launched a petition on change.org<\/a> to \u201csave life-saving departments\u201d at the QEH, after stating that he would not \u201cstand by and watch\u201d it be downgraded.<\/p>\nHe said the reports should \u201calarm every resident of West Norfolk\u201d, adding that he was \u201cangry, deeply concerned and determined to fight any attempt\u201d to do so.<\/p>\n
Having undergone surgery at the hospital in August, Cllr Colwell said the care he received was \u201cexemplary\u201d, with his experience making him \u201ceven more determined to defend\u201d it and the people who work there.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe should be investing in it, not stripping it back,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Concerns he raised about the future of general surgery at the QEH back in March – due to fears it could be significantly reduced or reorganised\u201d were \u201cdismissed\u201d by the trust, Cllr Colwell said, adding: \u201cI can reveal the trust has still not made a final decision.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThose concerns with this new announcement now feel even more urgent,\u201d he said, as he called for answers from the NHS on the future of Lynn\u2019s hospital.<\/p>\n
And borough and county councillor, Alexandra Kemp, warned that \u201clives will be lost\u201d if these units are taken away.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis appalling devastation of the NHS cannot, and must not, go ahead,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe successfully fought the removal of cancer services from the QEH to Norwich in 2017.<\/p>\n
\u201cThen we campaigned for the hospital rebuild, but the suggestion that the new hospitals group could axe A&E, critical care and maternity tells the public that the new strategic management structure understands nothing about the demography or geography of West Norfolk.<\/p>\n
\u201cWest Norfolk is a rural area with poor transport links and deprivation hotspots.\u201d<\/p>\n
Cllr Kemp has called for the disbandment of the group model.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe recent centralisation of the NHS, with the Norfolk and Waveney University Hospitals Group model now making the strategic investment decisions for all three hospitals, is not fit for purpose and should be disbanded now,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, West Norfolk\u2019s two MPs have also expressed their hopes for reassurance from the Norfolk and Waveney University Hospitals Group.<\/p>\n
James Wild, the Conservative MP for North West Norfolk, said: \u201cAny suggestion key services will be permanently moved from the QEH will rightly cause significant concern among patients and staff and has not been raised in the regular discussions I have with QEH and the Norfolk and Waveney University Hospitals Group.<\/p>\n
\u201cAny such proposals would be strongly opposed by our community which campaigned strongly for a new hospital and state-of-the-art facilities and care locally.<\/p>\n
\u201cTherefore I have asked the group to provide urgent reassurance that there is no intention to downgrade QEH\u2019s status as a district general hospital providing A&E, general surgery, and other specialist care.\u201d<\/p>\n
However, Terry Jermy, the Labour MP for South West Norfolk, who highlighted the issues facing the QEH in his maiden speech in the House of Commons, struck a more supportive note.<\/p>\n
He said: \u201cThe commitment both from this Labour Government and the Norfolk and Waveney University Hospitals Group to maintain services on-site is clear, and a commitment that I strongly share.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe need to ensure the care and services delivered to people in West Norfolk are of the highest quality, which inevitably in a hospitals group model like this, will see conversations had about what services are best delivered at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital and what services may be best delivered at the two other acute hospitals in the model.<\/p>\n
\u201cI am determined that within those conversations, West Norfolk\u2019s specific health needs, rurality and the impact of health inequalities are properly reflected in the services to be delivered.\u201d<\/p>\n
The news of the talks has also thrown into doubt the \u00a31.4billion plans to rebuild the current site, much of which is propped up by scaffolding poles to prevent its roof from falling in.<\/p>\n
However, Professor Lesley Dwyer, the Norfolk and Waveney University Hospitals Group chief executive, said: \u201cNo decisions have been made about future service configuration.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are determined to make the very best of the \u00a32.8 billion investment through the two New Hospital Programmes to improve healthcare for people across Norfolk and Waveney, both now and for future generations.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe know demand for healthcare is growing, people are living longer, and many are living with more complex health needs.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat is why clinical experts from across our three hospitals are working together to develop a shared strategy focused on providing the safest, highest-quality and most sustainable care for local communities over the next 10 to 20 years.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis work builds on closer ways of working across many of our services since the formation of the group and remains at an early stage.<\/p>\n
\u201cOne of the principles underpinning this work is that people in West Norfolk will continue to have access to urgent and emergency care at the QEH 24 hours a day, seven days a week.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Politicians across West Norfolk have described their \u201cdisgust\u201d at the possibility of Lynn\u2019s hospital losing three departments –…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":760179,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[43],"tags":[102,2960,8781,229,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-760178","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-healthcare","tag-health","tag-healthcare","tag-kings-lynn","tag-politics","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/760178","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=760178"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/760178\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/760179"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=760178"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=760178"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=760178"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}