Health chiefs backing A&E proposals
next two years.”
Dr Ashraf said three GPs had left his practice in recent months, leaving him with a shortage of staff. He said all GP surgeries were feeling the impact of a national shortage of doctors.
Dr Ashraf said he felt it was “a big risk” for health bosses to expect GPs and community nurses to be able to pick up the extra workload or have the skills to do so.
Referring to plans to reduce hospital admissions by 23%, he said: “The targets we’ve got are aspirational to say the least.”
Earlier in the meeting the reason for the reduction in bed numbers at the small planned care hospital at Acre Mills was explained.
In July there was shock when the hospital revealed it only wanted 64 beds instead of the 120 beds mentioned in the public consultation.
Describing the reduction as a “slight change”, Dr Steve Ollerton, clinical lead for the CCG, said some hospital doctors had said they were concerned about performing complex surgery at the site as emergency and intensive care support would be located in Calderdale.
He said this had led to the shifting of some services back across to Halifax.
Dr David Hughes pointed out that activity levels would still be high at Acre Mills without needing many beds, as most patients would be day cases.
“Hospital is not the right place for elderly people,” he said. “The beds need to be closer to the patients’ homes or in their homes.”
Dr Ollerton said some hospital doctors were looking forward to doing their work out in the community, including in patients’ homes.
Following the decision, Mike Forster, chair of HoHRI, said: “They will answer for these plans in court, not by talking to each other. We expect to launch a full Judicial Review on Friday.”
He added: “I’m delighted Dr Ashraf has indicated he’s opposed to the plans, as has the LMC (Local Medical Committee). We’ve listened to all their rubbish but what they’ve actually approved is a plan which sees the CCG remain in deficit and unable to meet primary care needs.
“Primary care won’t cope when they try and transfer responsibility for the health of this town to GP surgeries, instead of being addressed in hospital.”