The North East Cambridgeshire MP says he has now received formal confirmation from the Queen Elizabeth Hospital King’s Lynn NHS Foundation Trust that endoscopy procedures will stop at the Wisbech site.
In a letter dated Tuesday (23), interim chief operating officer Richard Parker tells Mr Barclay that “achieving full compliance whilst maintaining the current model of endoscopy provision at Wisbech appears challenging” and that the trust must “carefully consider the future model” for services there.
Mr Barclay said: “As I warned some months ago, the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, King’s Lynn, has now written to me to confirm endoscopy services are being cancelled at the Wisbech site.
“After previously highlighting that more than one in five treatments were cut last year at the North Cambs Hospital, and warning that endoscopy services could be next, NHS bosses have confirmed they are proceeding with yet another centralisation of services.”
The trust’s letter explains that external engineering advice has identified compliance issues with ventilation in the endoscopy decontamination areas, which must be addressed within three months to meet national standards.
While this advice did not require activity to cease immediately, it did require the trust to determine how to achieve compliance and to respond appropriately because Joint Advisory Group (JAG) accreditation covers the whole endoscopy service.
Independent clinical advice from a regional gastroenterology expert also highlighted “increasing challenges associated with sustaining very small standalone endoscopy units”, including workforce resilience, productivity, accreditation demands and the economies of scale needed for modern high-quality services.
Taken together, Mr Parker says these compliance and sustainability issues mean “achieving full compliance whilst maintaining the current model… appears challenging”.
The former Government Health Secretary accuses the trust of failing Wisbech patients and says the responsibility for “the mess at North Cambs Hospital” sits with Group Chief Executive Professor Lesley Dwyer.
He said: “Despite the fact that I have been warning for months about potential plans to close endoscopy services, the alternatives for Wisbech are only being ‘considered’ by the trust. No detail is given on what other services might be put in place at the North Cambs site.
“At present, there is little evidence from past meetings with the management team, which keeps changing, that the promises made to patients who want to be treated locally will ever be delivered.”
Mr Barclay added that a former QEH governor had reminded him that, when the King’s Lynn endoscopy unit opened, assurances were given about Peckover Ward continuing as an endoscopy unit in Wisbech, and that Friends of Wisbech Hospital had invested £45,000 in new patient trolleys.
The MP also pointed out that the ventilation issue has “been known about for a very long time”.
Mr Barclay is due to meet Professor Dwyer today (Friday) to raise what he describes as “the concerns of the community at the shambolic management of the North Cambs community hospital”.
In his letter, Mr Parker stresses that the move “should not be interpreted as a reduction in the Trust’s commitment to Wisbech”.
He writes that internal discussions and talks with system partners have “reinforced our view that Wisbech remains an important healthcare asset serving a population with significant health needs”, and says that if the current endoscopy model cannot be sustained, the intention is to replace it with “other services that are both clinically appropriate and of genuine benefit to the local population”.
The trust says it has already begun considering a range of opportunities, including outpatient, diagnostic and specialist services that could be delivered closer to home for residents, and has committed to engagement and consultation with staff over the coming weeks.
Mr Parker concludes: “I know how strongly you have supported healthcare provision in Wisbech over many years and therefore felt it important to update you directly… I would welcome the opportunity to meet again and discuss how we can work together to secure a positive and sustainable future for healthcare services at the Wisbech site.”