20
August
2013
Around 1,500 angry health campaigners and health workers challenged plans to cut services at Stafford Hospital at a public meeting last week.
The Trust Special Administrators (TSAs) plan to cut maternity, children’s and critical care services claiming they are “financially unsustainable” and will become unsafe.
Cheryl Porter, one of the founders and organisers of the Support Stafford Hospital campaign, spoke to Socialist Worker.
“These proposals are all about money,” she said. “There’s no reason to downgrade or close maternity paediatrics or an Intensive Care Unit. Lots of these decisions just don’t make sense.
“In the 60 days before the proposals came out the TSAs didn’t even visit the wards or talk to the teams they plan to cut.”
The TSAs claim they are only following recommendations from top medical specialists at the Royal Colleges.
But those recommendations are based on information from the TSAs themselves, not staff or patients.
Campaigners fear the TSAs want huge “super hospitals” where patients will have to travel many miles to Stoke or Wolverhampton.
“They weren’t ready for this turnout,” said Cheryl, “but they knew this would be where we could get our voices heard.
“Now the proposals are out the fight starts again. We’re not against change but the GP Clinical Commissioning Groups don’t even want to commission services at Stafford.
“They said if the A&E were to reopen overnight they wouldn’t fund it—it’s all about money not safety.”
The maternity unit in Stafford Hospital was always safe.
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