Fears over cuts plan at hospital

Oct 7 2009 By Hannah Williams, Buckinghamshire Examiner

PATIENTS in Chesham face uncertainty as cost-saving measures take place at their nearest hospital in a major shake-up of services.

Amersham Hospital currently provides outpatient services, which it is feared may be axed from the site and moved.

However, Buckinghamshire Hospitals NHS Trust insists it wants to provide care closer to home in 'outreach' centres.

An NHS report states the hospital has been 'considerably under-used', and a project to assess 'viable options' for its future began in July.

Chesham residents, many of them elderly, use the services after it became their nearest facility following the closure of Chesham Hospital in 2004.

Proposals include making Amersham a focus for 'non-acute care' and says rheumatology, pain clinics, diabetics and ambulatory care services may be centralised at the

hospital. It suggests freeing up space for patient care by moving space used for corporate functions, the equivalent of two wards, elsewhere.

Scrapping the medical records department is proposed because of the use of electronic records and another two wards' worth of unused space at the hospital should be used for patient care, it said.

The uncertainty about the plans angered Chesham town councillor Derek Lacey, who is a patient at four of the clinics at the hospital.

Mr Lacey, Chiltern District Council vice-chairman, said: "Where are people going to go, especially the elderly? I just wonder where they are going to push the patients. I am worried about their care. Money always comes into it."

Buckinghamshire Hospitals NHS Trust recorded a £2.75million deficit this year.

A Buckinghamshire Hospitals NHS Trust spokeswoman said: "This is, financially, a difficult time for the country and the NHS has not been immune from the impact of the credit crunch.

"Within Buckinghamshire, the trust and our commissioner, Buckinghamshire Primary Care Trust, have been working closely together to realise a more financially stable NHS for the county after both ending the year in deficit. We have a duty to break even and we take our responsibility for providing quality services that offer value for money to the taxpayer very seriously."

She added: "It is important that patients access the right care at the right time and the overall direction of the NHS is to provide more care closer to home, within a GP or community setting. As an organisation we need to be prepared for this. Therefore we have been consulting with staff on a number of options to ensure that we can respond to the change in demand on our services."

She added: "Nothing has been finalised and we will of course keep our staff and patients informed of anything that may affect them."

* Have you been affected by changes at the hospital? Email hannahwilliams@trinitysouth.co.uk or call 07795 812 070.