Burnham-On-Sea and Highbridge Town Council has responded to residents’ concerns regarding the consultation on proposed bed closures at community hospitals in Somerset ahead of a crunch meeting later this week.
The proposed changes form part of wider plans by Somerset NHS Foundation Trust affecting community hospitals across the county.
As first reported here, there are concerns that Burnham-On-Sea Hospital could see beds cut under the proposals.
16 beds are currently funded at Burnham’s hospital in Love Lane, with the facilities able to expand to 20 beds during peak demand. The 16 beds are always occupied, yet staff were told in June how Somerset NHS Trust is considering cutting bed numbers.
A Town Council spokesperson says: “The Town Council wrote to Somerset NHS Foundation Trust to ask for assurances that the number of beds would not change at Burnham War Memorial Community Hospital and if any changes are being considered that residents be consulted. On behalf of the Town Council, Cllr Sharon Perry will also be attending the Adults and Health Scrutiny Committee later this week, to raise these points.”
The Somerset Council Adults and Health Scrutiny Committee meeting will be held on Thursday 21st August at 10am at the Sedgemoor Room, Bridgwater House, King Square, Bridgwater when a report on community hospitals will be considered.
The report states: “Somerset NHS Foundation Trust have commenced exploratory engagement with Burnham-On-Sea and Crewkerne Hospital League of Friends over potentially reducing bedded capacity at those hospitals in order to create more physical space for additional services such as outpatients, chemotherapy, cardiology, urology, community midwifery etc as part of a test and learn.”
“Central to these conversations with the Leagues of Friends have been questions about how best to use the Community Hospital in future for the benefit of local people and with this what is likely to be the best possible mix of new additional services and traditional bed-based services for the local community.”
Meanwhile, Somerset NHS Foundation Trust’s Chief Operating Officer Andy Herons says in a letter to Burnham and Highbridge Town Council: “I would like to say from the outset that Burnham-On-Sea War Memorial Community Hospital remains central to our plans for delivering high quality NHS services to local people. Over the coming year we will be spending approximately £250k to maintain and where possible upgrade the fabric of the building.”
“Our community hospitals are vital assets for the future delivery of healthcare services for local communities. We think there are exciting opportunities to make greater use of both Burnham-On-Sea War Memorial Hospital and Crewkerne Community Hospital with an expanded range of diagnostic services and treatments which could benefit many more local people, meaning that fewer local residents need to travel to one of our acute hospitals.”
“We have begun work with our Leagues of Friends, and with colleagues, discussing potentially reducing bedded capacity at those hospitals in order to create more physical space for additional services such as additional outpatients, chemotherapy, cardiology, urology, and community midwifery. Our plans from here are to have the same conversation with local people and their representatives.”
“If any changes are made, they will be made on a temporary test and learn basis and I would like to stress that no decisions have been made to permanently close community hospital beds.”
“These plans are part of a much broader programme of transformation for our community hospitals across the county. We regard our community hospitals as hugely important assets that make us ideally placed in Somerset to deliver the aspirations recently published in NHS 10-Year Plan.”
“In order to discuss these plans more fully we will be joining colleagues from the Somerset NHS Integrated Care Board at the Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee on 21st August.”
Burnham’s MP Ashley Fox has also submitted a letter to the Adults and Health Scrutiny Committee at Somerset Council.
The MP writes: “We now know that the NHS Trust is looking at reducing the number of beds in both Burnham and Bridgwater. The problem is that beyond this worrying headline we have very little accompanying detail. Residents are quite right to feel nervous.”
”We need to know:
What is happening to those patients that would be using those bed spaces? Both sites are full and I suspect that sick people will not suddenly get better, so what is the long term plan for their care? Bridgwater is a growing town and I would have thought that bed spaces would have been increasing to meet that growing population rather than reducing.What will be put in the now freed up space? Will we see an increase in services and if so what? It would be great, for example, to see an x-ray machine or chemotherapy treatment in Burnham-on-Sea, but we have no detail.”
“As well as the above it is currently proposed to move the Minor Injuries Unit from the Community Hospital in Burnham to the GP practice across the way. When combined with a halving of hospital beds it is easy to understand why local residents are concerned about a hollowing out of the hospital as a smokescreen for future closure. What assurances can NHS Somerset give to residents that this isn’t a prelude to closure?”
“On the merging of practices, Symphony Healthcare Services have informed me of the merger they are proposing of Burnham & Berrow Medical Centre and Highbridge Medical Centre. I want to be clear: I am not yet convinced this proposal will deliver the improvements our community needs, and I remain sceptical about what this and other recent plans really mean for the future of healthcare in the Burnham area.”
“We are often told that ‘efficiency’ and ‘resilience’ are the goals, only to find later that it was code for cutbacks or downgrades. The assurance that all sites will remain open is welcome, but we’ve heard similar commitments before, only to see services slowly hollowed out. The Trust has said that they will keep the three practices at their current locations but how long does this promise last and does it also mean that no site will see a drop in staffing? This issue is about more than just preserve the buildings.”
“These three issues combined create a worrying picture for local residents. We need NHS Somerset to come forward with a long term plan as to how they intend to improve healthcare in the Bridgwater constituency.”