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Tuesday, February 11, 2025
HomeDorset NorthAn overview of the proposals for Dorset NHS

An overview of the proposals for Dorset NHS

I’ve been struggling with the proposals for Poole and Bournemouth Hospitals to become a ‘planned hospital’ with an Urgent Care Centre and an ‘acute hospital’ respectively. Not simply because of the changes being proposed and the underlying rational, but because my trust in the political process is pretty much rock bottom and there are no signs of it being restored, at least not in the short term.

There is no doubt that the NHS is stretched and it isn’t all about funding. We are a growing and ageing population, particularly in our area and there are the added pressures of staffing and improving technologies. It seems to me that we have a mutually incompatible drive towards an improved and more effective service with funding coming from savings within the system whilst looking for capital investment from who knows where.

As I see it, before changes to the hospitals are carried out, investment and improvements are required in specific areas. These being: the ‘111’ call service, the addition and distribution of ambulances and crew, and within the cash strapped community care sector, which includes the sharing of summary care notes.

There doesn’t seem to be any feasibility studies and forward plans in the public domain as to how it will work during the complex transition and capital projects, which will not only be costly, but time consuming and highly disruptive for everyone concerned. Change does not guarantee improvements, indeed huge effort and money do not necessarily produce the projected results.

Failure to invest will lead to genuine collapse of our hospitals as they continue to be underfunded and become swamped regardless of any proposed changes. I fear failure is written in, not necessarily deliberate, but by omission.

As far as I can make out this situation is the result of the political drive towards a Sustainability and Transformation Plan demanded from the CCG before there has been a chance to examine and consult over the Clinical Service Review and Proposals.

Of course failure may just be what is lurking as this may be all the impetus required to set in place a more radical political approach.

The question, of course is where does this leave us in the defence of our NHS?

The real battle is political with the CCG stuck in the middle. I believe the tightest scrutiny of their plans is a ‘given’ and this is something that requires a team approach in preparation for the consultation starting in late autumn. The local population have been much taken up with the political shenanigan of late and there is no evidence of a larger movement as yet to join a campaign for our NHS. Raising that profile is another thrust that must be engaged in readiness for the consultation and beyond. There is also the national dimension as this situation is being replicated up and down the country.

My apologies to those of you in Dorset who are to the West of Poole & Bournemouth, I’m not deliberately ignoring you, but much of what I am addressing applies to the whole of Dorset.

John Daniels

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