Public and councillors roast PCT officer over health centre closure
Wednesday, 11th January 2012.
Over 30 residents turned up to Haverhill Town Council's meeting last night to hear a representative of NHS Suffolk try to justify its proposal to close the Crown Health Centre.
Martin Royal, received a roasting when he defended the proposal in various ways, summed up in a general belief that the centre was not giving residents value for money.
There had been 22,000 visits a year to the centre, although this only represented 10,000 different patients.
But Mr Royal said only 900 had registered with the centre which was way down on NHS Suffolk's predictions of 6,000 in the first three years.
A key reason for locating the centre in Haverhill had been to reduce A&E attendance at local hospitals, which was very high. Instead, A&E attendance had gone up significantly, although Mr Royal admitted this was a national trend.
The centre cost £1.2million a year, and the lease on the site of the portable premises was up in December 2012. It had not proved possible to find an alternative site.
The money saved by the closure would help NHS Suffolk meet its requirement to save £22million, thus benefiting all residents including those in Haverhill, he argued.
A final decision is to be made by NHS Suffolk in March after the current public consultation, of which Mr Royal's presentation was part.
The meeting was opened to the public forum and NHS Suffolk and its predecessor Suffolk Primary Care Trust were heavily criticised for their handling of the whole issue, from the decision to locate the centre in tyhe first place to their proposal to close it now.
People asked where they were to go for walk-in 8am-8pm seven days a week 365 days a year health care, and Mr Royal suggested the current GP practices should provide it.
But many users of the centre said they did so because they couldn't get to see a doctor straightaway at the practices, and some claimed they had had to wait up to five days.
The practices were also only open until 6.30pm in the week and not at all at weekends, although there was an out-of-hours service.
Dr Andrew Cornish, who heads the Christmas Maltings and Clements surgeries, said the out-of-hours service was due to be cut from February, although Mr Royal said the cuts would not affect Haverhill.
He said the provider, Harmony, would be contractually obliged to see all patients within half an hour. Dr Cornish said the base in Haverhill was being shut dfown so people would have to travel to Bury or Cambridge.
Some residents praised the Crown centre very highly, saying it had saved their lives. The practice manager there said they dealt with a lot of cases passed on to them by the out-of-hours service and even brought to them by the ambulance service.
She was disappointed they had not been asked to supply data about what they were doing, but Mr Royal claimed his organisation had all the data it needed.
Then Cllr Roger Andre revealed he had asked for figures from NHS Suffolk on how many people had been sent from the centre to A&E, and also how many people attending there had had to be given an appointment and return later, but he had been told this data was not cllected.
Cllr Clive Turner told Mr Royal the least one would expect of a competent organisation was that it would monitor progress on the key issues which it had been set up to address, and the fact that NHS Suffolk didn't showed failings of management.
Dr Cornish praised the work of the centre, but thought the same service could be provided for a fraction of the cost, or a better service for the same cost, if the money saved by closing it was redistributed to the GP practices.
He pointed out that before the centre was opened, the GP practices had 'hundreds of thousands of pounds' taken away from them by the PCT and given to Hadleigh, but Mr Royal dismissed this claim out of hand.
Cllr Andre asked Mr Royal to look at a list of promises made by the PCT when the centre was set up, including a commitment to its continuance.
"Things change," Mr Royal said.
Cllr Brian Hawes asked why the number of registrations was so important to NHS Suffolk, when the centre was being well used.
Mr Royal replied that it was a long way down on predictions, but town mayor Cllr Maureen Byrne said: "Money", because the centre is run by a private organisation contracted to the PCT, and is funded according to its registrations.
The town council agreed to write to NHS Suffolk summarising residents' views, and unanimously approved a proposal from Cllr Andre that: "The town council urges the PCT to continue the service at the centre by extending the lease and to continue to seek a permanent site for it."
Martin Royal, received a roasting when he defended the proposal in various ways, summed up in a general belief that the centre was not giving residents value for money.
There had been 22,000 visits a year to the centre, although this only represented 10,000 different patients.
But Mr Royal said only 900 had registered with the centre which was way down on NHS Suffolk's predictions of 6,000 in the first three years.
A key reason for locating the centre in Haverhill had been to reduce A&E attendance at local hospitals, which was very high. Instead, A&E attendance had gone up significantly, although Mr Royal admitted this was a national trend.
The centre cost £1.2million a year, and the lease on the site of the portable premises was up in December 2012. It had not proved possible to find an alternative site.
The money saved by the closure would help NHS Suffolk meet its requirement to save £22million, thus benefiting all residents including those in Haverhill, he argued.
A final decision is to be made by NHS Suffolk in March after the current public consultation, of which Mr Royal's presentation was part.
The meeting was opened to the public forum and NHS Suffolk and its predecessor Suffolk Primary Care Trust were heavily criticised for their handling of the whole issue, from the decision to locate the centre in tyhe first place to their proposal to close it now.
People asked where they were to go for walk-in 8am-8pm seven days a week 365 days a year health care, and Mr Royal suggested the current GP practices should provide it.
But many users of the centre said they did so because they couldn't get to see a doctor straightaway at the practices, and some claimed they had had to wait up to five days.
The practices were also only open until 6.30pm in the week and not at all at weekends, although there was an out-of-hours service.
Dr Andrew Cornish, who heads the Christmas Maltings and Clements surgeries, said the out-of-hours service was due to be cut from February, although Mr Royal said the cuts would not affect Haverhill.
He said the provider, Harmony, would be contractually obliged to see all patients within half an hour. Dr Cornish said the base in Haverhill was being shut dfown so people would have to travel to Bury or Cambridge.
Some residents praised the Crown centre very highly, saying it had saved their lives. The practice manager there said they dealt with a lot of cases passed on to them by the out-of-hours service and even brought to them by the ambulance service.
She was disappointed they had not been asked to supply data about what they were doing, but Mr Royal claimed his organisation had all the data it needed.
Then Cllr Roger Andre revealed he had asked for figures from NHS Suffolk on how many people had been sent from the centre to A&E, and also how many people attending there had had to be given an appointment and return later, but he had been told this data was not cllected.
Cllr Clive Turner told Mr Royal the least one would expect of a competent organisation was that it would monitor progress on the key issues which it had been set up to address, and the fact that NHS Suffolk didn't showed failings of management.
Dr Cornish praised the work of the centre, but thought the same service could be provided for a fraction of the cost, or a better service for the same cost, if the money saved by closing it was redistributed to the GP practices.
He pointed out that before the centre was opened, the GP practices had 'hundreds of thousands of pounds' taken away from them by the PCT and given to Hadleigh, but Mr Royal dismissed this claim out of hand.
Cllr Andre asked Mr Royal to look at a list of promises made by the PCT when the centre was set up, including a commitment to its continuance.
"Things change," Mr Royal said.
Cllr Brian Hawes asked why the number of registrations was so important to NHS Suffolk, when the centre was being well used.
Mr Royal replied that it was a long way down on predictions, but town mayor Cllr Maureen Byrne said: "Money", because the centre is run by a private organisation contracted to the PCT, and is funded according to its registrations.
The town council agreed to write to NHS Suffolk summarising residents' views, and unanimously approved a proposal from Cllr Andre that: "The town council urges the PCT to continue the service at the centre by extending the lease and to continue to seek a permanent site for it."
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