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Hospital bosses: Services to be moved but department not closing
MOST outpatient services at Amersham Hospital will be moved as part of cost cutting measures, NHS bosses have announced.
Some clinics could move to Wycombe or Stoke Mandeville hospitals - although the trust says it is committed to providing care 'closer to home' in a GP or community setting.
The outpatient department will not close at Amersham, but it is believed 80 per cent of clinics will move elsewhere.
The jobs of about 16 administrative staff are believed to be under threat because of the cost-saving measures. Discussions are also underway to locate a care home at the hospital site in Whielden Street.
Chiltern District Council's deputy chairman, Derek Lacey, is a patient at four of the clinics. He said: "I raised £18,000 for the eye clinic with my appeal 15 years ago and £8,000 for the vascular department when I had my leg amputated five years ago.
"They were named after me and a lot of people donated money. Now that will be torn down and not only I am hurt, but those people will be."
Concerned patients have contacted the Examiner since we launched our 'Save our Services' campaign a week ago.
Margaret Sobee, 78, of Chesham Bois used to work at the hospital as a nurse and is an outpatient. She said: "It's a very well attended hospital. My friends are quite concerned that they have to go elsewhere. It's now not a hospital as you would consider a hospital to be.
"More often than not you would see a consultant at the top - if you go to a GP surgery you wouldn't get the same care."
A statement from Buckinghamshire NHS Trust said the changes were needed because of the impact of the credit crunch and because GPs could now manage a greater range of conditions.
It said: "As this starts to impact, by the reducing number of patients that come through our doors, we will need to take action to match our capacity to the demand on our services and going forward we will not need as many outpatient clinics and hospital beds, for example. As an organisation it is important that we are prepared for this change in direction. We have been consulting with affected staff, which may mean a change of work base for a very small number and we will do all that is possible to redeploy into vacancies in the hospital.
"We are not looking to close any of our hospitals; but we do need to make sure that we are making the best use of all our space and resources. We are looking at some of our outpatient clinics, making sure they are properly utilised across all three sites. This may mean combining some clinics to ensure we are at full capacity. At Amersham, there are no plans to close the outpatients department - we provide some excellent services from there including rheumatology, dermatology, cardiac and oral surgery and this will continue."
It added that it remains committed to putting the needs of the patient first.
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I am not directly effected by this, however my mother is an empolyee at the hospital, and has been for approximately 30 years, and one of these '16' administrators - which i think you'll find is far more than that.
Staff are being treated appalingly, the union has not been informed of decisions that have already been made, rather than consulting with the staff - which i think you'll find is a legal requirement.
Also, is the public aware that the CEO was given a £25,000 bonus - as she was being headhunted and they couldnt afford to loose her! Wouldnt that have gone some way in cost cutting?!
On a different matter i am also greatly concerned about the services available to my elderly grandparents that have always lived local to Amersham hospital. They will not be able to get to Wycombe or Stoke Mandeville by public transport - they are both in their late 80's, it is not fair to expect them to have to do that. Therefore, they would require hospital transport - which i believe is also in a dire state.
All these changes have a knock on effect somewhere. Maybe they should look to get rid of some of the middle management staff - who's salaries are probably double or triple to cost of an administrator! And stop giving very large bonus'
I recently recieved the services of the outpaitents department and i must say they all do a fanastic job. I also believe that the new slogan for the NHS is 'Paitents at the heart/centre' - the powers that be (who are making these decisions) should remember what it is actually like to be a paitent.