Hospital denies 'doctor off skiing' allegation (From Bucks Free Press)

Hospital denies 'doctor off skiing' allegation

4:42pm Monday 15th February 2010 in

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A HOSPITAL spokesman has denied a councillors’ public allegation that a clinic was not running because the doctor was on holiday.

Buckinghamshire Hospitals NHS Trust spoke out after Councillor David Watson made the allegation in a public meeting.

It said staff at the endoscopy unit at Wycombe Hospital were in training and no appointments had been booked.

Cllr Watson told a health watchdog committee: “There was one ward with no patients in at all.

“We were told that this is because the doctor was off on a skiing holiday, so the ward was empty.

“I fail to see how that can happen. I think we need more questions about how taxpayers’ money is being used.”

Cllr Watson is a member of Buckinghamshire County Council’s overview and scrutiny committee for public health services.

He spoke at Friday’s meeting of the committee, which is open to the public. Its minutes are published to the public.

Trust spokesman Zosia Katnik said: “The overview and scrutiny committee visited the endoscopy unit at Wycombe Hospital on a planned training morning.

“It is important that clinical staff, including nurses, are up-to-date with mandatory training and therefore these are booked to coincide with times of no planned patient activity to ensure services are unaffected.”

She said: “On this occasion, a doctor was also on annual leave; however, no patient appointments were cancelled as a result of this.

“All doctors are required to give enough prior notice of annual leave to ensure that alternative arrangements are put in place to cover their clinical duties.”