Scrutinising hospital plans

Campaigners want health chiefs to crunch the numbers over major hospital reconfiguration.

CAMPAIGNERS AND scrutineers alike want health chiefs to crunch the numbers over major hospital reconfiguration in Kirklees and Calderdale.

In all £196.5 million of public funding has been made available to reconfigure hospital services in Huddersfield and Halifax but the changes remain controversial.

Concerns about the level of accident and emergency (A&E) provision, dissatisfaction with the consultation process, the number of emergency hospital beds and travel arrangements were all ringing alarm bells for campaigners.

Calderdale and Kirklees Joint

Health Scrutiny Committee members also had a lengthy list of questions and particularly wanted more figures so they can judge more clearly whether the proposals are stacking up.

Director of Transformation and Partnerships at Calderdale and Huddersfield NHS Foundation Trust, Anna Basford, presented a progress update to the committee which outlined consultations which had been undertaken, reconfiguration programme timelines, a summary of proposed development plans and the next steps for public involvement.

Prior to that, campaigners had raised questions about the process in the meeting’s public question time.

Stephen Slator and Mike Foster of Hands Off Huddersfield Royal Infirmary (HOHRI) – the latter’s letter was read out – and Jenny Shepherd and Rosemary Hedges of Calderdale and Kirklees 999 Call for the NHS all warned councillors they believed there was no evidence revised plans for Huddersfield Royal Infirmary and Calderdale Royal Hospital were safe or fair and they should grill the trust for its evidence.

The committee has also asked for more detailed figures on the financial case underpinning reconfiguration.

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Concerns were raised about A&E provision and the number of hospital beds