{"id":200910,"date":"2025-10-15T03:33:24","date_gmt":"2025-10-15T03:33:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/200910\/"},"modified":"2025-10-15T03:33:24","modified_gmt":"2025-10-15T03:33:24","slug":"future-of-falmouth-hospital-is-secure-despite-public-concern","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/200910\/","title":{"rendered":"Future of Falmouth Hospital is secure despite public concern"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n Speaking at Cornwall<\/a> Council\u2019s Health and Adult Social Care Overview and Scrutiny Committee, David Wilson, area director at Cornwall<\/a> Partnership NHS Foundation Trust, reassured councillors that the hospital remains \u201cfront and centre\u201d in long-term plans for healthcare in the region.\n<\/p>\n

\n \u201cIt\u2019s a trusted hospital for care in its community and we certainly recognise that,\u201d Mr Wilson said. \u201cThe investments we\u2019ve made in recent history, particularly around diagnostic capability, reinforce that message.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

\n Mr Wilson emphasised that while the nature of hospital care is evolving \u2014 shifting from bed-based services to more community and home-based care \u2014 there are no imminent plans to reduce the number of beds at Falmouth<\/a> Hospital.\n<\/p>\n

\n \u201cThere is no reduction of beds at all,\u201d he told the committee. \u201cThere are 20 beds on the Falmouth site and no plans to close those imminently. We want bedded care to go into the community, but we\u2019re not there yet.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

\n This reassurance comes after the Cornwall<\/a> Partnership NHS Foundation Trust previously confirmed it was reviewing the use of its 20 inpatient beds at Falmouth<\/a> Hospital, with a view to potentially phasing some of them out.\n<\/p>\n

\n You can read more about that here: Trust confirms review of use of 20 in-patient beds at Falmouth Hospital<\/a>\n<\/p>\n

\n The transformation is part of a wider ten-year NHS strategy aimed at improving outcomes and reducing hospital occupancy. Mr Wilson said the process is still in its early stages, with no definitive plans yet in place.\n<\/p>\n

\n \u201cWe want to start from the bottom up,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s quite an exciting time really, but I would like to reassure this group that Falmouth is front and centre in that future space.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

\n Committee members welcomed the reassurances but raised concerns about public communication. Councillor Ruth Gripper said initial media coverage had encouraged residents to engage, but lacked clarity on how they could do so.\n<\/p>\n

\n Wilson acknowledged the issue, saying the trust is still analysing its assets and will engage with the public once more information is available. \u201cOur staff are our most valuable asset,\u201d he added. \u201cWe want them to help shape what this could look like.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

\n Councillor Desmonde was told there were \u201ccertainly not\u201d any plans to move Falmouth services to Camborne Redruth Hospital.\n<\/p>\n

\n However, some councillors expressed scepticism, citing past experiences. Councillor Andrew Mitchell from St Ives referenced the closure of Edward Hain Community Hospital despite years of assurances.\n<\/p>\n

\n \u201cWe should acknowledge the worries and concerns of people living in the greater Falmouth area,\u201d Mitchell said. \u201cWe believe nothing should change until a new provision is worked out, agreed, and shown to work.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

\n Susan Backfield, Chief Nursing Officer and COO of the Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Integrated Care Board, highlighted the health risks of prolonged hospital stays for older patients. \u201cIf you\u2019re over 80, for every ten days you spend in hospital in bed, you lose 80% of your muscle mass,\u201d she said. \u201cWe\u2019re not going to dismantle services.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

\n Councillor Steven Webb warned that unclear messaging could fuel speculation. \u201cWhen the final intention is not clear, people will make up their own minds on what they think you are going to do,\u201d he said.\n<\/p>\n

\n The committee resolved to work with the Trust to support the transformation of care and called for clear, open, and proactive communication with both the committee and the public. It also raised concerns about press releases that could lead to confusion.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Speaking at Cornwall Council\u2019s Health and Adult Social Care Overview and Scrutiny Committee, David Wilson, area director at…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":200911,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[43],"tags":[102,2960,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-200910","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-healthcare","8":"tag-health","9":"tag-healthcare","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom","12":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/200910","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=200910"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/200910\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/200911"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=200910"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=200910"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=200910"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}