LOCAL politicians have been called to account by the Save the Alex campaign in a bid to halt the continuing uncertainty over the future of the local hospital.
Neal Stote, chair of the campaign group, has written to Worcestershire’s MPs, including Bromsgrove MP Sajid Javid, raising concerns about patient safety in accident and emergency, the delay in publishing a report on the future of the hospital, and questioning whether all options have been explored to secure its future.
“Everything about this situation is wrong.” said Mr Stote. “At a local level no one appears to be in charge, staff are demoralised and the people simply do not know what is going on.
“The Alex deals with 6,000 ambulances every year, 2,000 births every year and yet this review has been going on for three years and we still do not know what is happening.”
And he expressed his frustration that the organisations who hold the future of the hospital in their hands – NHS England, The West Midlands Clinical Senate and the Care Commissioning Groups – are not accountable to the public.
“No one seems to be in charge, no one seems to know where the buck stops, or who is responsible.
“You ask the MPs and they say it’s not them, but who can you hold accountable?” said Mr Stote.
“We’re an apolitical organisation, and although the politicians say they are not responsible, we are where we are today because of what they have done and so I would urge the people to exam the candidates on where they stand on the Alex, and to vote for the NHS.”
Mr Javid said: ““I’m frustrated at the length of time this review has taken.
“It is disappointing that the strict rules of election purdah mean that NHS England can’t publish the West Midlands Clinical Senate report until after the election.
“The best we can hope for now is that the report is delivered swiftly then.
“Worcestershire MPs are working together to protect our local health service.
“We are in regular contact with the Department of Health, NHS England and the Trust Development Authority.
“Neal, and other local activists, joined me in meeting Jeremy Hunt to secure the Secretary of State’s personal attention on this situation.
“As local MPs we will always work hard to keep our constituents fully informed about the work we are doing to secure even stronger local healthcare provision.
“A local quality surveillance group which includes national regulators is looking into the concerns about the Trust and will agree how these should be tackled in the coming days.”
