‘Government are wasting billions on private projects’
CHRIS Taylor’s well researched correspondence deserves praise rather than criticism.
He is attempting to hold the local CCG to account for their actions regarding the future of Leek Moorlands Hospital, an issue which is of great concern to thousands of people locally.
Chris Taylor poses pertinent questions to the ‘Accountable Officer’ of the CCG, Marcus Warnes, a person who it is notoriously difficult to extract a relevant answer.
Rather than criticise Chris’s valiant efforts I would suggest that Bas Pickering, who describes himself as a ‘patient representative,’ could be a little more objective and ask why the CCG persist in placing patients in sub-standard nursing homes and allow Marcus Warnes to close and denegrate our local hospitals, flying in the face of the mass of public support for the maintenance of those services.
After more than two years of deliberation and protest the CCG comes up with a preferred option an ‘integrated care hub’ on the Leek Moorlands site. However, this option fails to provide any hospital beds, or describe exactly what services would be on offer at the hub.
Furthermore, the CCG report boasts that their proposed hubs of care will mean ‘old and frail patients no longer need to travel to a large hospital for support.’
However, their preferred option means that Cheadle Hospital will be completely shut and patients will have to travel to Leek or the Potteries.
By their own admission the Leek hub would be ‘difficult for the people of Cheadle to reach.’
I wonder how many more times Marcus Warnes and co need to hear that the people of Leek and Cheadle want their hospitals to remain open, with all services fully restored including the return of our community beds.
The value of which we will once again unfortunately miss in the forthcoming winter, where tragically people will suffer indignity, and worse, awaiting treatment on a trolley in a corridor.
Thanks to this government’s policy of austerity, and the apologists who organise these cutbacks for the government - the CCGS.
As for Bas Pickering’s assertion that we have to accept these changes, unless people are willing to pay more tax.
Research has shown that a majority of people are quite happy to pay more tax for public services, such as the NHS, provided that these services are properly managed.
Unfortunately they are patently mis-managed by this government who are quite happy to waste billions of pounds on private projects in the public sector, like Carrillion, whilst starving front line services of necessary investment. Steven Hugh Proffitt Leek