Bridport: Campaigners will step up the fight to save hospital

They presented a united front at a public meeting with health chiefs about the future of crucial services earmarked for withdrawal next March.

There was standing room only as people packed the WI hall and tackled health trust bosses about the proposals. More than 6,000 people have signed a petition backed by the Bridport News’s Save Our Hospital campaign.

Campaigners vowed to step up their fight for Bridport Community Hospital after more than 100 people packed a public meeting.

There was standing room only at the WI Hall in North Street at the meeting called by Coun Ros Kayes with the newly-launched Community Health Campaign pressure group.

The meeting heard from the Dorset County Hospital NHS Foundation Trust chief executive Jean O’Callaghan and operations director Patricia Miller, Frances Stevens from NHS Dorset and Dorset Healthcare University NHS Foundation Trust director of nursing Tim Archer.

The Bridport 50 Plus Forum sponsored meeting came amid proposals to withdraw outpatients, theatre, X-ray and therapies from the hospital next March. There are also concerns about the future of the Hughes mental health unit, clinics and the minor injuries unit.

Ros Kayes urged people to keep the pressure on and fight for the hospital.

She said that the meeting was a resounding success and was optimistic about finding a solution although it wouldn’t be immediate or easy.

She added: “By hook or by crook the people of Bridport want these services to continue.”

People signed petitions on the way into the meeting and joined the Community Health Campaign group but were also asked to send letters to such politicians as David Cameron and Nick Clegg.

Mr Letwin, Coun Kayes and the health chiefs each spoke before the floor was opened up for questions.

Mark Roberts said: “It is absolutely crucial that we keep these facilities. It is a wonderful hospital.”

Barbara Simpson, of Burton Bradstock, said: “If we start cutting down the services, before we know where we are we could suddenly find that the hospital is closed.”

The meeting heard how bus services were inadequate to cope with taking people from the Bridport area and villages to the Dorset County Hospital in Dorchester.

Marjory Lee said the volunteer-led transport group Pathways to Care was already facing an increased demand for services.

Christine Hatton raised concerns about waiting times for day surgery if services are consolidated at Dorchester. Coun David Tett asked whether the health bosses would listen to the community.

He added later: “This is a fight we can ill afford to lose.”

The meeting was told that the primary care trust had to make efficiency savings to help towards a national efficiency saving of £20bn.

Mr Letwin pledged to negotiate with the commissioning trust to persuade it to find a way to allow Dorset County Hospital to provide services at Bridport.

He said this would mean more services at Bridport to make it viable to provide them. He urged campaigners to keep the pressure on and warned that a reduction in services could make the hospital less viable.

DCH trust chief executive Jean O’Callaghan said their commissioners, NHS Dorset, wanted to buy less hospital care from them.

She said that it cost £2.5million per year to rent space in community hospitals and that the trust had to pay staff travel costs and deal with the time lost in consultants and staff travelling to Bridport.

She insisted that the trust was not withdrawing all services and that it would not be stopping them altogether but that it could not afford to continue in this way.

She said that the trust had improved efficiency at DCH and was doing less work but still had high overheads.

Ms Stevens said that the primary care trust had to commission services based on the needs of the population. She added that it did want to hear what people had to say.

Eileen Harding, who represented the Community Health Campaign with Dominic Knorpel, said: “Money is being given greater significance than the quality of care.”

Others at the meeting included campaigner Anna Lovell, Rob Murray of the Bridport Local Area Partnership, Alison Chown, Graham Foulsham and the Rev Philip Ringer, who is the new chairman of the hospital’s league of friends.

The campaign group will be collecting data from patients visiting Bridport hospital about where they have come from, how they travelled there and how long it took.

Anyone who can spend a couple of hours at the hospital collecting this data should call 07920 850167.

More than 6,000 sign petition

MORE than 6,000 people have signed the petition as part of the Bridport and Lyme Regis News-backed campaign to stop the cuts.

Other concerns at the meeting included the future of the Hughes mental health unit.

Campaigners will be attending a meeting of Dorset County Council’s health scrutiny committee on November 29 to urge them to support the hospital. The minor injuries unit will also be discussed.

County councillor Karl Wallace said: “The hospital does a fantastic job. It is a great hospital.” He added that cuts were like cutting pieces of salami away until there was nothing left.

Coun Ron Coatsworth is the chairman of the health scrutiny committee and Coun Gillian Summers is West Dorset District Council’s representative on the committee. • Sign the petition and pick up your Save Bridport Hospital sticker from the Bridport and Lyme Regis News office at 67 East Street, Bridport.