Dear Victor
Amblescroft
and the Greencroft Centre
Thank you for your
correspondence and for our discussion on the telephone. I
do understand the pressures you are under from Ministers to reduce
your debt levels, operate within your budget and spend strictly and
exclusively on health projects. It is also clear – and this
was underlined by the BBC Panorama programme on Sunday evening – that
the Government has been shifting responsibility and spending commitments
from NHS services to social services funded by local government.
However,
having talked to almost a dozen local GPs since we spoke last
week and to the Leader of Wiltshire County Council, a number
of significant points have been made to me and a way forward
for Amblescroft has been suggested to me. I would like to share this
with you.
- The first priority
remains the care of the patients in Amblescroft and the Greencroft
Centre whose future is in doubt. They and their families
must no longer be left in any doubt and plans for their future
must be put in place now.
- The NHS has
exceeded it budget by about £25
million in Wiltshire in areas which have forced the County
Council into financial crisis. Across the county the Council
has picked up about £2
million of extra costs from the NHS and next year this will
be nearer £5
million. Bed-blocking fines from the NHS are currently running
at £1.25
million per annum. The Leader of WCC Councillor Jane Scott
has already discussed this with Ministers and the Government
response has been an increase in grant less than the rate
of inflation. Clearly this trend cannot continue without
substantial service cuts and I will ensure this crisis is
raised in Parliament.
- The Primary Care
Trust, without any consultation, has cut the Community
Nursing Team and the Hospital Alternatives Team. This will
have the unintended consequence of GPs referring more patients
to hospital increasing the financial burden on the PCT. Meanwhile
the former community nurses have been redeployed as “District
Matrons”. What
exactly will they do that was not being done by the Community
Nurses?
- Local GPs believe – and
so do I – that the twelve beds at Amblescroft should not
be closed down. Instead, Amblescroft should become a Community
Unit for short-term care gradually phasing out the existing
patients as they are found placed in homes and replacing
them with patients currently stuck in hospital unnecessarily.
- The
Community Unit could be funded from the annual savings of £1.4
million achieved by the 22 local GP practices on their drugs
bills and by the PCT abandoning your proposal for a new “drop-in” medical
centre at Fountain Way which GPs believe is an unnecessary
luxury given the number of GP surgeries already available
close to the city centre.
- The Greencroft
Centre should be encouraged to explore the possibility
of amalgamating with the Elizabeth House Social Centre which I understand
already provides a service for those people with metal illnesses.
I
am in no doubt at all that the whole South Wiltshire community
has been both surprised and upset by the way the administration
of the NHS and local government services has been fought out
in public with so little thought for the vulnerable people whose future
is at stake, nor for their families. I do hope that you will
personally be able to take a lead in putting this right because I
remain convinced of your commitment to the people both you and I serve.
In
view of the public interest in this matter I will make this
letter available to the media.
Yours sincerely
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