Lib Dems warn of further loss of service under Calderdale Hospital Plans

by chrisbaksa on 24 April, 2014

Lib Dems warn of further loss of service under Calderdale Hospital Plans

Lib Dem Cllrs Ruth Goldthorpe and Margareta Holmstedt have issued a stark warning about the future of the Calderdale Royal Hospital in Halifax. Under the NHS trust’s preferred option the Halifax site would be reduced to a ‘Planned Care Specialist Hospital’ with only the following services

  • Minor injury unit;
  • Outpatient services;
  • Therapies and Diagnostic services;
  • Medical day case;
  • Rheumatology;
  • Rehabilitation;
  • Dermatology;
  • Endoscopy;
  • Planned inpatient care for surgery,
  • day case surgery;
  • Midwifery led maternity services.
  • It is envisaged that most prenatal care will be carried out in the community.

Gone would be many of the services now provided including:

  • Adult and Child Emergency Department;
  • Level 2 and 3 Intensive Therapy Units;
  • General medicine and Elderly Assessment service;
  • Stroke;
  • Cardiology,
  • Respiratory;
  • Oncology;
  • Haematology;
  • Neurology;
  • Gastroenterology;
  • Acute and Complex surgery;
  • Trauma;
  • Endoscopy;
  • Complex Maternity;
  • Gynaecology;
  • Neonatal Intensive care;

Under the proposals being considered, these services would be based in Huddersfield.

Cllr Goldthorpe said that whilst the current campaign about A+E services was very important it was obscuring the real danger of a whole raft of services being lost to Halifax and shifted to Huddersfield. “The trouble is, there is no need for any of this. The trust made an ‘above expected’ operating surplus, even allowing for its huge PFI bills”, said Cllr Goldthorpe, “so why we are facing this drastic cut in local services is anyone’s guess. If you look at a similar reorganisation just over the Border in East Lancashire, it’s been a disaster for patients.”

Cllr Holmstedt, who was an emergency patient in Halifax during the floods, added “It’s especially bad for people in Todmorden, because the journey to Huddersfield will be much longer, even by car. By public transport it will involve at least 3 buses.

Cllr Goldthorpe and Cllr Holmstedt called on local people to protest about the wholesale loss of local services that will occur if the current plans go ahead. “We strongly urge people to write to, email and telephone the trust and their MP demanding that they call a halt to these plans”, they said.

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