More concern about the future of Tenbury Hospital

Ken Pollock, who represents Tenbury on Worcestershire County Council, says that it is difficult to be optimistic about the future of hospitals like Tenbury.

“Given the confusion and competing interests in the area, it is hard to be optimistic about the whole subject,” said Ken Pollock.

His comments came after a number of occasions when the Minor Injuries Unit was closed in Tenbury Hospital so that nurses could be deployed to Worcester to deal with high demand in the Accident and Emergency Unit.

At present, Tenbury Hospital in Burford has a small number of inpatient beds used for people who do not require acute care but who are not well enough to be at home.

The hospital also has a Minor Injuries Unit that is open 12 hours and day but that was downgraded from 24-hours-a-day opening last year.

A theatre at the hospital for minor operations was ‘temporarily’ closed several years ago but has not reopened since.

“The state of the NHS and Social Care continues to give cause for concern,” Ken Pollock told Tenbury Town Council.

He added that the recent closures of the Minor Injuries unit does nothing to reassure people about the future. But he said he believes that some of the work done in under-pressure Accident and Emergency Units could be carried out in smaller community hospitals like Tenbury.

“More recently we have seen reports that small hospitals like Tenbury should be closed in favour of care at home," he said.

“While this may be cheaper and appropriate in some cases, it looks like a way of shifting the cost from the NHS to the local authority.”

Ken Pollock added that there are technological advances they may help in the future.

“Let me just say that there are hopeful movements being made in what is called assistive technology, which basically means the use of clever devices in patients' homes or in nursing homes that monitor the patients without personal attention.

“This can result in more normal lives for those in need and at greatly reduced cost. Given our increased life expectancy, this is one development that holds out some hope of decent care without crippling expense.”

Health chiefs in Worcestershire are set to undertake a consultation on the future of small hospitals like Tenbury against a background of looking at ways to cut HNS costs.

But research undertaken by Harriett Baldwin, MP for West Worcestershire which includes Tenbury, has shown a high level of occupancy in hospitals like Tenbury.

Facilities like Tenbury enable some people to receive transitional care after being discharged from an acute hospital such as Worcester. Tenbury is also used in the provision of palliative care for people who are terminally ill.

One of the issues that resulted in the closure of the 24-hours-a-day Minor Injuries Unit was low demand overnight coupled with the high cost of recruiting agency nurses.