CANNOCK MP Aidan Burley said he was 'pleased' Monitor's proposed reconfiguration of Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust would see a hospital remain in Cannock.
Responding to proposals which will see both Stafford and Cannock Hospitals radically reconfigured Mr Burley told the Newsletter he was pleased Monitor had listened to his arguments that a local hospital must remain in Cannock Chase.
“This hospital will provide key services including a minor injuries unit, ante- and post-natal care, and therapies including physiotherapists and occupational therapists,” said Mr Burley.
“That is a major turnaround from the approach that the former Mid Staffs NHS Trust board has been implementing over recent years, which has seen our local hospital poorly managed, underutilised and virtually forgotten about, as all the attention has focussed on the problems at Stafford.”
A trust special administrator (TSA) is expected to be in place by the end of the month at which point it is expected Mid Staffordshire NHS Trust’s board and governors would be suspended although it is understood they would still be used to advise the new administration.
Mr Burley said he was aware there were a number of issues that needed to be determined by the TSA and that he would speak with them as a matter of priority once they were in place.
“I do not want to see a temporary solution that will mean we return to this situation in a few years’ time,” he said. “We must acknowledge that it is not feasible to continue with the building only partially occupied and that the advances to medical treatment over the last 10 years or so mean there is no longer the same level of demand for the type of acute services that existed in 1992.”
Mr Burley said he was conscious some of his constituents, especially those in Rugeley relied heavily on services at Stafford Hospital, some of which were earmarked to be moved to toher locations and pledged to work with Stafford MP Jeremy Lefroy to minimise the impact of any changes and ensure local people did not lose out.
“It remains a sad indictment of the last Labour government and their local politicians that we should be faced with such a crisis just four years after they held Mid Staffordshire up as an exemplary Trust and awarded it Foundation status,” he said. “Unravelling that disastrous decision cannot be done without making some difficult choices.
“However, I believe that the decision to move Cannock Hospital out of the control of the Mid Staffs Trust is the right one and offers us the chance to forge a new future for our hospital, which will no longer continue on its path under Labour of death by a thousand cuts.”
