New government, new ‘CCG’, same patheticness when it comes to the nations health and wanting to line their own pockets!
Leek Moorlands Hospital is once again in the firing line. Having been systematically stripped of its services in the past years; NOT because they weren’t being used but because staffing levels have been forced to dwindle, either by redundancy, natural wastage, twelve month contracts, or by forcing staff to travel to hospitals out of their home area, creating stress and of course no job security.
There was another ‘public meeting’ this week that they tried to keep quiet (exactly like they did last time). We got wind of this and like many Moorlanders shared the hell out of it. So much so, that they had to change venues to accommodate everyone.
Bullet points – Integrated Care Board’s public meeting consultation on Urgent Treatment Centres (UTC’s), on 3rd October 24, at the Maude institute, Leek.
- A poor consulatation exercise: Poorly advertised, with only two public meetings, with room for about 100 people, is NOT representative
A poor consultation process. Far too long spent on questionaires which were of little value, leaving little time for questions. Disappointing that no answers were given- just the response “we will take this away,” or “we hear you”.
There was no clear outline of the ICB’s proposals for the number of UTC’s needed across Staffordhire and where these might be located
The meeting was just a tick-box exercise. They had over twenty NHS staff dotted around (on goodness knows what exuberant wage). Their minds were made up and all the Leek people were just an inconvenience…
The ICB panel could not say what the standards were for a UTC, but stated that Moorlands MIU was not suitable to become one, and cited two reasons in what appears to be a very inadequate asessment.The reasons given were that “ambulances could not come into the site” when this is obviously incorrect as the ambulance drop-off has been operating satisfactorily for many years. The second reason: “there were lmits on x-rays that be done” is again curious and was not clarified. There was no suggestion, for example, of an increase in throughput, and thus a second facility needed, and it’s clear that expanding diagnostics with ECG and urine testing would not be a problem
The ICB should keep in mind that Leek Moorlands Hospital underwent a major £5.5 M upgrade in 2010- 2014 under the “Fit For the Future” programme, bringing its facilities and services up to National Standards
Steve Fawcett, ICB Clinical Director of Urgent and Emergency Care Care, outlined that care provision would in future be at Emergency Departments, or at Urgent Treatment Centes. Without clarification, the public were left wondering what proposals the ICB have in mind for Leek’s MIU
There can be little question that Leek MIU’s is not suitable to become a UTC – and benefit through reinstatement to its previous full operational hours (reduced by 50% in 2021 when staff were transferred to Royal Stoke to bolster its staff in dealing with the Covid Delta variant), longer hours availability of diagnostics, and a new mental health service.
Questioners made clear that Leek’s MIU, serving a rural area of 222 square miles with a population of 100,000, MUST be retained and should become a UTC. It would be unconscionable to envisage Moorlands people being obliged to travel to Stoke for minor injuries help.
- Moorlands people should make their voices heard loud and clear.