Mick Pilling (Chairman) Writes:

A meeting was planned by the Commissioning Strategy for Community Health Services by East Riding Primary Healthcare Trust at Bridlington Leisure World on the Promenade; 07/02/07 at 7.00pm until 9.00pm; the meeting actually ran till 9.15pm and would have carried on with many more questions to be asked; I can report this meeting was well attended by people across the East Riding of Yorkshire, they included residents from; Withernsea, Hornsea, Beverley, Driffield, Pocklington, Market Weighton, Bridlington and surrounding rural areas; the numbers who attended were in excess of 300+, a brilliant turn-out.

The meeting started with the usual introduction; in the panel chair was; Mr Ray Evans of (Patient Forum) keeping law and order; then we had; Dr Duncan Ross (PCT Director of Commissioning & Procurement); Kate Ireland (PCT Director of Quality & Professional Services/Executive Nurse); John Howard (Chairman PCT's Clinical Executive) & Louise Norton (Non-Executive Director PCT).

The welcome introduction was a 13 page plan of what the PCT intended to do; implementation 2007 – 2009; by the sound of the way the PCT were taking the whole thing we believe is cut & dried? Most of the attending residents thought the very same.

This makes the Consultation Document worthless in most peoples eyes; they think the Consultation Document is nothing more than a smoke screen, there to impress, a Consultation Document is required by Government law and must be in the public eye for a minimum of 3 months this particular one runs from 30 th November 2006 – 8 th March 2007 were the results should be made known.

The questions came thick and fast from the packed hall; they included the proposed cuts in beds at 4 community hospitals within this catchment area; they include; Withernsea, Hornsea, Beverley Westwood & Driffield's Alfred Bean and the plan to remove at least 60 beds and divided them between Bridlington & Goole giving 30 beds to each has anger 100's if not 1,000's of people has they fight to retain services in the town; support and backing has come by way of Members of Parliament, local Councillors and residents across the East Riding of Yorkshire who up to now damned the Consultation Document and all it stands for saying don't fix what isn't broken!

The PCT would like to see these beds transferred so patients can be discharged early from hospital and transferred back into the community to be cared for by Social Services & the Council; at this moment in time Social services and the Council are heavy in debt? By millions of £££'s; so we ask how is this going to work; there is an extreme shortage of staff and carers, it means that many of the elderly could suffer or in some cases DIE! The Consultation Document is all about cuts and savings the rest I'm afraid is nothing more than waffle dreamt up by unaccountable PCT groups.

Did you know the previous PCT Yorkshire Wolds & Coast run by Adrian Smith was approx £20m in debt? The PCT then changed its name to East Riding of Yorkshire PCT run by Claire Wood; the PCT now have no debt? But they intend to pay off the previous debt start of the new financial year in April 2007; so when you get into debt just change your name and start again….

The plan to take 30 beds to Bridlington cannot be seen to work; reasons, no staff, complete ban on overtime and a complete ban on recruitment, not to mention no cares in the community. The Council are going through a big shake-up regarding care: Bands A/B/C/D as it was; have now been reviewed with the 2 lower bands been removed C/D making Care harder to get? Social Services are at present £3.3m in the red so many new patients would be hard done by?

Did you know? The Consultation Document is (53) pages long, by the time you have got through this you will be bog-eyed; the Scarborough NHS Healthcare trust Consultation Document is (43) pages long; it's no wonder that people don't fill in the forms because they are so long and confusing; “yes you've got it”, the Trusts hope you do this so they have a clear run to impose the planned change.

There are, plans a-foot in the Scarborough NHS Trusts Consultation Doc to remove the following services from Bridlington Hospital they include: Cardiac Monitoring Unit; Acute Medical Services; Ward reductions of Thornton & Kent Wards; removal of Maternity Services at Bridlington, Malton & Whitby; Pain Clinic & Leaving the now reduced Minor Injuries Unit operating by day only; closed over-night 9pm to 9am next day along with Malton, Whitby, Withernsea, Hornsea, Beverley & Driffield; making patients travel to either; Hull, Scarborough or York Accident & Emergency Departments thus putting a direct strain on the much stretched Ambulance Service with in this area & region.

I have now attended so many meeting in this area; I feel the PCT's & Trusts are reading from the same hymn sheet, its remarkable how all the answers you get are so similar; their taking we believe is design to confuse and boggle.

I would like to recommend that all Campaign Group hold a Rally the biggest ever seen in this region; it would take some arranging but could be achieved by doing this we would be united against all these proposed changes for the worst; something has to be done before its too late!! I would; as a Campaign Group (chairman) like to thank sincerely all the people from all walks of life who attended this meeting; solidarity will win the day.

Mick Pilling (Chairman)