Hospital Press Release

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HARTLEPOOL COUNCIL
PRESS RELEASE


Council challenges planned hospital fertility closure

SENIOR Hartlepool councillors have revealed that they are exploring all options – including legal action – to prevent the planned closure of licensed fertility services at the town's hospital.

It follows a meeting of Hartlepool Council's Audit & Governance Committee on Friday 5 February when Hospital Trust bosses failed to turn up to explain their reasons for the imminent closure at the end of March.

The meeting had to be adjourned as councillors were unable to put questions to the Hospital Trust and such was the anger from those present that the Committee requested that the Secretary of State for Health Jeremy Hunt should intervene.

The meeting will be re-convened in the Civic Centre, Hartlepool on Friday 26 February starting at 10am and Councillor Ray Martin-Wells, chair of the Audit & Governance Committee said "the Hospital Trust has a legal duty to attend under the regulations".

He added: "We have recently received notification from the Trust's lawyers that they are prepared to enter into formal consultation over the planned closure.

"However, we have informed them that they should not automatically assume the outcome of that consultation and in the meantime we have written a letter from the Council's Chief Solicitor on the advice of a Senior Barrister indicating that the Trust should rescind their earlier decision on closure of the fertility unit, including the protection of staff until the outcome of full consultation has been made known. Should they fail to do so, then the Council would explore its options.

"The time has come for the Hospital Trust to realise that the Council's Audit & Governance Committee is not a talking shop and has teeth which we are prepared to use, and the Trust should be prepared for that."

Councillor Christopher Akers-Belcher, the Leader of Hartlepool Council, added: "There is an overwhelming strength of feeling throughout Hartlepool and our surrounding communities that people want hospital services provided locally rather than travelling to North Tees which is costly and wholly inconvenient to patients and their families and friends.

"As a Council, we'll continue to hold the Hospital Trust to account and do everything we can to ensure that hospital services reflect what local people actually want."

At the Audit & Governance Committee on 5 February, the North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust sent a legal representative to request an adjournment because they were not happy that the Council had invited former Trust employee Dr Mohammed Menabawey to the meeting - the consultant who helped set the fertility unit up in the early 90s - because of concerns about impartiality.

Speaking at the meeting, Committee chair Councillor Ray Martin-Wells, said:
"Everyone in this Chamber has given up their time this afternoon to come together to discuss a hugely important issue and for the Hospital Trust bosses to turn their backs on the very people they are employed and paid to serve is a massive slap in the face, wholly inexcusable and quite astonishing."

Picture Caption – Councillor Ray Martin-Wells, chair of Hartlepool Council's Audit & Governance Committee.

Press release PR16296   18 February 2016.
Issued by Alastair Rae, Public Relations Manager, on 01429 523510.

[Inspector Knacker]

Pity they weren't saying that 10 years ago, then we wouldn't be in this mess.
Horse bolted door...re-arrange.

[Alnwickist]

A load of bollocks. Only person Wells is interested in is Wells.As for the rest of them, useless.

Posturing by all of them.

[Land Phil]

The way the likes of Akers Belcher say they speak for Hartlepool is vomit inducing.

[Inspector Knacker]

The way the likes of Akers Belcher say they speak for Hartlepool is vomit inducing.

Why fo I keep visualising a couple of posturing toga clad Roman emperors strutting about...?

[Johnny Bongo]

The people of Hartlepool really do need a local hospital!  Why?  It's because Belcher and Wells and the rest of the lying scum make us all sick, listening to all their falseness time after time!  As May (election time) draws ever nearer, there'll be even more vomit inducing crap spewing out of their lying mouths (and a*s*h*l*s) telling us, the Hartlepool public, that they care!  They should be strung up from the nearest lampposts, as traitors to this once great town!