Working Together to Save Bedford Hospital as We Know it
Mayor Dave Hodgson has joined forces with all parties on Bedford Borough Council in the fight to save vital services at Bedford Hospital.
Mayor Dave has insisted throughout the process which has seen NHS reviews place key services under threat locally that it is vital that a broad-based campaign speaks with one voice in support of saving Bedford Hospital as we know it. Mayor Dave and all Council Group Leaders have backed the commissioning of specialist work to help secure a sustainable future for the hospital, retaining key services on which local residents depend.
Following consultation with Bedford Hospital, Bedford Borough Council is working with PricewaterhouseCoopers to help develop a plan for a better and more secure future for the hospital. The plan will be published this month, and is intended to show decision-makers that the hospital can retain key services.
As Mayor Dave has warned throughout, the latest Healthcare Review of Bedford and Milton Keynes Hospitals presents a very real prospect of Bedford Hospital losing vital services such as A&E, maternity and paediatrics. This is in spite of the Borough's growing and ageing population and the good quality of care provided at the hospital, causing uncertainty amongst hospital staff and patients.
The Council's support for the Hospital was set down in a joint statement by the Mayor and the Group Leaders of the Liberal Democrat, Labour, Conservative and Independent Groups, which included the following:
"Vital services at Bedford Hospital such as A&E, maternity and paediatrics have been at risk for several years. A series of expensive and incomplete NHS reviews have led to worry and uncertainty amongst hospital staff and users. Bedford Borough Council decided after consultation with Bedford Hospital to commission PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC) to help develop and cost a better, more secure alternative future for Bedford Hospital.
This is a united decision from all political parties at Bedford Borough Council, with the Elected Mayor and all Group Leaders in agreement that this is necessary to protect our Hospital and its services. We have to speak up for the sake of local residents in the face of NHS bureaucracy.
The NHS has been conducting healthcare reviews in this area for a number of years, with millions of pounds having been wasted and no answers ever having been reached. The Bedfordshire Clinical Commissioning Group have repeatedly stated that no decisions have been taken, but with this latest Healthcare Review of Bedford and Milton Keynes Hospitals it is clear that one of the two hospitals would lose vital services. We believe that as the smaller of the two towns, this would very likely be Bedford Hospital. The Review is trying to justify a reduction in Bedford Hospital services at a time when we have a growing and aging population who need them."
The statement concluded:
"We have commissioned this report to help ensure that there is a sustainable future for Bedford Hospital retaining the key services on which so many of our residents depend."