NHS report backs campaign for 24/7 unit (From Bucks Free Press)

NHS report backs campaign for 24/7 unit

4:30pm Friday 18th May 2012 in Health By Lawrence Dunhill

THE controversial transfer of specialist services out of Wycombe Hospital looks set to be rubber-stamped – but campaigners may have won a key battle over the former A&E ward.

Health chiefs have published a report on the consultation process for the plans, which will go before the NHS Buckinghamshire & Oxfordshire Cluster board next week.

The report’s author, project director Helen Peggs, recommends the proposals should be approved, but asks the board to develop plans for a “24/7 urgent care service” at Queen Alexandra Road.

This follows two petitions on the issue, which between them carried more than 7,000 signatures. They call for Wycombe’s former A&E ward to remain open overnight after it is downgraded to a minor injuries and illnesses unit.

The report says the overall proposals were supported by a majority of those taking part in the consultation.

This included 120 people who filled in a questionnaire, 399 who attended public meetings and 620 at ‘stakeholder’ meetings. The stakeholders ranged from Oxford University Hospitals NHS Trust and Stoke Mandeville Parish Council, to the Wycombe Labour Party and Save Our Hospital Services campaign group.

See next week’s Bucks Free Press for the full story.