THE planned consultation into the future of health services in Worcestershire has been hit by a further delay.
The far-reaching plans proposed by Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust (WAHT) had been expected to get the seal of approval on Tuesday (November 22) however because the trust is asking for a £29million investment and is currently in special measures, the NHS’s National Investment Committee wants to examine the scheme.
They don’t meet until December 6, and although WAHT is hopeful of a positive decision that day, the delay slides the consultation period into the run-up to Christmas.
However in an effort to give residents the longest possible time to comment on the plans, the aim will be to publish them online as soon as possible once the scheme has been approved with formal consultation ideally starting on January 3, 2017 for a period of 12 weeks.
“Once we have that decision we will go to public consultation as soon as practicably possible,” said a spokesperson for the Future of Acute Hospital Services in Worcestershire programme.
“However we will also launch all the material online so people will be able to see it early.”
The proposals will cement in place the move of a wide range of services including maternity and in-patient child care in Worcester, as well as plans to make the Alexandra Hospital in Redditch a centre of excellence for surgery.
Neal Stote, chairman of the Save the Alex campaign, expressed his exasperation at yet another delay to the programme: “This puts us right back and brings the whole process up to the purdah period for the local elections in May next year,” he said.
“It means the farce that has been going on for the past four and a half years is going to continue further prolonging uncertainty for both patients and staff.”
