Hospital care petitions presented

Councillor Jean Ashworth

Petitions regarding the future of hospital services in Rochdale have been submitted to Rochdale Council.

The petitions, spearheaded by Councillor Jean Ashworth, have been signed by over 7,000 people.

Councillor Ashworth presented a folder containing the petitions and individual letters about patient experience to the Council.

Councillor Ashworth now hopes to take the petitions forward to a meeting with the Secretary of State for Health.

She said: “Over 7.000 people have expressed their concern on the downgrading and removal of services from the Rochdale Infirmary.

“We feel that the NHS proposals to downgrade and remove services from the Rochdale Infirmary and Fairfield Hospital are leaving the borough and surrounding areas unsafe and without adequate accessible hospital care and wish to place a vote of no confidence in the Chief Executive John Saxby and the Management of the Pennine Acute Trust.”

Councillor Ashworth added: “The closure of the Cornonary Care Unit at Rochdale Infirmary went against what had originally been approved by the Secretary of State of Health and without adequate, meaningful consultation.

“We also feel that the removal of maternity services at Rochdale Infirmary does not provide an agreed choice for new mums in this borough as many do not know until the day before which hospital their baby will be delivered.

 “Part of the reconfiguration plans were for a better transport system to enable access to hospital appointments and treatment, this has not been fulfilled and people are suffering through this broken promise. The Trust is just relying on already very busy volunteer drivers schemes which is totally unacceptable – none of these services should have been removed before everything was in place.”

Councillor Ashworth concluded: “We all agree that whilst the service provided at Rochdale is very good it is not the service we were originally promised and it is not an Urgent Care Centre as nothing urgent can be treated at Rochdale. I have constantly suggested the Trust renames the centre and was asked by them at one point to organise a competition, but I stated that it was up to the Trust to change the name which I suggested ‘Rochdale’s Walk in Centre’ to stop further confusion to the public as to where they need to go when feeling ill and in need of care.

“I am pleased this petition has all party support and that we are united regarding health care and I would ask that this council works together with the two borough MPs and request a meeting with the Secretary of State of Health with a delegation from the council and myself to make him aware of our concerns.”

A spokesman for The Pennine Acute Trust said: “The healthcare changes that have happened in Rochdale are part of the wider Greater Manchester Healthy Futures and Making it Better service reconfiguration programmes which were agreed some five years ago.

“These changes have been led by doctors, midwives and nurses to ensure that the changes and development of new services will be of high quality and safe and better able to withstand the current increasing demand on NHS services locally.

“These changes not only increase the benefits to patients, but also allow for the centralisation of doctors, midwives and nurses with better use of their skills, expertise and resources. People in the Rochdale borough should be reassured that patient safety and quality are paramount in introducing these changes which are needed because existing services are not sustainable.

“Rochdale Infirmary will continue to provide a range of services including the new Urgent Care Centre for minor injuries and illness, the Clinical Assessment Unit and Programme Investigation Unit, day case surgery, full range of out-patient clinics, ante-natal clinics, physiotherapy, occupational therapy, speech therapy, dieticians and radiology (including ultrasound, ECG, CT and MR scanning).

“We are pleased that recent visits to the new Urgent Care Centre and Clinical Assessment Unit by local community groups, the local MP and local councillors, including the Leader of the Council Councillor Lambert, Councillor Hornby, Councillor Robinson, Councillor Ashworth and other members of the Council’s Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee have been welcomed and the feedback extremely positive about the new facilities and staff.”