SHA Report Underlines Threat to Hospital Services

4.26.26pm GMT Thu 21st Dec 2006

Christine McHugh is concerned at the threat to services at Bedford Hospital at a time when it needs support to enable it to make sustainable, long term plans for the future

The first stage of the East of England Strategic Health Authority (SHA) review of hospital services in the region has only underlined the threat hanging over Bedford Hospital, say Bedford Borough Liberal Democrats.

The document sets out the SHA's view of the catchment population sizes needed for hospitals to sustain viable services in a range of areas. According to the figures given in the report, the SHA would deem the catchment population served by Bedford Hospital to be too small to maintain emergency surgery, even in spite of the significant growth in population that is due in the area over the next 15 years.

Also listed in the report are a range of specialist services, all of which, it is claimed, require a catchment population far greater than that currently served by Bedford Hospital. In addition, the financial pressures around the provision of maternity services are also covered by the report, an issue acknowledged by Bedford Hospital itself in its recent document 'Defining Our Future Role.'

Commenting on the issue, Cllr Christine McHugh said:

"As the Strategic Health Authority continues its review with the objective of 'reconfiguring' hospital services in the East of England, several key points leap from the pages of this report. Firstly, with the government placing an emphasis on the need to concentrate services in bigger hospitals serving large populations, the fact that only one hospital across the entire region is listed as serving a smaller population than Bedford Hospital is a real cause for concern.

More specifically, it would seem that the report places a dark cloud over the future of emergency surgery and maternity care at Bedford Hospital. The hospital needs support to be able to make sustainable, long term plans, but unfortunately this review process is only giving the impression that the Strategic Health Authority is preparing the ground for changes that could have a devastating effect on local residents in Bedford and the surrounding areas."