Mayor Dave Makes Case for Bedford Hospital to NHS Chief

Mayor Dave Hodgson made the case for the retention of key services at Bedford Hospital in a recent meeting with NHS England Chief Executive Simon Stevens.

At the meeting in Bedford last month between Mayor Dave, the Council's Chief Executive, and Mr Stevens, Mayor Dave impressed upon the NHS Chief that the Bedfordshire and Milton Keynes Healthcare Review's proposal to downgrade Bedford Hospital and remove maternity services is illogical for a growing town.

Mayor Dave also alerted him to the shortcomings of the flawed review to date, and highlighted how its narrow focus on downgrading the hospital and cutting services is at odds with the NHS's stated goal of achieving genuine sustainability via its Sustainability and Transformation Plans (STP) process.

The review has formally been 'paused', shortly after announcing a preferred option of a downgrade for Bedford Hospital, including

Commenting, Mayor Dave said: "I was pleased to speak directly to Simon Stevens and to set out clearly to him how the Beds and MK Healthcare Review has been a flawed process which threatens to let our community down badly. I explained that its preferred option of closing maternity services in Bedford and forcing expectant mothers to travel to Milton Keynes to give birth is unacceptable and illogical for a fast-growing community here in Bedford Borough.'

"We had a good discussion, and ensured Mr Stevens was absolutely clear on our position here in Bedford on the plans for our hospital. I also stressed that we are our committed to engaging fully in the STP process in the cause of planning for a genuinely sustainable future for local health and social care services. He obviously didn't make any promises about anything but gave us the chance to put our case, and I think we got our message across."