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This is the archive to 2006. For more recent material see:
Withdrawal of Local Facilities/Sources
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Richard Taylor was the star turn of the last election a retired doctor who
stood as an independent and scored a symbolic victory over Labour. His one
goal was to save Kidderminster hospital. Eight months on, it is still destined
for partial redevelopment. So what chance do single-issue campaigns, like his,
have of bucking national policy? Andy Beckett Guardian
Saturday March 9, 2002
- The biggest street protest for decades in Cornwall - between 15,000 and
20,000 people, according to police - has raised the prospect of a new mass
revolt against hospital cuts, along the lines that cost Labour its Wyre
Forest seat in the last election. Judith Cook of Newlyn is among residents
fearful of the consequences in western Cornwall if Penzance's accident and
emergency services move away to Truro. Society
Thursday April 18, 2002
- A citizens' revolt is brewing in western Cornwall: plans to downgrade the
hospital emergency service in Penzance have just provoked the biggest street
protest in the region for decades. Judith Cook of Newlyn wonders if new tax
money will make a difference. Guardian
Monday April 22, 2002
- Update: 'It looks like Penzance protesters have saved hospital
A&E'. Adamant popular opposition to cutting emergency services at
West Cornwall hospital has, at last, got through to the health authorities,
Judith Cook of Newlyn reports.
Society
Tuesday August 6, 2002
- Ivor Gaber on the patients "struck off" by GPs.
Wednesday September 4, 2002 The Guardian
- Dozens of hospitals face closure as a result of the biggest revolution in
the way local health care is delivered since the National Health Service was
created. Jo Revill and Gaby Hinsliff
Sunday
October 6, 2002 The Observer
- The last remaining accident and emergency department on the Isle of Wight
may be closed, forcing the emergency services to evacuate sick and injured
patients across the Solent to a mainland hospital for treatment. Owen Bowcott
Monday
January 13, 2003 The Guardian
- Proposals to deregulate the market for chemists shops will undermine
government plans to improve NHS services and tackle social exclusion,
community pharmacists have warned.
Patrick Butler Friday January 17, 2003
- Supermarkets are preparing to open up to 500 new pharmacies because of the
proposed scrapping of rules which allow the NHS to control where prescription
drugs can be dispensed. James Meikle, health correspondent
Saturday January 18, 2003 The Guardian
- Alan Milburn, the health secretary, yesterday ordered the NHS to abandon
the "big is beautiful" philosophy that has forced the closure of scores of
smaller local hospitals under successive governments, often against fierce
resistance from their communities. John Carvels, social affairs editor
Saturday February 15, 2003 The Guardian
- Deregulation may close 6,000 pharmacies. Felicity Lawrence, consumer
affairs correspondent
Wednesday March 5, 2003 The Guardian
- Patricia Hewitt, the trade and industry secretary, yesterday signalled
that she would side with small pharmacies against a massive shake-up in the
way they operate. James Meikle, health correspondent
Friday March 21, 2003 The Guardian
- Is there room for supermarket pharmacies and traditional outlets to
survive side by side? Margaret Kubicek
Wednesday April 9, 2003 The Guardian
- A campaigner has been elected to the Scottish parliament on the
single-issue "Save Stobhill hospital" platform, unseating Labour MSP Brian
Fitzpatrick. Tash Shifrin
Friday May 2, 2003
- The government today rejected total deregulation of the pharmacy industry,
keeping supermarkets at bay from the strictly-controlled sector.
Thursday July 17, 2003
- Plymouth students are condemning the decision to close the university's
on-campus sexual health clinic. Polly Curtis
Friday September 26, 2003
- Patients will be able to get prescription medicines over the internet, by
mail order in 24-hour supermarkets and in out of town shopping centres after a
relaxation of the rules controlling the location of pharmacies. The new rules,
announced today by health minister Rosie Winterton, will prepare the ground
for more widespread use of the internet to order medicines when electronic
prescription services currently being piloted by the NHS are extended across
the country. Tash Shifrin
Wednesday August 18, 2004
- Hospital modernisation plans are being put on ice because ministers fear
Kidderminster-style political revolts at the next election. Amid cries of
political dishonesty from senior NHS managers, the government has told local
trusts that it is the wrong time to proceed with proposals that might upset
staff or patients in marginal constituencies, whatever the long-term advantage
to public health. John Carvel and Peter Hetherington
Friday
September 24, 2004 The Guardian
- Veteran campaigner (Jean Brett) leads fight to save Harefield hospital.
Mark Gould
Wednesday February 16, 2005 The Guardian
- A new contract for high street pharmacists in England and Wales is being
introduced tomorrow - despite fears that it could be the death knell for the
small independent chemist. Debbie Andalo
Thursday March 31, 2005
- Showpiece hospital faces axe. Jo Revill, health editor, reports on how
plans to close a major London teaching hospital in a marginal Labour seat are
being kept secret until after the general election.
Sunday April 10, 2005 The Observer
- Nothing is more difficult for a politician or a health administrator than
to close a hospital. Conservative proposals to close or merge several
hospitals in London in the early 1990s proved to be the undoing of Virginia
Bottomley, then Health Secretary, who failed to understand how passionately
attached people were to their local NHS. Jo Revill
Sunday April 10, 2005 The Observer
- A bundle of personal letters to Tony Blair and John Reid giving
confidential information about people's bad experiences of the NHS has been
found dumped in a paper recycling skip in Oxford and passed to the Guardian.
It includes a petition with the signatures of 2,007 citizens of Cheltenham
protesting about the partial closure of Battledown children's ward, in the
local NHS hospital. John Carvel, social affairs editor Wednesday
April 20,
2005 The Guardian
- An ambitious plan to build a £1 billion state-of-the-art hospital for
London, replacing the Harefield and Royal Brompton heart hospitals, has fallen
through, and developers are privately accusing civil servants of scuppering the
deal because of alarm over costs and possible political fallout as the election
looms. The proposal was to create the 'Paddington Health Campus', taking
Harefield and the Royal Brompton and redeveloping them with St Mary's Hospital
on land near Paddington station. But the consortium that owns the land,
Paddington Development Corporation Ltd (PDCL), has withdrawn from all
negotiations. Jo Revill, health editor
Sunday April 24, 2005 The Observer
- Thousands of small GP practices around the country are under threat from
government plans to set up giant "super surgeries", doctors' leaders have
warned. The British Medical Association annual family doctors' conference in
London yesterday passed a resolution deploring "the ongoing threat to the
existence of small practices". Axing or merging thousands of practices run by
small groups of GPs would reduce choice for patients, it added. Tash Shifrin
Friday June 17, 2005
- If the threats to shut down Kidderminster hospital's accident and
emergency department lost Labour its seat in the town in the 2001 election,
what is the government's new competitive health market going to do in the 2009
election with hospital departments and wards being closed up and down the
country? Few people are aware about what is going to happen to the NHS.
Labour's plan is far more radical than the internal market that the
Conservatives introduced in 1991. While there are more structures in place to
protect standards - inspection, clear clinical guidelines and competition
based on capacity not price - there is no current plan for a safety net like
the one the Tories used to prevent closures and protect the party from
political flak. Leader
Monday
June 20, 2005 The Guardian
- West Suffolk consultation sees huge response. Over 3000 people took part
in West Suffolk PCT's consultation over proposed cuts. The cuts could affect
Sudbury's Walnuttree Hospital, Bartlett Hospital at Felixstowe, Newmarket
Hospital, West Suffolk Hospital, Hartismere Hospital at Eye and St Clements
Hospital at Ipswich.
Summary by Keep our NHS
Public of
BBC Online 14
December 2005
- Two community hospitals to close in Wiltshire. All beds at the Malmesbury
and Devizes hospitals will close in the New Year. The PCT says the move is
temporary, but campaigners believe they will be shut for good.
Summary by Keep our NHS
Public of
Western Daily Press 15 December 2005
- Doctors in Hornsea have spoken out against plans to close the town's minor
injuries unit. Yorkshire Wolds and Coast PCT proposed axing services at
Hornsea's Cottage Hospital. A local GP said: "The doctors in this town are
unanimous in our thoughts. We are behind the people of the town in campaigning
for the unit to stay open."
Summary by Keep our NHS
Public of Hull
Daily Mail 15 December 2005
- A new website has been launched in a bid to help
save Bridgnorth and Ludlow hospitals from closure. South Shropshire MP Philip
Dunne has built the site to drum up support for the campaign to save the
county’s community hospitals. They are being threatened with closure as a
result of a multi-million pound cash crisis in Shropshire’s medical services.
Residents are being encouraged to log on to
www.saveourbridgnorthhospital.com or
www.saveourludlowhospital.com and sign the petitions online.
Summary by Keep our NHS
Public of
Shropshire
Star 19 December 2005
- A third of acute hospital beds will be lost due to Southmead Hospital
development, claims MP. Steve Webb, Liberal Democrat Health Spokesman, says
one in three acute hospital beds in north Bristol and South Gloucestershire
will be axed under plans to replace the existing Southmead and Frenchay
hospitals.
Summary by Keep our NHS
Public of Bristol Evening Post 20
December 2005
- A petition of more than 1000 names against the closure of Brampton
Hospital has been handed to the local PCT. The threat to the hospital came
with North Cumbria PCTs' proposal to close 118 beds at hospitals in Alston,
Brampton, Millom, Cockermouth, Keswick, Penrith and Maryport to save £2.4m.
Summary by Keep our NHS
Public of
North
West News and Star 21 December 2005
- Royal Shrewsbury Hospital's special care baby unit could be downgraded.
Premature babies in Shropshire could be transferred to Stoke or Wolverhampton
under the plans. Shropshire PCT has said its predicted deficit could increase
to £3.5m.
Shropshire
Star 21 December 2005
- Protest planned against Whitchurch Hospital closure. The march, organised
by Whitchurch Hospital League of Friends, will take place in the town on 7
January.
Summary by Keep our NHS
Public of
Shropshire Star 21 December 2005
- Expectant parents could face the modern-day equivalent of "no room at the
inn" this Christmas because the NHS is closing birth centres in a bid to save
money, a charity warned today. The National Childbirth Trust (NCT) is
predicting that at least 10 birth centres have closed or are at risk of
closure as a result of local NHS trusts struggling to balance their budgets.
The charity said this could mean parents get no choice about where their
children are born. The NCT said NHS trusts may believe that midwife-run birth
centres in the community are more expensive to run than consultant-led
maternity units, but the former increase women's chances of having a
straightforward birth and reduce the need to use expensive medical facilities
such as epidural anaesthetic, caesarean section or the special care baby unit.
It claimed the closures are also putting more pressure on hospital maternity
units where financial constraints and staff shortages mean that one midwife is
often left running between two or more women in labour.
Friday December 23, 2005
- Staffing shortage leads to closure in mid-Wales. The minor injuries unit
at Builth Wells Hospital has had to close due to a staffing crisis.
Summary by Keep our NHS
Public of
Shropshire Star 21 December 2005
- Goscote Hospital to close. Walsall Teaching PCT has approved controversial
proposals for the closure of Goscote Hospital despite a long-running campaign
by residents. Goscote is a 103-bed rehabilitation hospital with stroke unit. A
hospice and an older people's care centre with 40 beds will be built in its
place.
Summary by Keep our NHS
Public of
Walsall and Willenhall Chronicle 23 December 2005
- Beginning of
the end for cottage hospital? An 11-bed in-patient ward at Tetbury
Hospital in Gloucestershire has closed. Cotswold and Vale PCT cut funding for
6 of the beds, making the entire ward unviable. Now there are fears over the
future of the rest of the hospital.
Summary by Keep our NHS
Public of Western Daily Press
4 January 2006
- Community beds
cuts will hit rural elderly, say GPs. Cumbrian GPs have warned that North
Cumbria PCT's proposed cut of 118 community hospital beds across six hospitals
will leave elderly people in rural areas vulnerable and isolated and will be
unlikely to save money due to the knock-on effects. The hospitals in question
include Cockermouth, Maryport, Keswick, and Wigton. Summary by
Keep our NHS Public
of
North West News and Star 6 January 2006
- Group calls for
answers on hospitals. Up to a thousand protesters are expected on the
streets on Saturday protesting against the proposed closures of Ludlow,
Bridgnorth and Whitchurch community hospitals. More than 400 people demanded
assurances over the hospitals at a meeting with the chief executive of
Shropshire PCT in Ludlow on Thursday. Meanwhile, campaigners against cuts at
the Princess Royal Hospital will gather in Telford on March 11 for a "March
for Life". Summary by
Keep our NHS Public
of
Shropshire
Star
6 January 2006
- MP speaks of
despair at hospital axe. Sir Michael Lord, Tory MP for central Suffolk and
north Ipswich, has urged Suffolk County Council's health scrutiny committee to
refer East Suffolk PCTs' plans to close Hartismere Hospital in Eye back to
Patricia Hewitt. He said the consultation was "farcical" since the closure of
the hospital was the only option proposed.
Summary by
Keep our NHS Public
of East Anglian Daily
Times 9 January 2006
- Protests over
plan to close hospitals. Thousands of people took to the streets of
Ludlow, Bridgnorth and Whitchurch on Saturday to protest against the proposed
closure of three community hospitals in Shropshire.
Summary by
Keep our NHS Public
of
Shropshire Star 9 January 2006
- Anxiety over
ward closure proposals. A number of surgical wards, including gynaecology,
are believed to be under threat in a review of services at Staffordshire
General Hospital by in-debt Mid-Staffordshire General Hospitals Trust.
Summary by
Keep our NHS Public
of
West Midlands Express and Star 9 January 2006
- Hospital
marches hailed as a record. Saturday's demonstrations against the closure
of Bridgnorth, Ludlow and Whitchurch hospitals have been hailed as the biggest
demonstrations ever seen in Shropshire. Wrekin MP Mark Pritchard said he hoped
for a similar turnout on March 11 for the 'March for Life' demonstration
against the proposed reduction of services at Telford's Princess Royal
Hospital.
Summary by
Keep our NHS Public
of Shropshire Star
10 January 2006
- Hospital
campaign to lobby meeting. There are fears for the future of Macclesfield
Hospital after Eastern Cheshire PCT launched a review that includes
children's' in-patient, maternity and neo-natal services. Campaigners are
worried that the hospital may be downgraded to cottage hospital status, and
that the A & E will be closed.
40,000 people already support the Hands Off Our Hospital campaign and locals
are being encouraged to attend a PCT consultation meeting at Macclesfield Town
Hall between 2 and 4pm on Wednesday, January 11.
Summary by
Keep our NHS Public
of
Stoke Sentinel 10 January 2006
- Care fears as
recovery bid revealed. Proposals from cash-strapped Mid-Staffordshire
General Hospitals NHS Trust designed to secure the future of Cannock Chase
Hospital have raised fears that care for the elderly will decline. There is
also concern about possible future redundancies. Gordon Alcott from Cannock's
health scrutiny committee said: "It is disappointing that the needs of
long-terms patients, especially the elderly, seem to have been forgotten."
Summary by
Keep our NHS Public
of
West Midlands Express and Star
10 January 2006
- Hospital
protests to gallop at races. Campaigners against the closure of Ludlow
hospital have found a novel way of promoting their cause. Ludlow Races' Clerk
of the Course Bob Davies and its senior medical officer have nominated one of
Thursday afternoon's races the Save Ludlow Hospital Handicap Steeplechase.
Meanwhile an official from Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital Trust has told the
local council health scrutiny committee that closing community hospitals in
Shropshire would leave the two large hospitals over-stretched. The trust
already has a 95% bed occupancy rate.
Summary by
Keep our NHS Public
of Shropshire Star
11 January 2006
- Don't shut our
little hospital, we'll run it. Campaigners against Cotswold and Vale PCT's
decision to cut 15 beds at Fairford Hospital are considering running it
themselves. The League of Friends of Fairford Hospital has offered to pay
£75,000 to try to keep the beds there for six months, and is considering
whether it is possible to take the hospital from the NHS completely.
Summary by Keep our NHS Public
of
Western Daily Press 11 January 2006
- 10,000 sign
health cuts petition in Wales. The petition was in response to fears that
financial problems may force the closure of Tregaron hospital and cut services
at Cardigan in Ceredigion.
Summary by
Keep our NHS Public
of BBC Online
12 January 2006
- Possible
judicial review over baby units shake-up. Salford City Council is
considering launching a judicial review over fears that maternity services in
the city could be scrapped. Salford council is threatening legal action
because it believes the process used to choose favoured options in the
streamlining of services by Greater Manchester SHA could be flawed. If health
bosses go ahead with their preferred model it would mean the maternity unit at
Hope Hospital in Salford would close.
Summary by
Keep our NHS Public
of
Manchester Evening News 12 January 2006
- What will
happen after hospital is closed? Supporters of under-threat Keynsham
Hospital want a decision on its future delayed until it is made clear what
health services will replace it. The hospital's future is currently being
consulted on by Bristol South and West PCT.
Summary by
Keep our NHS Public
of Bristol Evening Post
16 January 2006
- Two wards to
close at hospital. The gynaecology and women's health ward and the
orthopaedic ward will close at Staffordshire General Hospital as part of
controversial plans to save £600,000. Staff on the wards are now worried for
their jobs.
Summary by
Keep our NHS Public
of
West Midlands Express and Star
16 January 2006
- Hospital morale
"at all time low" in Bridlington. Amicus have said that staff morale is
suffering as Bridlington hospital is wound down and patients are transferred
to Scarborough, prompting fears that Bridlington will be closed. Scarborough
and North East Yorkshire NHS Trust is predicting a £2.7m deficit.
Summary by
Keep our NHS Public
of BBC Online
18 January 2006
- "You will all
have a say on future of hospitals." Cumbria and District PCT has committed
to send the consultation document on the future of threatened cottage
hospitals to every household in the county. Campaigners in defence of the
hospitals will be meeting on Monday in Wigton.
Summary by
Keep our NHS Public
of
North West News & Star
18 January 2006
- Hospitals
outcry to ministers. Petitions in defence of Whitchurch, Bridgnorth and
Ludlow hospitals with 30,000 signatures have been handed to the Department of
Health. Shropshire MP Owen Paterson said: "This is a phenomenal demonstration
of popular feeling."
Summary by
Keep our NHS Public
of
Shropshire Star
18 January 2006
- Forget the
'porno sirs' - the real scandal is going on in the NHS. An opinion piece
by Boris Johnson says: "There are now 80 community hospitals under threat of
closure…It is quite unbelievable that government ministers can agonise in
public about the appointment of a few dodgy teachers, and yet refuse to offer
any public comment or justification for the irreversible extinction of dozens
of hospitals, hiding resolutely behind civil servants who are themselves
anonymous. I do not say that we should lay off Ruth Kelly; just that the
inquisition she faces is nothing compared with that which ought to be directed
at Health Secretary Patricia Hewitt."
Summary by
Keep our NHS Public
of
Telegraph 19 January 2006
- County Council
Opposes Hospital Bed Closure Plan. Cumbria County Councillors have vowed
to fight the threat to cut beds at Cumbria's cottage hospitals. There was
cross party support for opposition to plans to cut 118 beds at community
hospitals in Brampton, Alston, Keswick, Maryport, Cocker mouth and Millom.
Plans for a new hospital to replace the Cumberland Infirmary already mean
there will be a reduction in beds, but these were intended to be part of a
move to community care rather than acute hospital care. Councillors said the
plans were contradictory.
Summary by
Keep our NHS Public
of
North West News & Star 19 January 2006
- Health chiefs
defend ward closure. Morecambe Bay PCT proposes shutting two mental health
wards at Kendal's Westmoreland General Hospital in Cumbria. One of the wards
is for elderly patients, and the PCT claims it is seeking to move this care to
the community, but financial pressures dictate the closure of the other.
Morecambe Bay PCT chief executive Leigh Griffin said: "I've made it very clear
throughout consultation, that we would wish to proceed with changes for
service for older people regardless of our financial position. However, the
specific changes that would affect Kentmere Ware are much more explicitly
driven by our financial position." A march will take place in Kendal on
Saturday in support of local health services.
Summary by
Keep our NHS Public
of BBC Online
20 January 2006
- Fight to save
"forgotten" hospital. The campaigns around threats to Bridgnorth, Ludlow
and Whitchurch community hospitals have overshadowed the plight of Bishop's
Castle Community Hospital, which also has an uncertain future. Local residents
have now launched a campaign and organised demonstrations.
Summary by
Keep our NHS Public
of Shropshire Star
20 January 2006
- Devastating
cuts in East Suffolk. East Suffolk PCTs have recommended a string of
closures to try to reduce their £20m deficit. The final decision will be taken
this week, but it is almost certain that Hayward, Kesgrave, Saxmundham and
Violet Hill day hospitals will be closed; Hartismere Hospital and the Bartlet
Hospital will be closed and sold; the Pines occupational therapy facility and
the Old Fox Yard Clubhouse in Stowmarket will be closed; beds at Aldeburgh
hospital will be reduced to about 20; and inpatient beds will be reduced at
Felixstowe General Hospital.
Summary by
Keep our NHS Public
of BBC Online
23 January 2006
- Ward closure
plan prompts protest. Hundreds of people marched in Cumbria on Saturday
against proposals to close two mental health wards at the Westmorland General
Hospital in Kendal.
Summary by
Keep our NHS Public
of BBC Online
23 January 2006
- Bid to save
hospitals looks set to fail. East Suffolk PCTs have been accused of
ignoring their own consultation exercise with the decision to close a host of
hospitals in the region. The overwhelming majority of more than 30,000 people
who took part in the consultation fiercely opposed the closures of mental
health services and hospitals. But the PCTs, £20m in debt and rising, will
push ahead with the cuts regardless, including the closure and sale of the
Bartlet Hospital in Felixstowe and Hartismere Hospital in Eye, and cuts to
beds at Aldeburgh Hospital. The PCTs said the negative responses to the
consultation was partly due to the way the questions were drafted in the
questionnaire.
Summary by
Keep our NHS Public
of East Anglian Daily Times
23 January 2006
- Fight to save
hospitals intensifies. Campaigners against the closure of the Bartlet
Hospital and Hartismere Hospital have vowed to fight on against East Suffolk
PCTs' decision to close and sell the institutions. The Hartismere Hospital
League of Friends are taking legal advice and are especially concerned with
the fact that the views of the public, overwhelmingly expressed in the
consultation, have been ignored.
Summary by
Keep our NHS Public
of East Anglian Daily Times
23 January 2006
- It would be
devastating if ward moved. There are fears that the children's ward at the
George Eliot Hospital in Nuneaton could be moved to Walsgrave Hospital in
Coventry in a review of services. The hospital says it has no plans to move
the ward, but staff have expressed fears that this will be the outcome of the
review.
Summary by
Keep our NHS Public
of Coventry Evening Telegraph 25 January 2006
- 'Use us' plea
by hospital. Kidderminster's new treatment centre is running at half its
capacity because people think the hospital has been closed down.
Worcestershire Acute NHS Health Trust and Health Concern want more people to
use the facility to help clear the trust's £20m deficit.
Summary by
Keep our NHS Public
of
West Midlands Express & Star 25 January 2006
- Hewitt admits
need for hospital closures. Patricia Hewitt has signalled a swathe of
hospital closures and reconfigurations to get the NHS into financial balance.
She said "very difficult" decisions would be needed where "too many services
are being delivered from too many different places in a way that is very
expensive and very inefficient". This will mean "reorganising services,
reconfiguring hospitals, doing more treatment and diagnostics in the
community, in primary care centres and community hospitals" because the NHS
cannot "do everything, or as much as we are currently doing, in acute
hospitals." The FT says this will mean the closure of some hospitals in Sussex
and Surrey, west London, the home counties, parts of Hampshire, Kent,
Lancashire and Yorkshire and possibly in Wiltshire, with many more losing A&
E departments and the full range of procedures. Despite this, Hewitt is
determined to push on with payment by results, which from April will apply to
60% of a typical hospital's activity, including accident and emergency, urgent
operations and outpatients. The NHS Confederation said three quarters of NHS
chief executives believe the worst deficits cannot be tackled without service
redesign and closures, leaving the government with "a stark choice between
continuing financial instability and tough political decisions".
Summary by
Keep our NHS Public
of
Financial Times 26 January 2006
- Trusts demand
political support. John de Braux, chief executive of Bedfordshire and
Hertfordshire SHA, has said that PCTs and acute trusts in the area will never
reach financial balance without dramatic reconfiguration requiring political
support. The SHA has a predicted deficit of £100m. One PCT, Bedfordshire
Heartlands, has a historic debt of £20 but has no plans to addresss this. The
chief executive of East and North Hertfordshire trust blames the problems on
having two district hospitals that duplicate each other.
Summary by
Keep our NHS Public
of Health Service Journal 26 January 2006
- The exorbitant cost of PFI is now being cruelly exposed. The huge deficits
run up by NHS trusts are part of a wider market-induced healthcare crisis: we
must have a full-scale review. Allyson Pollock
Thursday
January 26, 2006 The Guardian
- Petitions "not
worth the paper they are written on". Healthy Futures, the team carrying
out a review and consultation on the future of Greater Manchester's hospitals,
has angered residents by saying that petitions "carry absolutely no weight and
will not be considered as we can't analyse a signature". Campaigners against
the closure of the children's, maternity and emergency wards at Rochdale
Infirmary have so far collected 30,000 signatures.
Summary by
Keep our NHS Public
of
Manchester Evening News 27 January 2006
- Health care
moves back into the community. Patricia Hewitt said that closures of
community hospitals for short-term financial reasons would not be acceptable
without long-term use being fully considered: "If there are community
facilities that are needed for the long term, they shouldn't be closed down
due to short-term budgetary problems. We are asking PCTs to reconsider their
decision against the principles of this White Paper."
Summary by
Keep our NHS Public
of
Telegraph 31 January 2006
- A&E campaign
goes to Westminster. Patricia Hewitt has been presented with a 30,000-name
petition calling for the A& E
department to be reinstated at Crawley Hospital in West Sussex. The department
was closed and moved to the East Surrey Hospital in Redhill, 10 miles away, in
August 2004.
Summary by Keep our NHS Public
of
BBC Online 31 January 2006
- No reprieve for
cottage hospitals. Health chiefs in the West have insisted the massive
shake-up of the NHS will continue as planned, despite Patricia Hewitt
apparently calling for cottage hospitals to be saved. Carol Clarke, chief
executive of Kennet & North
Wiltshire and West Wiltshire PCTs, where two community hospitals have already
closed and another five are under threat, said campaigners had taken Hewitt's
message the wrong way: "In this area we have nine facilities and all but one
are in old buildings that are not fit for purpose…I'm determined to keep
services local but there won't be nine of them in a few years' time. It is
unaffordable, inequitable and would be completely out of step."
Summary by Keep our NHS Public
of Western Daily Press 1 February 2006
- Outcry as
admissions are halted at Fairford. No more patients are being admitted to
Fairford Hospital in Gloucestershire. Campaigners had not expected the
institution to close for another two months, and were continuing to campaign
for a reprieve. Cotswold and Vale PCT is struggling with a £5m overspend. The
hospital will close when the 13 patients currently being cared for are
discharged.
Summary by Keep our NHS Public
of Western Daily Press 1 February 2006
- Government will
not save hospitals. The shift in policy towards favouring community
hospitals will not save threatened institutions across Suffolk. The Walnuttree
in Sudbury, the Hartismere in Eye and the Bartlet in Felixstowe will still
close. Lord Warner said that old buildings are not fit for purpose, but
campaigners responded by saying the buildings are functional and there will be
nothing to replace them if they go. Summary by Keep our NHS Public
of East Anglian Daily Times 1 February 2006
- Hospitals fight
still on as trust remains silent. North Cumbria PCTs have refused to offer
any reassurances about the future of Cumbria's cottage hospitals, despite the
government's white paper being taken as an endorsement of such facilities.
Campaigners said the fight will go on, and said the government proposals
failed to take account of the necessity for overnight beds. Summary by Keep our NHS Public
of
North West News & Star 1 February 2006
- NHS chief's vow
over future of A&E unit. Tom Taylor, chief executive of Shrewsbury and
Telford Hospitals Trust, has given his strongest pledge yet that Telford's
Princess Royal will not lose its Accident and Emergency department or see it
downgraded. He said there was not enough cash to make any major changes.
Summary by Keep our NHS Public
of
Shropshire Star 1 February 2006
- 'Stalinist'
health chiefs attacked. Labour MP Helen Jones has attacked plans to merge
Warrington and Whiston hospitals, which would force her constituents to make a
20-mile round trip for treatment. She said neither she now her constituents
had confidence in Cheshire and Merseyside SHA, which she described as
"Stalinist and out of touch". Summary by Keep our NHS Public
of Liverpool Daily Post 2
February 2006
- New hope for
threatened hospital. A report commissioned by the Greater Manchester SHA
has recommended that threatened Altrincham General Hospital be kept open as it
has a long-term future, as do Trafford General and Stretford Memorial
hospitals. A budget deficit at Trafford Healthcare Trust had led to proposals
to relocate the services provided by Altrincham. Summary by Keep our NHS Public
of BBC
Online 2
February 2006
- Patients pledge
to challenge hospital cutbacks. The Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust
board has approved plans to cut vital services at Leeds General Infirmary -
but the patients affected have vowed to oppose the move. Renal services will
be moved from LGI and split between St James's and Seacroft Hospital. Patients
fear the lack of emergency facilities at Seacroft could put lives at risk.
They feel the hospital management has bulldozed through the move, which will
mean longer journeys for many very sick patients. Summary by Keep our NHS Public
of
Yorkshire Evening Post 3 February 2006
- Let us run
cottage hospitals, say GPs. A group of doctors from the Mayport Medical
Centre are proposing to the Department of Health that they be allowed to take
over the running of Maryport's community hospital, currently threatened with
closure. The GPs' plan rests on them taking practice-based commissioning,
giving them control of the commissioning budget for the town. If successful
the method could be copied in Cockermouth and other Cumbrian towns with
threatened community hospitals. Summary by Keep our NHS Public
of North West News & Star
3 February 2006
- Mass rally in
Maryport. A rally against bed closures is taking place in Maryport today.
It has been organised by the Maryport League of Friends and is part of a
series of demonstrations against possible closures of community hospitals in
Cumbria. Summary by Keep our NHS Public
of North West News & Star
3 February 2006
- Protesters
fight on to save hospital. After the people of Redditch voted by a 99%
majority against closing the A& E at
Redditch's Alexandra Hospital, Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust this
week agreed to a do U-turn and retain the department. However there are still
proposals to close maternity, children's and gynaecology wards, and
campaigners have vowed to fight on. Summary by Keep our NHS Public
of Birmingham Mail 3 February 2006
- Local care, for
local people. While the government wants community hospitals to be a
template for 21st century healthcare, 80 of them are still under threat. In
Wiltshire, Carol Clarke, chief executive of Kennet
& North Wiltshire and West Wiltshire
PCTs (facing a £17m deficit), has said that of the nine cottage hospitals in
the area, all but one are in old buildings "not fit for purpose". One of these
hospitals, in Westbury, consists of buildings constructed in 1989 and 2001.
Mike Hawkins, mayor of the town, said: "There has been no consultation, and we
have not heard where, how, or when alternative services will be provided."
Summary by Keep our NHS Public
of
Telegraph 6 February 2006
- Meeting fights
hospital proposals. Campaigners in Surrey are staging their own public
meeting in parallel to Guildford and Waverley PCT's public consultation over
cutting services. The PCT proposals include closing Milford Hospital and
cutting or redistributing beds at Cranleigh, Farnham and Haslemere. Haslemere
Hospital's League of Friends has arranged the meeting to oppose the loss of 32
beds. They have also planned a public protest for 25 February. Summary by Keep our NHS Public
of
BBC Online 7 February 2006
- Hospital's
award-winning birth centre under threat. An Award-winning natural birth
centre could become the latest casualty of NHS cutbacks. Jubilee Birth Centre
at Castle Hill Hospital in Cottingham, which delivers 350 babies a year, is to
undergo a review into its future. Hull and East Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust
will consult before it makes any decision. The trust is attempting to reduce a
£5m deficit. Summary by Keep our NHS Public
of Hull Daily Mail 7 February 2006
- United in fight
for our right to choose. Mothers, councillors and MPs have united to fight
for the future of the Jubilee Birth Centre. Summary by Keep our NHS Public
of Hull Daily Mail 7 February 2006
- Help us to keep
up the pressure. Hornsea Cottage Hospital League Of Friends is calling for
supporters to keep up the campaign before the next decision about Hornsea
Hospital's minor injuries unit is made at the end of March. The group has
asked supporters to contact them so they can form a database. Anyone wishing
to get in touch with the group can call Mr Cawkill on (01964) 537171. Summary by Keep our NHS Public
of Hull Daily Mail 9
February 2006
- Health
campaigners' time plea rejected. Suffolk West PCT has turned down calls
from campaigners to delay a decision on the closure of the Walnuttree and St
Leonard's hospitals, expected in two weeks. Campaigners want the hospitals to
continue until a new health campus in Sudbury opens in 2007. Colin Spence,
chairman of the Walnuttree Hospital Action Committee, said: "The white paper
states that community hospitals should not simply be closed because of
short-term budgetary pressures, if they are clinically viable and local people
wish to use them. Community hospitals such as Walnuttree and St Leonard's in
Sudbury are quite clearly clinically viable, as are other community hospitals
in Suffolk, since they continue to deliver highly valued and effective
recuperation and rehabilitation services for local people." Summary by Keep our NHS Public
of East Anglian Daily Times 9 February 2006
- Wards under
threat in Halton North Cheshire Hospitals Trust is proposing to close five
acute medical wards at Halton Hospital. Services will be transferred to
Warrington Hospital with the consequence that Halton Hospital will only be
able to take day cases. Local residents and unions have set up a 'Hang on to
Halton' campaign. There will be a march from Halton Hospital to Runcorn Town
Hall on the 21st March at 5.00 pm. For more information and messages of
support contact Pauline Warrener at
paulinewarrener@yahoo.co.uk.
Summary by Keep our NHS Public
10 February 2006
- Isn't this
where A&E was before? Management consultants looking for efficiency
savings in Lancashire and Merseyside have proposed moving Southport Hospital's
A& E department to Omskirk - less
than a year since it was swapped the other way. The move from Ormskirk to
Southport of its accident and emergency department, intensive care and all
acute surgical beds, and of the children's A&
E services from Southport to Ormskirk, was only completed last July as
part of a cost-cutting operation involving different management consultants.
The move was met with protests then, but now consultants McKinsey think money
can be saved by reversing the move. McKinsey has so far been paid £460,000 for
its investigation into Merseyside NHS Trusts. Councillor David Swiffen, whose
ward covers Ormskirk hospital, said: "This talk of changing it back makes me
very cross. We told them the current facilities at each of the hospitals was
fine as it was and it didn't need changing. They spent a lot of money on
consultants back then." Other proposed changes include a single NHS trust for
Aintree, Royal Liverpool, and Southport and Ormskirk; shifting elective
out-patient surgery to Southport and shutting down Ormskirk hospital
altogether; and merging the running of four more hospitals, Warrington,
Halton, Whiston and Leighton, in Crewe. Summary by
Keep our NHS Public
of Liverpool Echo 10 February 2006
- Legal fight to
stop hospital closure. Campaigners in Newmarket are meeting lawyers in
preparation for a decision by Suffolk West PCT on whether to close Newmarket
Hospital. Closure is one proposal for the hospital, which has already been
reduced to 16 beds as the PCT struggles with an estimated £20m deficit. In the
event of closure campaigners would seek a judicial review, which would mean
the beds being kept open while the legal process was ongoing. Summary by
Keep our NHS Public
of East Anglian Daily Times 13 February 2006
- Hospital axe
decision call. Owen Paterson, MP for North Shropshire, has called for a
decision once and for all on the future of Bridgnorth, Ludlow and Whitchurch
community hospitals. The closure of the hospitals was one of a number of
options put forward by management consultants Finnamore, paid £95,000 to
tackle the £36m deficit of Shropshire's health economy. NHS chiefs have said
the closures are still a possibility and no options have been ruled in or
out. Summary by
Keep our NHS Public
of
Shropshire Star 14 February 2006
- Axe still
poised over community hospitals. Despite the recent white paper promising
more community hospitals, GPs have warned that those currently under threat
would still be lost. More than half of respondents to a Doctor survey on the
white paper said existing community hospitals would not remain open under the
proposals. Summary by Keep our NHS Public
of Doctor
Update 15 February 2006
- Health cuts
D-day delayed after mix-up. Health cuts in West Suffolk have been put on
hold after a petition of more then 11,000 signatures and 5,000 letters were
misdirected. They were sent to the Department of Health rather then West
Suffolk PCT, which was consulting on proposed changes. The Walnuttree Hospital
Action Group alerted the trust to the situation. Summary by Keep our NHS Public
of East Anglian Daily Times 15 February 2006
- Shropshire
hospitals may get reprieve. Controversial plans to save £37m a year by
closing community hospitals in Shropshire have been delayed following last
month's white paper on out of hospital care. A consultation document will now
be published in March - later than planned because of the white paper, as well
as recent policy on practice-based commissioning and payment by results. Among
the options raised in the pre-consultation period were closing one or more of
the community hospitals at Ludlow, Whitchurch, and Bridgnorth. A 2,000-strong
demonstration protested at the plans. Summary by
Keep our NHS Public
of Health Service Journal 16 February 2006
- SHA warns
ministers to back off. Greater Manchester SHA has proposed radical
restructuring of services, and is warning politicians not to buckle under
democratic pressure to retain hospitals and A&
E departments. The acute services review in north-east Manchester could
see fewer A& E departments, with
some hospitals no longer carrying out emergency surgery. In Rochdale, a
20,000-signature petition has opposed the changes, which could see Rochdale
Infirmary become a 'locality' hospital. More radical options under
consultation would see the acute sites across the SHA reduced to two or even
one. A LIFT project would provide 35 new health centres. Changes to other
services would include a reduction in the number of centres carrying out
breast surgery. Under four of the five options, sites with inpatient
obstetrics and paediatrics would be reduced to seven or eight. Each would have
high dependency and special costs, and there would be three neonatal intensive
care unit sites. The favoured option for children's and maternity services is
already being opposed by Salford city council, whose leader has talked of
applying for a judicial review. Summary by
Keep our NHS Public
of Health Service Journal 16 February 2006
- Community
hospital battles continue. Despite the recent health white paper favouring
community hospitals, campaigners are still having to fight closures due to the
financial pressures on PCTs. Closure decisions are still going ahead Suffolk
and Wiltshire, and there are concerns for the future of services in other
areas, such as Shropshire and Gloucestershire. Now the Department of Health is
to issue a "get tough" message to those PCTs who are unnecessarily planning to
close community hospitals in the face of local opposition, telling them such
closures should not be implemented because of "short-term budgetary
pressures". The Department's letter says: "We are not leaving this shift of
care to chance. We will reject local NHS plans that do not set out a strategy
for providing more care closer to patients." Summary by Keep our NHS Public
of BBC Online 17
February 2006
- No respite.
A patient with Parkinson's at Keynsham Hospital has warned that vulnerable
people across the West may suffer if the institution shuts and its badly
needed respite care beds are lost. Bristol South and West Primary Care Trust
has finished consulting on plans to close the hospital. Summary by Keep our NHS Public
of Western Daily Press 20 February 2006
- Families turn
out to have their say on future of wards. Plans to shut a children's ward
and a maternity ward at Macclesfield District General Hospital were opposed
with a high level of public involvement in the consultation exercise.
Summary by
Keep our NHS Public
of Stoke Sentinel 21 February 2006
- Hospital plan
sees new fight. Campaigners fighting proposals which could see the loss of
hospital services in north Worcestershire fear moves to merge PCTs will leave
them without a voice. Objectors from Wyre Forest and members of the Save the
Alex Action Group in Redditch are planning to stage a protest march on
Saturday 25 February. It will start from the Market Hall area of Bromsgrove
town centre at 11am. Worcestershire Acute Hospitals Trust is trying to cut
spending by £20m and is looking at various options to downgrade the Alexandra
Hospital in Redditch.
Summary by
Keep our NHS Public
of
West Midlands Express & Star 21 February 2006
- 'We still need
to win the war'. Groups from across the East Riding of Yorkshire will
gather to discuss the futures of Hornsea and Withernsea hospitals. Public
meetings will take place in the two towns aimed at saving services.
Campaigners say that although they saved Hornsea Cottage Hospital's minor
injuries unit from closure earlier this month there is no room for
complacency.
Summary by
Keep our NHS Public
of Hull Daily Mail 22 February 2006
- Hospital
shake-up plans approved. County Durham and Tees Valley Strategic Health
Authority have approved controversial plans that will change the provision of
health services on Teesside. Under the plans all high-risk pregnancies will be
cared for at Hartlepool's University Hospital, moving some services from
Stockton's Hospital of North Tees. Detailed planning will take place on
proposals that include centralising planned orthopaedic services at the
University Hospital of Hartlepool. Emergency orthopaedics will be centralised
at the University Hospital of North Tees. The announcement comes after lengthy
consultation and despite opposition to some of the proposals, which led to
street demonstrations. Stockton Council leader Bob Gibson described the
shake-up in services as "flawed and unacceptable".
Summary by
Keep our NHS Public
of BBC
Online 23 February 2006
- Young mental
health services axed. Cambridge City and South Cambs PCTs have decided to
axe the Young People's Service as part of cuts to claw back £3m of a £17m
overspend. Health professionals and former patients have been campaigning for
six months against the cuts.
Summary by
Keep our NHS Public
of
BBC Online 23 February 2006
- Save our
services. Hundreds of demonstrators braved the wind and rain on Tuesday
evening to protest against controversial proposals to remove emergency
services from Halton Hospital. Under the proposals, emergency cancer missions
and critical care will be concentrated at the Trust's 650-bed Warrington
Hospital site. Staff at Halton have collected a petition signed by 20,000
residents against the proposed changes, which have not been consulted on. The
trust is struggling with a £6m cash crisis.
Summary by
Keep our NHS Public
of Cheshire Online 23 February 2006
- No closure on
campaigns to save cottage hospitals. Some hospitals may be reprieved
following the white paper on out of hospital care, but many of remain under
threat. Suffolk Coastal PCT was not swayed by either local protest or the
white paper to change community hospital closure plans. Kennett and North West
Wiltshire and West Wiltshire PCTs' joint chief executive, Carol Clarke, said
campaigners battling to save nine local hospitals had misinterpreted the
policy vision. Summary by Keep our NHS Public
of Health Service Journal 23 February 2006
- Hang On to
Halton Hospital march. Local residents, patient groups, health unions, and
medical staff - totalling around 300 people - marched through Runcorn on a
cold wet evening on February 21 protesting against ward closures and other
proposals for Halton Hospital. They then lobbied councillors meeting with the
chief executive of North Cheshire Hospitals Trust. Campaigners say that at the
same time as services at the hospital are being reduced, Interhealth Care UK
are building an independent sector treatment centre under a £120 m contract
with the Department of Health to provide orthopaedic surgery for the region on
the Halton site. Keep our NHS Public
23 February 2006
- Hospital
patients face longer trips. Patients suffering from serious heart and
cancer conditions in Walsall face longer trips to receive treatment under new
health proposals. The controversial plans to revamp the NHS involve specialist
cancer and cardiac centres at Wolverhampton's New Cross taking in most
patients meaning more people will have to trek across the region for care.
Summary by
Keep our NHS Public
of
West Midlands Express & Star 24 February 2006
- Protesters in
bid to save health services. Bromsgrove residents are being urged to
protest march in the town centre on Saturday (25 Feb) in a bid to save
hospital services threatened with the axe. Worcestershire Mental Health
Partnership NHS Trust revealed beds could go at county psychiatric wards,
threatening the future of Brook Haven Mental Health Unit in Bromsgrove. The
march will start outside Woolworths at 11am. Worcestershire Acute Hospitals
NHS Trust chiefs dramatically U-turned on proposals to get rid of A&
E services at the Alexandra Hospital in Redditch, but other proposals
to reduce maternity, paediatrics and gynaecology services could still go
ahead.
Summary by
Keep our NHS Public
of Birmingham Mail 24 February 2006
- Injuries unit
to close at night. The minor injuries unit in Newquay will be closed
during the night, Central Cornwall PCT has decided. Plans are also expected to
be approved for four more Cornish towns to lose minor injuries cover in Bodmin,
Launceston, Liskeard and Saltash. Meanwhile a unit at Stratton has been
reprieved and is likely to continue a 24-hour service after 5,500 people
petitioned against planned changes in its opening hours.
Summary by
Keep our NHS Public
of BBC
Online 28 February 2006
- Hospital
closures put on hold. Two under-threat Suffolk hospitals were given a last
minute lifeline after Suffolk's Health Scrutiny Committee voted to refer a
decision on the possible closure of services Patricia Hewitt. This means a
temporary reprieve for the Bartlet Hospital, in Felixstowe, Hartismere
Hospital, in Eye, and 20 beds at Aldeburgh Hospital. East Suffolk PCTs, which
are £19.8m in debt, said the committee's decision let the people down. However
the committee backed changes to the mental health services in the area that
mean Ipswich's Bridge House and The Hollies, Old Fox House, in Stowmarket,
which provide services for people with mental health problems, will be closed
and services instead offered within the community. Day hospitals offering
services to elderly people with mental health problems in Kesgrave, Saxmundham
and Stowmarket will also be axed.
Summary by
Keep our NHS Public
of East Anglian Daily Times 01 March 2006
- Protesters want
A&E brought back. Campaigners fighting to get accident and emergency
services reinstated at Crawley Hospital are staging a protest. After the
casualty department moved to East Surrey Hospital, Redhill, in 2004, Surrey
and Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust said there would be an overall improvement in
patient care at Crawley Hospital. But campaigners say the result has been
"healthcare chaos across the southern section of the M25". Last month a 30,000
name petition was handed to parliament calling for Crawley's A&
E to be reinstated.
Summary by
Keep our NHS Public
of
BBC
Online 3 March 2006
- 'Arrogant'
bosses will shut hospital in five days. Kennet and North Wiltshire PCT and
West Wiltshire PCT has announced the shock closure of Westbury Hospital with
just a few days notice and no consultation. The PCT said that because of staff
shortages, all the inpatient services would close on Sunday. Patients will be
transferred to three other hospitals as part of the emergency measure,
prompted because a year-long recruitment freeze has left fewer than half the
staff needed to run the wards. Erica Watson of the hospital's League of
Friends said: "We feel very strongly that there are staff available in West
Wilts to cover the beds at Westbury. But the PCT has decided to close the beds
by stealth to avoid the consultation that Westbury is requesting… This
enforced rapid closure is just another example of how little regard the PCT
has for its Westbury health community. The chief executive, Carol Clark, is
still, despite all the evidence, stating that there are no health cuts in
Westbury or West Wiltshire and her arrogant attitude continues to anger the
local community." Despite the reason for the closure ostensibly being a staff
shortage, Jenny Barker, the PCT's director of operations said: "This closure
is driven by clinical need and not by our service reshaping plans." But she
admitted that the PCT is "not yet in a position to reduce the number of
patients in hospital, as we have not had time to build up those alternative
services." Westbury's Tory MP Andrew Murrison said he has "no confidence" in
the PCT due to its "mismanagement".
Summary by
Keep our NHS Public
of Western Daily Press 3 March 2006
- Inpatients
decision is referred. The closure of inpatient services at Fairford
Hospital is to be referred to Patricia Hewitt. The 15-bed unit closed on
Wednesday as part of cost-cutting measures by the Cotswold and Vale primary
care trust. Campaigners say there was insufficient consultation and now Stroud
District Council has referred the decision to the Health Secretary.
Summary by
Keep our NHS Public
of
BBC
Online 6 March 2006
- 600 march to
save our hospitals. Hundreds of people turned out for a march in defence
of community hospitals in Wigton at the weekend. 45,000 people have now signed
a petition to protect north and west Cumbria's nine cottage hospitals.
Summary by
Keep our NHS Public
of
North West News & Star 6 March 2006
- Anger as bosses
pull plug on centre. The Nottingham City Hospital board yesterday decided
to shut the Cedars rehabilitation centre in Sherwood and move its services to
save £200,000 a year. It was used by four clinical teams - orthopaedic,
neurology, pain management and back problems. Campaigners have vowed to
continue fighting and demanded the board reverses its decision.
Summary by
Keep our NHS Public
of Nottingham Evening Post 6 March 2006
- Hospital
protesters step up campaign. Protesters against the closure of Keynsham
Hospital handed in a 700-signature petition to the local authority's overview
and scrutiny committee asking for more time for replacement services to be
installed.
Summary by
Keep our NHS Public
of Bristol Evening Post 7 March 2006
- Threat to
future of health unit. The Rutland Unit in Narborough, a 21-bed centre for
people with mental health illnesses such as schizophrenia, is to be closed.
Leicestershire Partnership NHS Trust has launched a consultation, but the
options do not include the centre remaining open. The patient and public
involvement forum has accused the trust of blatant cost cutting.
Summary by
Keep our NHS Public
of Leicester Mercury 7 March 2006
- Mena fights on
as NHS battle heats up. Westbury Hospital in Wiltshire remains open for
just one dying patient after doctors would not allow the PCT to move her.
Patients were given just days' notice that the hospital would be closed, and
twelve patients were moved on Sunday. Campaigners say the closure, justified
on the grounds of a staff shortage after the PCT instituted a recruitment
freeze, is illegal because there was no consultation. But the final closure of
the facility was postponed by the condition of Mena Rising, whose stated wish
is to die in the hospital. West Wiltshire PCT chief executive Carol Clarke has
admitted she wants just one community hospital in Wiltshire, which currently
has five. This is likely to be Trowbridge, meaning the future of Warminster
and Melksham are in serious doubt.
Summary by
Keep our NHS Public
of Western Daily Press 7 March 2006
- Nurses agreed
to work in last-ditch bid to save hospital. West Wiltshire PCT's claim
that it had to close Westbury hospital because of a staff shortage following a
recruitment freeze was left in tatters after campaigners found 19 nurses
willing to work at the hospital, one of them for free. The hospital's League
of Friends even offered to pay the staff's wages. But the PCT pushed ahead
regardless.
Summary by
Keep our NHS Public
of Western Daily Press 7 March 2006
- Glimmer of hope
for local wards. Gloucestershire's overview and scrutiny committee has
used its power to refer the proposed closure of beds at two community
hospitals to Patricia Hewitt. Cotswold and Vale PCT's decision to close wards
at Tetbury and Fairford will now be reviewed. Fairford Hopital's 15 in-patient
beds were closed last week.
Summary by
Keep our NHS Public
of Western Daily Press 7 March 2006
- 'No admissions'
at NHS hospital. 24-hour care is no longer available at Altringham General
Hospital due to a cash crisis. Trafford NHS Trust in Greater Manchester is
closing two in-patient wards, used mainly for rehabilitation of the
elderly,.to save money. Only day clinics will remain.
Summary by
Keep our NHS Public
of BBC
Online 8 March 2006
- Axe hangs over
ward. The Mid Cheshire Hospitals NHS Trust has proposed axing inpatient
services at Northwich's Victoria Infirmary. It would mean the loss of 31 beds
and has been condemned by campaigners and community leaders.
Summary by
Keep our NHS Public
of Liverpool Daily Post 8 March 2006
- Town
councillors attack NHS cuts. Town councillors at Framlingham have said
that discussions over the reconfiguration of local hospitals and services
where "window dressing" and that the decisions had already been made. Suffolk
East PCTs are proposing cut backs at several community hospitals.
Summary by
Keep our NHS Public
of East Anglian Daily Times 9 March 2006
- Botched
operation. West Suffolk PCT has proposed the closure of two hospitals in
Sudbury, one of which has a well-used outpatients' department. Patients would
have to take a 75-minute bus ride to Bury St Edmunds.
Summary by
Keep our NHS Public
of
Telegraph 12 March 2006
- Hospital
protest hits the streets. More than 1,000 people took to the streets of
Wellington to deliver a clear message to health chiefs: "Hands off our
hospital." There are fears that the Princess Royal Hospital could be
downgraded and could lose its A& E.
Summary by
Keep our NHS Public
of
Shropshire Star 13 March 2006
- Cancer care
charity hit by health cash shortfall. Leicester Charity Link, a charity
that provides palliative and cancer care, is set to lose 40% of its funding as
Eastern Leicester and Leicester City West PCTs plan to withdraw their
contribution due to their deficit troubles. Leicester Charity Link says the
move will destroy its service.
Summary by
Keep our NHS Public
of Leicester Mercury 16 March 2006
- Widdecombe
backs battle over hospitals. Ann Widdecombe will speak at an elaborate
demonstration on April 1 against the threatened closure of community hospitals
in Cumbria. The event will stretch across nine towns and will involve a
gyrocopter and a Lord of the Rings theme.
Summary by
Keep our NHS Public
of
North West News & Star 16 March 2006
- No confidence
vote in NHS trust. A local council has issued a vote of no confidence in
the NHS trust which runs mental health services in its area. St Helens Council
is concerned by modernisation plans drawn up by the Five Boroughs NHS Trust
that could lead to cuts and a mental health ward being closed.
Summary by
Keep our NHS Public
of BBC
Online 17 March 2006
- Victory in
merger fight. West Lancashire MP Rosie Cooper has claimed victory and
revealed that proposals to join Southport &
Ormskirk trust with Aintree and Royal Liverpool
& Broadgreen have been dropped.
Summary by
Keep our NHS Public
of Liverpool Daily Post 17 March 2006
- Community
scare. Up to 80 community hospitals are threatened with closure despite
the government's enthusiasm for them. They are situated disproportionately in
areas with PCTs in financial deficits. Public Finance lists them by SHA.
Summary by
Keep our NHS Public
of
Public Finance 17 March 2006
- A hospital ward in Lincolnshire that closed temporarily over the winter
months is reopening ahead of schedule. The Scarborough Ward at Skegness
Hospital will reopen on Monday after being shut for five months. It was closed
by health managers to help recoup a £7m overspend by East
Lincolnshire NHS Primary Care Trust. The decision was fought by local
campaigners who claimed health care would suffer as a result of the reduction
in beds.
BBC
Online 17 March 2006
- Hospital debate
is blasted as a sham.
Wiltshire's two merged PCTs, which have shut three hospitals in the past
12 months, have sparked yet more dismay with the relaunch of a consultation
exercise that could lead to further closures. Campaigners say trust chiefs
have made up their minds to slash the number of cottage hospitals from nine to
just three, closing Devizes, Melksham and Warminster hospitals. Meanwhile
campaigners who fought to save Westbury Hospital have launched a legal
challenge to the closure. They said the PCT acted illegally when it closed the
hospital without the statutory consultation process.
Summary by
Keep our NHS Public
of Western Daily Press 18 March 2006
- Thousands of
reasons to save our hospitals. 69,000 people have signed petitions against
the closure of community hospitals in Cumbria. The figure represents a third
of the people in the area.
Summary by
Keep our NHS Public
of
North West News & Star 22 March 2006
- A proposal to close several community hospitals in Shropshire has been
dropped, health bosses have confirmed. Campaigners have been protesting at the
plans to close Bridgnorth, Whitchurch and Ludlow hospitals. The NHS in the
county collectively has a £55m deficit, and it was suggested closure would
save several million. Shropshire Primary Care Trust (PCT) said it was
proposing "substantial changes" for community hospitals but ruled out closing
any of them.
BBC
Online 24 March 2006
- Hundreds of people have protested in the North West against the proposed
closure of hospital wards and units. Staff and parents gathered near Hope
Hospital, Salford,
Greater Manchester, on Saturday to voice their anger at plans to shut down
its neo-natal unit. People trying to save Macclesfield General Hospital's
maternity ward were involved in a "pram push" in Cheshire. Public
consultations involving Greater Manchester Health Strategic Health Authority
finish on 12 May. It follows plans to review community and hospital health
services in Greater Manchester and Rossendale in Lancashire. A public
consultation is also taking place on the options for change for healthcare
services for children, young people, parents and babies across Greater
Manchester, east Cheshire and High Peak.
BBC
Online 25 March 2006
- Campaigners urging the retention of cottage hospitals in
Cumbria are lobbying MPs in London over the issue. They were handing a
petition in at Westminster urging ministers to ensure the future of community
hospitals threatened with closure in the county. An NHS review cast doubt over
community hospitals at Brampton, Keswick, Millom, Maryport, Cockermouth and
Alston. Despite an £18m lifeline announced last week campaigners have said
they are not convinced services will remain intact. The Nuclear
Decommissioning Authority (NDA) revealed last week that it was to hand over
the money over three years as a stop gap measure until a new acute hospital
was built in west Cumbria.
BBC
Online 28 March 2006
- Cottage
hospital closure protest. Hundreds of people from the CHANT campaign have
protested outside the House of Commons against the threatened closure of small
community hospitals. Health minister Lord Warner said: "It's a myth that the
NHS needs more money to be able to keep community hospitals open. The reality
is that these facilities could actually save the NHS money."
Summary by
Keep our NHS Public
of BBC
Online 29 March 2006
- Job losses
increase as NHS trusts cut spending. Brighton and
Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust board has decided to axe 325 posts,
which may include doctors and nurses, in an effort to cut spending by £21.3m
in the new financial year. Compulsory redundancies have not been ruled out.
The cuts come in addition to 80 vacant posts that have not been filled since
last summer. The trust is one of those that was sent a turnaround team by
Patricia Hewitt. In
Gloucestershire the closure of the 86-bed Delancey community hospital at
Leckhampton has been announced by deficit hit West Gloucestershire PCT,
threatening more jobs. Lord Warner, the health minister, said that "rushed
decisions" to close community hospitals could be a false economy.
Summary by
Keep our NHS Public
of
Telegraph 29 March 2006
- Hospital warns
of further bed closures. There will be further bed closures as the
debt-ridden Queen Elizabeth Hospital in
King's Lynn tries to claw back its mutli-million pound deficit. Many posts
will not be filled and a review is under way to lose around a further 24 beds.
Already around 70 vacant posts have not been filled.
Summary by
Keep our NHS Public
of Eastern Daily Press 29 March 2006
- It's
Gloomstershire No Hope Service. A host of services are being closed and
jobs lost in
Gloucestershire in an attempt to claw back debts of at least £40m. 200
jobs are to be cut from the Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust,
the first foundation hospital to announce such losses. The trust has actually
made a surplus this year but says that changes to the way hospitals are funded
by the government means it will receive £17million less next year to treat the
same number of patients. Paul Lilley, chief executive, said: "What we are
confident about is that patients won't see any decline in the quality of
service, but access maybe more difficult". Delancey Hospital in Cheltenham, an
86-bed facility which specialises in rehabilitation of the elderly, is being
closed by West Gloucestershire PCT. 60 adult mental health beds, or 25%, are
being axed. The nurse-led overnight unit for children at Cheltenham General
Hospital has been shut before it had even opened. Other specialist units
likely to be closed at either Gloucestershire Royal Infirmary or Cheltenham
General include the inpatient maternity ward, urology, vascular, oral and
maxillofacial and gynaecology. This means patients for all these departments
face having to travel further to the one remaining centre.
Summary by
Keep our NHS Public
of Western Daily Press 29 March 2006
- Hundreds march
over West hospital closure. Hundreds of hospital campaigners have marched
through
Bradford on Avon to demonstrate at the closure of the town's hospital, and
to call for the continued use of the hospital site for health care in the
future. The hospital was closed last year by the debt-ridden West Wiltshire
Primary Care Trust, which has since also closed Westbury Hospital.
Summary by
Keep our NHS Public
of Western Daily Press 29 March 2006
- Patients who
face trips of torment. Health chiefs were yesterday presented with a
damning dossier, which lays bare the suffering endured by hundreds of cancer
patients in remote corners of the
West. 300 heartbreaking tales were presented to health chiefs to show them
the human cost of decisions to centralise services in centres of excellence.
So patients have to make 200-mile round trips for cancer care in
Cheltenham.
Summary by
Keep our NHS Public
of Western Daily Press 29 March 2006
- NHS debt could
leave town with no A&E department. Southport Hospital's A&
E department faces being moved to Ormskirk because of Southport and
Ormskirk NHS Trust's £15m debt. The choices suggested by consultants,
McKinsey, follow the transfer of Southport's children's A&
E to Ormskirk, which caused outrage amongst parents three years ago.
The new plan was presented to
Cheshire and Merseyside SHA. Local politicians and even the trust itself
are against the changes.
Summary by
Keep our NHS Public
of Liverpool Daily Post 30 March 2006
- Sellafield
clean-up cash for NHS. The Nuclear Decommissioning Authority is giving
£18m to North
Cumbria PCT to help it save up to nine community hospitals from closure.
In an unprecedented move, the NDA, which owns the Sellafield reprocessing
plant in Cumbria and is headquartered near Sellafield, has stepped into the
breach created by the deficits crisis, giving £4m this year and £7m in 2007
and in 2008. The NDA claims this is part of its support for the community
arising from a memorandum of understanding signed when supporting the West
Cumbria Strategic Partnership.
Summary by
Keep our NHS Public
of
Independent 2 April 2006
- Time is running
out to save a crisis-torn health service. Nicholas Timmins argues for NHS
reconfiguration but points to the political pressures against this. In
Halifax and Huddersfield, a proposal to relocate surgery and maternity
services and make some other changes has led to managers and doctors being
abused at public meetings. A candidate is expected to run in next month's
local elections on a "save our hospital" ticket. Timmins writes that on
hospital reconfiguration, Patricia Hewitt "flunked her first big test recently
in hugely over-spent
Surrey. She overturned years of work and disregarded all advice to rule
that a new critical care hospital should be located in Labour, rather than
Tory, territory - on a site that did not even have planning permission."
Summary by
Keep our NHS Public
of
Financial Times 3 April 2006
- The financial crisis in the NHS forced a
Cornish hospital to divert patients 35 miles for emergency services over
the weekend, because the trust could not afford a locum to cover for a
casualty doctor who was off ill. West Cornwall hospital in Penzance has a £9m
deficit, and decided not to replace the duty doctor when he called in sick on
Friday. Ambulance crews were told to take seriously ill patients to another
hospital 35 miles away at Treliske, Truro. Sandra Laville
Monday April 3, 2006 The Guardian
- Campaign
delivers victory. The Jubilee Birth Centre in
Hull is to be kept open after a concerted campaign against the threat of
closure.
Summary by
Keep our NHS Public
of Hull Daily Mail 3 April 2006
- Hospital cuts
protesters take to the roads and waterways. Protesters in
Cumbria turned out at the weekend for an innovative demonstration across
nine towns. The event was in defence of community hospitals at Wigton,
Brampton, Alston, Penrith, Keswick, Cockermouth, Maryport, Workington and
Millom.
Summary by
Keep our NHS Public
of
North West News & Star 3 April 2006
- An 87-year-old woman with breast cancer is being forced to travel more
than 500 miles a week for treatment because of a lack of local services, it
emerged yesterday. Muriel Buckby has to make three 175-mile round trips every
week from her home in mid Wales to a radiotherapy unit in Cheltenham,
Gloucestershire. Each journey takes her more than four hours by car, which
her family fears is taking its toll on her fragile health. Steven Morris
Tuesday
April 4, 2006 The Guardian [not strictly withdrawal of local facilities,
but an example of the problems of lack of local facilities]
- PCT consults on
future of doctor's surgery.
Gedling PCT is consulting patients on the choice of either closing Colwick
Vale Surgery or seeking an alternative provider to keep it open.
Summary by
Keep our NHS Public
of Nottingham Evening Post 5 April 2006
- Casualty is not
on the move.
Southport and Ormskirk NHS Trust has scotched suggestions that it should
move its A& E department to save
money. The proposal was made by management consultants on behalf of the SHA.
The hospital trust said the proposal would not "provide a sustainable clinical
service or financial solution… Patients and staff will be confused to read of
the possibility of further clinical reconfiguration so soon after the
relocation of clinical services over the last six years has finally finished."
Summary by
Keep our NHS Public
of Ormskirk Advertiser 5 April 2006
- Call for
hospital closure backed. Plans to close the Walnuttree
community hospital in Sudbury,
Suffolk, and instead buy in care from the
private sector are set to be backed by West Suffolk Hospital Trust and
Suffolk West PCT, despite a campaign and a 10,000-name petition against it. A
report from the PCT recommends closing the hospital by the end of 2007, after
a new health centre is built that will have no inpatient beds. Mike Stonnard,
the PCT's chief executive, said that following public consultation it was
decided that Walnuttree would not have to close by the end of 2006. He said
the hospital trust board was being asked to support the closure of St
Leonard's Hospital, Sudbury, and the transfer of its gynaecology, obstetrics
and orthopaedic services to the Walnuttree. Once Walnuttree closed, beds
needed for patients in the Sudbury area would be bought from the private
sector. The report also recommends closing all inpatient beds at Newmarket
hospital and closing the Sage older people's mental health day hospital in
Newmarket, currently shut due to staff shortages.
Summary by
Keep our NHS Public
of BBC
Online 11 April 2006
- 'Sort Suffolk's
NHS out yourselves'. Tony Blair and Patricia Hewitt have refused to raise
the lingering hopes of campaigners battling against the closure of cottage
hospitals and community units in
Suffolk. Hewitt acknowledged that hospital closures in the county were
"extremely controversial", but insisted any decisions were best made "by the
local NHS". She was commenting just hours after Suffolk West Primary Care
Trust voted unanimously to close St Leonard's Hospital in Sudbury and remove
all inpatient beds from Newmarket and Sudbury's Walnuttree Hospitals. A
decision by Suffolk East PCTs to shut Hartismere Hospital in Eye, Felixstowe's
Bartlet Hospital, and to axe some beds at Aldeburgh has been referred to Ms
Hewitt for confirmation.
Summary by
Keep our NHS Public
of East Anglian Daily Times 13 April 2006
- New fears over
health centre. Campaigners angry at the decision to close St Leonard's
Hospital and shut all inpatient beds at the Walnuttree Hospital in Sudbury,
Suffolk, have been told that plans for a new health centre in the town
cannot be guaranteed because of the reconfiguration of PCTs.Summary by
Keep our NHS Public
of East Anglian Daily Times 13 April 2006
- Hospital
cutbacks given the go-ahead. Defiant campaigners battling against plans to
close every bed at Newmarket and Wanuttree hospitals hospitals have warned
they will take their fight to the High Court. More than 100 staff at both
hospitals face an uncertain future as bosses describe job cuts as
"inevitable". Warwick Hirst, chairman of the Newmarket Health Forum, warned
Suffolk West PCT: "We will be seeking a judicial review and taking
appropriate legal advice over the closure of the beds." The county council's
health scrutiny committee is due to meet on April 27 and could refer the
decision to Patricia Hewitt.Summary by
Keep our NHS Public
of East Anglian Daily Times 13 April 2006
- Community
hospitals face closure. Kennet and North
Wiltshire and West Wiltshire PCTs have drawn up three options for
restructured health services which include a swathe of hospital and health
clinic closures. Between five and seven community hospitals will close and be
replaced by up to three 'new generation community hospitals' according to a
three-month consultation paper released on Friday last week. One community
hospital on the patch - Bradford and Avon - has already been shut and two
health clinics could be axed.
Summary by
Keep our NHS Public
of Health Service Journal 13 April 2006
- Concern as
county's third minor injuries unit closes overnight. The 24-hour minor
injury unit at the Alfred Bean Hospital in Driffield has had its hours axed
due to staff shortages. It is no longer open after 6pm. Earlier this year,
Yorkshire Wolds and Coast PCT has announced decided to reduce opening
hours at minor injury units at Withernsea and Hornsea, meaning many patients
in the East Riding area will have to travel long distances for care at night.
Summary by
Keep our NHS Public
of Hull Daily Mail 13 April 2006
- Axe falls on
more West hospitals. There is outrage as the axe is set to fall on three
community hospitals in
Wiltshire as part of a new wave of cuts. Three options have been announced
by the Kennet and North Wiltshire PCT and West Wiltshire PCT - and they all
involve closing hospitals in Trowbridge, Warminster and Devizes, including the
latter's maternity unit. The future of Melksham Hospital and Savernake in
Marlborough are also threatened. Charterhouse Hospital for the elderly and
patients with dementia will close this year. The trust, which is trying to
arrest an £18m deficit, proposes to set up a series of "primary care centres"
at Devizes, Trowbridge and either Warminster or Westbury, with Chippenham
Hospital becoming a "new generation community hospital".
Conservative MP
Andrew Murrison said: "The promise of souped-up GP mega-surgeries offering
even less choice than at present, a few more district nurses that can be
readily cut when the axe falls again, and an impossibly remote new hospital in
Chippenham seems a poor substitute for the community hospitals that my
constituents will be losing."
Summary by
Keep our NHS Public
of
Western Daily Press 13 April 2006
- Hospital plea
goes to Blair. A 30,000-signature petition from the people of
Rochdale against plans to shut or scale down emergency, children's and
maternity services at Rochdale Infirmary has been hand delivered to Downing
Street. It comes after Celia Gaze, director of the Healthy Futures review of
services in north east Manchester, was quoted as saying the petitions "carry
absolutely no weight and will not be considered as we can't analyse a
signature".
Summary by
Keep our NHS Public
of
Manchester Evening News 14 April 2006
- Walton hospital
set to close.
Walton hospital will be closed by the end of the year. Aintree Hospitals
Trust said the move is part of NHS policy to concentrate acute services at one
location. Summary by
Keep our NHS Public
of Liverpool Echo 19 April 2006
- Unions meet to
discuss job cuts. Unions fear that the last month's warning of cuts from
the United
Lincolnshire Hospitals NHS Trust could mean the end of emergency and acute
services at Grantham and Louth. Peter Savage from Unison said: "In reality
we're not just talking about administrative jobs, we're talking about doctors,
nurses, technicians, porters. The hospitals in Lincolnshire previously went
down the line of trying to save money by getting rid of cleaners, and we saw
what happened - infection rates went right up, it cost them more money in the
end."
Summary by
Keep our NHS Public
of
BBC Online 20 April 2006
- You should all
quit, civic chiefs tell under-pressure health bosses. The entire board of
one of the West's most debt-ridden health trusts should resign en masse after
proposing even more hospital closures. That was the
demand from councillors of all parties in West
Wiltshire, who voted by 36 to 1 to demand the mass resignation of the
board of West Wiltshire Primary Care Trust, including chief executive Carol
Clarke. The leader of the council's scrutiny committee, Cllr Tony Phillips,
said: "Local people are dismayed by the PCT's actions and they are extremely
worried about what will happen to their community health facilities… It has
reached the stage where people do not feel that their voices are being heard,
as the PCT appears to have made its decisions already."
Summary by
Keep our NHS Public
of Western Daily Press 20 April 2006
- Hospitals may
have to close to pay for new drugs, says Hewitt. Patricia Hewitt has told
her cabinet colleagues that hospitals will have to close if Britain is to
afford expensive new drugs, which she referred to as "hundreds of new
Herceptins in the pipeline". Hewitt insisted that the reforms - including
hospital closures - are needed if Britain is to
afford
expensive new drugs about to come on to the market.
Summary by
Keep our NHS Public
of Independent
23 April 2006
-
Children with cancer and leukaemia are among the frontline victims of
sweeping cuts being forced through to contain the health service's ballooning
financial deficits, nurses' leaders warned last night. The
elderly and those with
mental health
problems are also suffering, with the closure of beds in
community hospitals and the reduction in numbers of
specialist nurses needed to treat them. Nurses' leaders yesterday
published a dossier of examples to back their claims and said their research
disproved ministers' assertions that trusts are seeking to balance their books
without any detriment to patient care. The warning came as Patricia Hewitt,
the health secretary, came under widespread attack for
claiming yesterday that the NHS had
just enjoyed its "best year ever". In a speech to Unison's health conference
in Gateshead today, Ms Hewitt is expected to offer a stark message that the
NHS must "modernise
or die". As part of a coordinated fightback she will say that, after the
additional resources put into the service by Labour over the past few years,
the NHS was now "back in business". Beverly Malone, general secretary of the
Royal College of Nursing, roundly denounced Ms Hewitt, saying that if this was
the best year for the NHS she dreaded to think what a worse one could be like.
Drawing from RCN research, she gave examples of how patient care was being
affected in second tier services for the vulnerable. Among the examples were:
- Children with cancer and leukaemia in Taunton,
Somerset, are no longer being treated by a community nurse because the
local primary care trust withdrew funding it had promised to the
cancer charity CLIC. The children now have to make long journeys for
treatment, wrecking their chances of continuing a normal life in their own
community.
-
Avon and Wiltshire mental health trust has cut the number of beds by more
than 65 to less than 40. The frail and vulnerable have to go further afield
for treatment.
- In the
Cotswolds, 80 community beds have been closed within the last three months
to reduce deficits. A similar number have been lost in
Felixstowe.
- Ward closures in
Skegness has led to patients having to travel 40 miles to Lincoln.
- Minor injuries units are being closed and opening hours reduced.
Dr Malone said: "NHS deficits are hitting patient services; to claim
otherwise is simply wrong. These are real services for real people with real
illnesses, and we have got to stop treating them as statistics on a balance
sheet." Yesterday it emerged that Downing Street received a report from his
delivery unit last week pointing out that prospects for reaching 11 of the
government's 28
health targets by 2008 were poor. The Department of Health declined to
name the 11 targets that received "red traffic lights", but it was understood
they included
public health objectives such as improved sexual health and reduced
children's obesity. John Carvel and Tania Branigan
Monday
April 24, 2006 The Guardian
- Nurse fear on
community hospitals. Community hospitals are still under threat despite
government assurances that more money would be pumped into local services,
nurses say. The Royal College of Nursing conference in Bournemouth
overwhelmingly backed a motion to campaign to keep them open.
Summary by
Keep our NHS Public
of BBC
Online 24 April 2006
- Hospital is a
financial risk to the NHS. South
Manchester PCT has raised concerns about the viability of Withington
Com
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