Delay over £29million for Worcester and Redditch hospitals - The Bromsgrove Standard

Delay over £29million for Worcester and Redditch hospitals

Bromsgrove Editorial 19th Dec, 2017 Updated: 21st Dec, 2017   0

THE long awaited £29million for hospitals in Worcester and Redditch is unlikely to come anytime soon.

The cash was pledged to Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust (WAHT) last year, part of package to help reconfigure health services in the county.

Now health chiefs have been told the money won’t be forthcoming until they work up ‘a final, more detailed business case’ – despite a review into services starting in 2012.

The £29million was approved by the Government in July and forms a crucial part of WAHT’s future plans.




The cash is to pay for upgraded maternity wards, theatres and children’s services at the Royal while the Alexandra Hospital in Redditch will see improvements to the elective care centre, endoscopy, children’s outpatients and an upgrade of theatres.

It links in with a reconfiguration of county health services approved by local doctors earlier this year after it went out to public consultation.


Many of these changes have already been implemented, for instance centralising emergency cases, maternity services and childrens services at the Royal, However key elements for the Alexandra Hospital in Redditch, like the creation of a GP-led Urgent Care Centre, have yet to materialise.

The improvements are vital if the Trust is to stabilise its finances, which are currently falling behind a target deficit of £42.7million for 2017/18.

Failure to hit key performance targets like Accident & Emergency waiting times (last week the Royal was at times running at close to a 10 hour wait in A&E), referral to treatment times result in the Trust being fined for under-performance.

The delay came to light after Redditch MP, Rachel Maclean, wrote to Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt urging him to release the £29million.

“I am pushing as hard as I can to get this money, or part of it, to where it is needed to help cover the costs of some of the advance work required to make the improvements happen,” said Mrs Maclean.

However she was told that while the cash had been approved under the national Sustainability and Transformation Plan, the Trust now had to work on a final, more detailed business case before the money could be released.

Neal Stote, former chairman of health campaign group Save the Alex said: “Five years of planning has gone into this, at the start of the year we had Jeremy Hunt saying Worcestershire was the health trust he was most worried about, what has he done about it?

“This is horrendous for the public, the staff and NHS managers trying to cope with the hand they have been dealt.”

A spokesperson for the Trust said: “We have been successful in securing a significant amount of additional capital funding which will support a number of major developments to improve the quality of care we can provide for our patients.

“Other developments are at an earlier stage, including much of the work that was agreed as part of the countywide Acute Services Review and will be funded by a separate £29.6 million capital grant.

“The first phase of construction work to support these developments is not due to start until later in 2018. We do need to begin some preparatory and planning work early in the new year and we are having positive discussions with NHS Improvement and the Department of Health on how best to  access the funds to cover the cost of that preparatory work.

“We are grateful for the continuing support and interest shown by Rachel Maclean and all our local MPs. “

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