250 BEDS COULD GO AS CRISIS DEEPENS AT WEXHAM PARK

3.03.49pm GMT Mon 1st Feb 2010

Staff and services face massive cuts as Trust tries to reduce costs

Heatherwood and Wexham Park Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, which was placed under scrutiny by Monitor (the Government healthcare watch-dog) last year, as one of the country's worst operating trusts, is expected to announce major cuts in its services and staffing levels later this week.

The hospital had earlier confirmed that it was looking to cut about 150 jobs in an attempt to reduce its financial deficit but this number is now expected to double. Orthopaedic, rheumatology, plastics and infectious diseases departments are believed to be at risk as well as the number of consultants, which could be cut by nearly two-thirds.

The financial crisis has been exacerbated by the unwillingness of Berkshire East PCT to pay for the services provided by the Trust, unless they can be substantiated. The net result could be the loss of up to 250 beds (almost half), which would decimate the number of procedures the hospital could undertake and place a heavy additional burden on other hospitals in the area.

Commenting on the planned changes, Lib Dem Prospective Parliamentary Candidate for Bracknell, Ray Earwicker, said 'he was outraged at the idea that such measures were being put forward. Coupled with the facilities that had withdrawn at the Trust's other hospital (Heatherwood), residents in Bracknell Forest would now have even less choice and an even poorer service.

It simply wasn't good enough for local politicians to plead the case for a new hospital in Bracknell, which was unlikely ever to happen, and do nothing to protect existing services. Those responsible for the mismanagement of NHS resources should be held to account and the public needed to be made aware of the implications of what was happening.

There was much confusion and uncertainty at present about the future of health care provision in Bracknell. The proposed new 'healthspace' in Market Street had yet to receive planning permission and there were growing doubts about the ability of Berkshire East PCT to finance its operation. The situation was highly unsatisfactory.'