Helen Jones

Labour Party | Warrington North

CENTRES OF EXCELLENCE

Last week Warrington Hospital issued a press release on its new heart centre following reports the week before that they were reviewing their services to bring them into the 21st Century but they’re not telling us the whole story.

The new heart centre in Warrington is part of a restructuring of hospital services which will create six new “centres of excellence”  as the Trust describes them.  The other five centres – for respiratory illness,  cancers,  renal dialysis and disease,  diabetes,  stroke care – will go to Halton hospital.  This is deeply disturbing,  especially for people in Warrington North who have to rely on public transport.  How will they get to their appointments?  What about relatives who want to visit?  The hospital’s answer is to talk about putting on buses.   Are they seriously expecting people suffering from cancer and those needing renal dialysis to be bussed from one hospital to another?

The hospital have been less than open about their plans.  They briefed the press and the Halton MPs well in advance of any contact with me or the council leadership.  When I objected to their plans I was told they were re-writing their consultation document to make their proposals “clearer”.  In other words,  they know they’ve been rumbled and they’re trying to disguise what they’re up to.  The hospital defines what a “centre of excellence” is in its own document – “the location for accessing expert opinion and specialist services.”  That’s very clear.  Their plans would leave Warrington with Cinderella services in many specialities.  Both renal dialysis and urology are being “transferred” to Halton.  It’s not good enough.  It’s not what we were promised when the hospitals merged when we were told,  “ there are no plans to reduce patient services.”

Perhaps if the people in charge of our hospital lived in Warrington they wouldn’t be so anxious to take services away.  People have already contacted my office worried about how they will manage if these changes come to pass,  so I’m starting a petition to ‘Save Our Services’.  I hope as many people as possible will sign it.  Most of the population served by the Trust live in Warrington and our population is expanding whilst Halton’s is contracting.  We need services here and accessible to Warrington people.  Our message to the hospital has to be “think again”.

Let me know what you think – add your name to the petition.  Contact me at :  Gilbert Wakefield House,  67 Bewsey Street  –  tel. 232 480  –  fax.  232 239  –  e-mail jonesh@parliament.uk