Another reorganisation in the NHS

Written by Vincent Cable MP and published in The Informer on Mon 22nd Aug 2005

I returned from a short break to meet a furore over the future of the popular Teddington community hospital. There is little risk of closure; but some danger of loosing local control in one of those endless NHS re-organisations.

Teddington hospital is currently run by a local Primary Care Trust (PCT) which also brings together GPs, district nurses and pharmacists. The arrangement works reasonably well. National NHS bureaucrats and ministers believe however that bigger is better. The hospital could be put under a remote quango or annexed by a big hospital. Teddington hospital would continue but with weaker local links. I would strenuously oppose such mindless centralisation.

The West Middlesex is also under the microscope. NHS bosses have told the hospital to make big savings. I am seeking reassurance that local residents will still receive decent health care when they need it. Hospital managers believe they can save money and also improve standards by cutting patients' lengths of stay. In theory, recovering patients will be healthier and happier at home. And more day surgery is possible.

But there are risks. Except for specialist services like Marie Curie and Macmillan nurses for palliative cancer care, local domiciliary services are often poor. Carers need respite but services like Whitton's admirable Homelink day respite centre are under-funded. If stroke victims are to function outside hospital they need rehabilitation but services are overstretched and discriminate against the elderly.

There is a real danger of repeating the mistakes of 'care in the community' when mental patients were released from hospitals to save money and then received inadequate care outside. If big hospitals are now to be slimmed down then local social services and small community hospitals like Teddington need beefing up. Somehow, I don't see it happening.