I’m a long way away from Manchester, so for me this story is
just a sad footnote to history. For people in Manchester this is a very real
problem and has been the subject of a fierce campaign to save a much loved
hospital.
This is from the BBC News site, but much edited by me;
The A&E
department of the hospital where the first NHS patient was treated has closed
despite a campaign by residents to save it.
Trafford
General Hospital, which had the second smallest A&E in England, is being
downgraded as it was used by too few patients.
The
Department of Health has given nearby Wythenshawe Hospital £12m to help it cope
with extra demand.
Campaigners
said patients will face longer journeys to other hospitals.
The
hospital's A&E has been downgraded to an urgent care centre, which will now
close between midnight and 08:00.
It will
later be further downgraded again to a minor injuries unit.
Protesters,
who set up the Save Trafford General group, said other local hospitals were
already stretched to capacity.
Then named
Park Hospital, it was the first NHS hospital opened by the Minister for Health,
Nye Bevan in 1948.
Of course, it won’t end there. The A and E may have been tiny
but losing it downgrades the whole hospital, which now becomes just a base for
specialist units which can easily be moved away too. The loss of patients
coming in through the A and E portal deprives it of patients and revenue which
threatens the viability of other departments. The A and E is the heart and soul
of a hospital.
In future other local hospitals will lose their A and E’s too
and further closures and consolidations will result.
All adding up to larger and larger hospitals further away
from their patients communities. Instead of efficiency, costs will rise.
If you don’t believe me check out my ‘Merger Mania’ series on
‘Pages’, which reviews an excellent academic review of the effects of previous ‘Merger
Mania’s’.
Neil Harris
(a don’t stop till you drop production)
Home: helpmesortoutthenhs.blogspot.com
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