HEALTH chiefs have repeatedly stressed the changes planned for Wycombe Hospital are about improving patient care - rather than saving cash.

This week Geoff Payne and Graz Luzzi, the medical directors for the two major NHS authorities in Bucks, wrote to the Free Press: "We are proposing them not because we believe they will save money, but that they will give our patients better care."

See related links for more information about the plans.

However, an independent review of the plans appears to put financial and clinical factors on at least an equal footing.

Dr Chris Clough, chairman of the National Clinical Advisory Team [NCAT], reviewed the 'Better Healthcare in Bucks' proposals and wrote: "Its key drivers are firstly a need to contain costs and save money within the QUIPP programme and secondly a desire to improve quality by ensuring the right service alignments..."

Referring to an overarching report, which has fed into the proposals, Dr Clough wrote: "The key drivers to change were financial, as Buckinghamshire Healthcare faced a deficit of between £36.5 - 43.8 million by 2013-14.

"In addition there were issues of clinical sustainability and a need to improve the quality of services at both Wycombe and Stoke Mandeville Hospitals by rationalising the clinical teams."

The NCAT report does conclude the changes "can provide a safe, sustainable, quality service for the population of Buckinghamshire".

It was released this week following a request by the Free Press. Campaigners from the Save Our Hospital Services group had previously submitted a Freedom of Information request to the Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire NHS Cluster.

Ronan O’Connor, the Cluster’s director of communications, told the Bucks Free Press: "From our perspective the clinical reasons are the key driver.

"We haven’t designed these services around a financial figure. The key driver around the Better Healthcare in Bucks proposals is around the clinical case for change within the financial context that we face."