Just when we thought it was safe – they are at it again.
For the last two years Ashford and St Peter’s NHS Trust has been
trying to take over poor old Epsom General Hospital – financially weak but with
a good clinical reputation while with Ashford and St. Peter’s it’s the other
way round.
There's no coincidence there, you get what you pay for.
Then that fell through to the relief of all the patients. If you are in any doubt, just look what happened when Ashford merged with St. Peters.
Now look what they are up to;
Get Surrey
May 02, 2014 15:52
By James Watkins
The Royal
Surrey County Hospital in Guildford and Ashford & St Peter's Hospitals NHS
Trust have announced plans to merge, in a move which could save an estimated £10m-£20m.
If
approved, the merger will take around 12 to 18 months to go through, and while
full details have not been finalised it has been said that there could be reductions
in back line staff, but there is no anticipation to reduce frontline services.
Nick
Moberly, the chief executive of the Royal Surrey, said that from a patient point
of view, they would not notice any changes or reduction in services across the
three sites in Ashford, Chertsey and Guildford.
"It is
not about taking things away from the sites, as now we can bring more specialised
services back and grow specialised services," he said.
The trusts
hope that by joining forces they can offer services which are currently only
available in London, improve access to new treatments developed at both the
University of Surrey and Royal Holloway, and pull resources together to create
electronic patient records.
As well as
that, the aim is to increase offering services over a seven-day period.
Medical
director at the Royal Surrey, Christopher Tibbs, said: “Our strategy puts the
patient at the heart of our plans and includes a clear vision for our three
hospital sites, which already complement each other well.
"The
Royal Surrey County Hospital will continue as an Emergency and Specialist Cancer
Centre, with no planned changes to A&E, maternity or paediatric services, with
the opportunity to develop more specialist cancer services.
"We
want to develop St Peter’s Hospital as a Major Emergency Centre, building on recent
developments in cardiovascular services and other specialities such as limb
reconstruction and a Level 3 neonatal intensive care unit.
"Ashford
Hospital will develop as a planned surgery and diagnostic centre where we can
provide more local cancer treatments services.
"This
is about enhancing services and doesn’t mean patients will have to travel further
for routine hospital services.”
Andrew
Liles, chief executive at Ashford and St Peter’s, said: “Improving patient care for people in Surrey
has been at the heart of our partnership work over the last 18 months.
"At
the same time, our clinicians have developed a joint clinical vision which describes
clear benefits for patients through increased collaboration.
"Having
considered a number of options on the best way to deliver high quality services
to patients, our boards have decided that the merger of our two organisations
will provide the long-term, sustainable, high quality care that patients need.”
David
Fluck, medical director at Ashford and St Peter’s, added: “Healthcare is changing
and we must change with it.
"People
are living longer, often with multiple conditions - combined with new medicines
and technologies and a strong focus on improving quality of care, we need to
transform the way we work to keep pace with these changes and continue to
develop.
"The
two trusts working together gives us the opportunity to make the transformational
change we need for our patients.”
The merger
is subject to regulatory approval from the Competition and Markets Authority
and risk assessment by Monitor, the independent regulator of NHS foundation
trusts.
No one wants this merger, no one will benefit from it except
the managers.
Despite the assurances given, the only economic basis for the
merger would be to downgrade the Accident and Emergency and Maternity units at
Guildford so that patients are forced to use the units at St. Peter’s.
In the case of the A and E those are the people who sent me
home with a displaced broken ankle for a week.
IT savings - since when was it ever possible to save any
money on the bottomless pit of IT?
And patients?
No one in Guildford wants to go to Chertsey.
Staff?
No one wants to work at St. Peter’s.
Managers?
Bigger Trust means bigger salaries.
There is strong academic analysis that shows such mergers produce the opposite of what is expected; bigger hospitals result in higher administrative costs and poorer clinical outcomes.
Neil Harris
(a don’t stop till you drop production)
Captain Scarlet Says:
. q
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