People in Bedford will have the chance to discuss the future of the county’s health services, amid growing concerns about plans for hospitals in Bedford and Milton Keynes, at a public meeting being organised by UNISON.
This comes after the Bedford clinicial commissioning group or CCG briefed unions on its review of services in the city. The CCG categorically denied that any decisions about the future of hospital services in Bedford and Milton Keynes have been made.
However, UNISON points to an analysis by a group of clinicians from the Bedford and Miton Keynes trust which argued that keeping an emergency service in both towns was unsustainable.
The union believes that decisions have to have already been made to reach the limited options that are currently being considered.
“The future does not look bright for Bedford Hospital NHS Trust, for the services it delivers – including its A&E provision – or for the staff and our members who work hard to deliver those services to a growing local community,” says Ian Thomas, secretary of the UNISON Bedford hospital branch.
“It is disconcerting that the unions representing NHS staff in Bedford – a stakeholder in all of this – are the last to be briefed by the CCG on this emerging situation,” he added.
“Let us not forget that this review also covers healthcare in the community. We have yet to hear what the options are for those services, but I am greatly concerned that wholesale privatisation of local services may well be on the cards.”
UNISON warned that this was likely to be the case last September when it commissioned a report – Sneak Attack – from Dr John Lister of London Health Emergency following well publicised problems around paediatric services in the trust.
“I very much hope that the community will be turning out in droves to the public meeting to campaign to keep their health services in Bedford and to campaign to maintain those services in the hands of the NHS, to ensure these are not handed out wholesale to private profiteers,” added Mr Thomas
Paediatric situation critical declares UNISON - News item (13 August 2013)
