chance.
(My friend is a wheelchair user with no car and has to travel out of town for their appointments. now)

I don't believe the lack of support for Drummond was down to the pathetic response he gave to the A&E closure but I am glad he is gone.
I appreciate it is easy to argue it was the person not the role that was wrong but there was little hope of a better person getting elected.
I hope our MP is ousted for his pathetic response too. It is hard not to think of words like pathetic, wet, wimp, wallflower.

The really hard part is going to be getting rid of the councillors that have sat on their arses getting fat instead of getting fit making a stand for the town.
One can any hope they become the architects of their own downfall.

I wish Keith Fisher would be more vocal about the hospital so everybody knows what is going on.

[steveL]

I think the efforts of KD and others did make a difference for a while in that it off-balanced the local council chamber but it didn't lead to any change of heart. When you look back on the 60 removed seats, the hijacking of Edna Wright's motion of no confidence, the public questions to the Trust that 'went astray', the letter to the Trust that wasn't sent and the Chairman of the Health Scrutiny Forum refusing to vote to send the letter at all; it's pretty obvious the local council was fighting against the public and not with them. Everything was aimed at keeping the lid on the public protest rather than joining it.

Worth noting too that the 33,000 signature represents half of the electorate, a far greater percentage than has ever elected any councillor and that the £25m the Trust claims will be saved by closing Hartlepool hospital will be almost entirely used up paying the £22m in interests payments to fund any new hospital. The Trust is still unwilling to give a 100% guarantee that the new hospital will go ahead which, with the expected transfer of all remaining medical services from Hartlepool hospital, means that they already believe North Tees can operate, if need be, as a single hospital able to deal with the needs of the whole of the Trust's area.

It's very significant that at the moment no build contracts have been signed and not a single brick has been laid. The 'procurement' process the Trust speaks of is no such thing and amounts to little more than obtaining final estimates of the likely costs before any final decision whether or not to go ahead is made.

The Trust has £40m of savings to find over the next three years. I would suggest that the £25m saved by closing Hartlepool hospital will be lost trying to meet that target leaving nothing to fund any PFI deal. Don't be surprised if the end game of all this is an announcement that the new hospital has been reduced to the level of 'remaining an aspiration' which will be built 'at some time time in the future when the economic conditions are right'.

[fred c]

No reflection on you KD... or the the rest of the people who contributed financialy to the Leaflet drop, or to the likes of KF or Jean Robinson, steveL, Geoff L & many more HTH members, & members of the public who all made a tremendous efffort to try & influence a "Deaf,Dumb & Blind civic chamber..........

Where was our Member of Parliament, The Council Chairman, Health Scrutiny Chairman... all conspicuous by their absence.

The disappointment was in the aftermath of the march around the town centre.... i can only recall seeing Arthur Preece there, none of "The Mob" appeared to walk the walk, they manipulated my comments about civil disobediance to their own ends.... when the leader of the Labour Party & Major Trade Union Officials were advocating similar campaigns of civil disobediance... they are a bunch of Hypocrites.

The manipulation of the proposal by Edna Wright & the way she was demeaned by "the Mob" was a clear case of Bullying Politics, but no more than we have come to expect, standards only apply if they suit "The Mob".

[for fawkes sake]

My own view on this is that the public gave up once they realised that the term 'democracy' is a sham in a UK context and that nothing they could do would make a difference to the opinions of the unelected Hospital Trust. The result was an 18% turnout last November.

It would be interesting if the equivalent of a quorum was introduced to local elections whereby no decision making powers could be claimed by a council unless a minimum percentage of the electorate had elected them. Surely the effect would be far greater attention being paid to what the electorate actually thought rather than the system at the moment which allows the arrogance of a minority to dominate.

Is it not interesting that none of the local parties consider low turnouts a serious concern other than expressing feined disappointment at every election.   

[Vincent]

No reflection on you KD... or the the rest of the people who contributed financialy to the Leaflet drop, or to the likes of KF or Jean Robinson, steveL, Geoff L & many more HTH members, & members of the public who all made a tremendous efffort to try & influence a "Deaf,Dumb & Blind civic chamber..........

Where was our Member of Parliament, The Council Chairman, Health Scrutiny Chairman... all conspicuous by their absence.

The disappointment was in the aftermath of the march around the town centre.... i can only recall seeing Arthur Preece there, none of "The Mob" appeared to walk the walk, they manipulated my comments about civil disobediance to their own ends.... when the leader of the Labour Party & Major Trade Union Officials were advocating similar campaigns of civil disobediance... they are a bunch of Hypocrites.

The manipulation of the proposal by Edna Wright & the way she was demeaned by "the Mob" was a clear case of Bullying Politics, but no more than we have come to expect, standards only apply if they suit "The Mob".

Arthur Preece and Edna Wright ...two decent councillors ...two LibDems ... Arthur Preece feels he was slandered by HTH by naming him as one of the people who betrayed the town over the hospital, an apology would not go amiss

[steveL]

Arthur Preece was better placed than most to appreciate the dangers of being complacent over the hospital issue and he had his chance to fight the direction of travel as a councillor and when he sat on the Health Scrutiny Committee. He at least saw through the ruse of Labour's hijacking of Edna's 'no confidence' motion but then failed to steer Edna away from the trap being laid for her.

The leaflet was designed to knock the Council out of their complacency and within weeks of its distribution we had public meetings, protest marches and TV coverage - as far as I'm concerned that was a result.

Neither HTH nor anyone else in Hartlepool owes any councillor an apology over the hospital issue. Rather we are all collectively owed an apology by every councillor who sat on their hands while the town lost its hospital without the council even managing to secure a 100% guarantee that the new hospital would be built.

HBC have been played like a violin by the Hospital trust for the last 11 years and its something the town won't forget.

[Inspector Knacker]

From the moment we were tied into this dubious 'marriage' and the Chief Exec upped sticks and took up residence in the grey monolith of North Tees,the alarm bells started ringing, suddenly we were the branch office. We've had our services slowly but surely chipped away and given syrupy assurances by suits that they were actually making things better, but why did it feel that things were worse ..... how  was travelling to acess services that were previously local an improvement ....?
Odd how after the Darzi report  some of the residents of Stockton kicked up a fuss, and hey presto their wishes were granted. ....... and when we questioned their actions .......... nowt!
I still wonder how they got away with it .........?

[Lucy Lass-Tick]

Acton reckoned that ''Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men." ... Mind you, I'm struggling to find signs of 'greatness' in most of those involved ... 

[mk1]

Why should the f**ty Belchers or Angie care?
They are massively  looting the public purse and  can afford private heath care.
I bet the f**ty Belchers spend more on treats for their 2 dogs each week  than my gran spent on food.
Their sponsored silence over the hospital closure is a disgrace.
Fellow Party member  Steve  paid them 5000 quid to keep quiet and to bully the rest of the rabble into silence.

[steveL]

I thought I'd reproduce this article from The Mail from November 7th, 2011. It demonstrates how this saga has been peppered with spin and misinformation to the point when even the different local health organisations can find themselves out of sync. Foster had stated on Radio Tees unequivocally that Hartlepool hospital would close even if Wynyard never happened, wrong footing Steve Wallace and his PCT as he did so. Foster also claimed that the majority of people in Hartlepool supported the closure.
Notice the quote: "services (will) either (be) transferred to a proposed £300m hospital at Wynyard OR be amalgamated at the University Hospital of North Tees, in Stockton."

HEALTH bosses have moved to distance themselves from claims by a hospital chief that the University Hospital of Hartlepool will close.

NHS Foundation Trust chief Alan Foster insists the site will close with services either transferred to a proposed £300m hospital at Wynyard or be amalgamated at the University Hospital of North Tees, in Stockton.

But bosses at NHS Hartlepool, which commission services, have stressed that no decisions have yet been taken on the future of the Holdforth Road site.

They say that any changes on the scale reported would require a comprehensive public consultation across Hartlepool, Stockton and Durham.

Confirmation that Hartlepool's hospital will close was announced when the Trust, which runs hospitals in Hartlepool and Stockton, revealed it has to slash £40m off its budget over the next three years.

Hundreds of jobs are set to be axed and vital services threatened as a result of the devastating blow with every service and aspect of healthcare coming under scrutiny.

Steve Wallace, chairman of NHS Hartlepool, said: "Like the rest of the NHS, North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust is facing very challenging times and while we support the trust's decision to be open and frank with the public about the scale of the financial challenge, we would like to firmly reassure people that no decisions have been made about the future of Hartlepool hospital.

"As things stand NHS Hartlepool support the trust board in their bid for funding for a brand new hospital.

"The possibility that should this not happen and Hartlepool Hospital might close, has never been discussed by the board of NHS Hartlepool or our partners at NHS Tees.

"We would insist that any plans for new major service changes come before local patient groups, councillors and patients themselves before we even thought of approving them."

Stephen Childs, chief executive for NHS Tees, said: "Every one of our health care providers face huge financial challenges over the next three years, as do our colleagues in the police and the local authorities.

"In the case of North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust, £40m savings must be found by 2015."

NHS Hartlepool say commissioners, including local Primary Care Trusts and local GPs, are continuing to work closely with North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust on the proposed new hospital at Wynyard and now await feedback on the business case from the Department of Health.

They say they are "cautiously optimistic" – but say they recognise the new hospital is not guaranteed and have pledged to work together to discuss what an alternative for the future might be.

Health chiefs say they want to talk to people, community groups and councillors across Hartlepool, Stockton and County Durham, over the coming weeks in a bid to hear people's views and to get their ideas on how to help meet the efficiency challenge.

Dr Boleslaw Posmyk, Chair of Hartlepool Pathfinder Clinical Commissioning Group added: "Our position is to ensure we maintain as many services close to patients in Hartlepool without compromising the quality of care provided and keeping within affordable limits.

"That is our aim."

Mr Foster, the trust's chief executive, said: "We are still waiting for news from the Department of Health on the outline business case for the new hospital and we look forward to working with NHS Tees and other commissioners on the way forward whatever the outcome."

It comes after 98 per cent of Hartlepool Mail readers voted in favour of keeping a hospital in Hartlepool rather than building a new one in Wynyard.

Some 2,809 people registered their vote by phone, text and on our Facebook page after we called on you to tell us what you thought.

The vote came in response to Mr Foster insisting that "the majority" of people would rather see the new hospital built at Wynyard rather than keeping open the existing site in the town.

http://www.hartlepoolmail.co.uk/news/local/no-final-decision-yet-on-hospital-closure-1-3944592

[marky]

You missed these quotes, Steve, from the Gazette:
"the University Hospital of Hartlepool will close - whatever the outcome of plans  to build the new Wynyard Hospital." Alan Foster

Asked what would happen to services if the new hospital in Wynyard did not go  ahead as planned, he said: "Hartlepool would essentially come here (to  Stockton's North Tees). Hartlepool as a hospital will go, whether it's Wynyard  or whatever."

Those with long memories will remember that this was the original plan way back in 2002.

Read More http://www.gazettelive.co.uk/news/teesside-news/2011/11/02/cuts-to-teesside-hospitals-but-pfi-move-is-on-84229-29705615/#ixzz2HrhM5cuq

[Inspector Knacker]

You missed these quotes, Steve, from the Gazette:
"the University Hospital of Hartlepool will close - whatever the outcome of plans  to build the new Wynyard Hospital." Alan Foster

Asked what would happen to services if the new hospital in Wynyard did not go  ahead as planned, he said: "Hartlepool would essentially come here (to  Stockton's North Tees). Hartlepool as a hospital will go, whether it's Wynyard  or whatever."

Those with long memories will remember that this was the original plan way back in 2002.

Read More http://www.gazettelive.co.uk/news/teesside-news/2011/11/02/cuts-to-teesside-hospitals-but-pfi-move-is-on-84229-29705615/#ixzz2HrhM5cuq

Now it may be me, but I don't recall this appearing in the Mail. I  also love how people  can get away with these pronouncements unchallenged by those who are supposed to represent us and inform us......... when did we find ourselves hostage to fate in this way,  relying on people  happy to comply with the so called experts.,
Is it  only me who wonders, just who the so called health service is actually run for, us or the suits?