A LEIGH borough councillor is playing a pivotal role in Southend Council’s ongoing concerns over the reorganisation of hospital facilities in south Essex.
A plan has been adopted to merge Southend, Basildon and Mid Essex hospitals, but Southend has objected to the reorganisation of services that will follow – and say they are considering referring the issue to the Secretary of State for Health, Matt Hancock.
Southend Coun Bernard Arscott, the Conservative representative for Leigh ward has been elected chairman of the joint health and overview committee which is made up of councillors from Southend, Basildon and Essex County councils which, as its title says, is maintaining an overview of the reorganisation.
Coun Arscott made a major breakthrough for the Tories when he won his seat in Leigh in 2015, in a ward that for decades has been considered a Lib Dem stronghold. He did this, though, on the day that a General Election was held on the same day as the council elections and thousands more turned out than usual to vote in Southend West, a Tory stronghold.
He was nominated by Southend Council to one of its representatives on the joint health and overview committee, and was subsequently elected chairman by the remainder of the committee.
He explained that Basildon and Essex county councillors on his committee were not as committed as Southend to opposing the reorganising, although they had concerns of their own.
“My committee does not have the power to refer this to the Secretary of State, that is up to Southend Council, although we are monitoring the issue closely. For Southend Council’s part, we want answers to allay our concerns over the issues we have raised.”
Southend Council sent shock waves through the reorganisation plans drawn up by the Mid and South Essex Sustainability and Transformation Partnership when councillors of all parties said they would refer the plan to the Secretary of State unless undertakings were given.
Southend argued: “This council believes that even at this late stage there is still not sufficient clarity in respect of serious concerns. We further note that the consultation process reached only a small fraction of the population in the footprint of these proposals.
“It has still not been made clear to residents that six out of the seven therapeutic areas consulted upon will be wound down at Southend Hospital, with patients being moved to Basildon and Broomfield hospitals.
“The consultation document made no mention of closing down services and wording is vague when public facing documents refer to treatment being available to patients who seek help at Southend, but don’t mention they will be transferred to another hospital for that care.”
Southend’s main concerns are –
*stroke services – Southend has pioneered ground-breaking treatment, but Basildon would become the main treatment centre, Southend Council explained: “We would not support the STP without better rationale and evidence for moving stroke services to Basildon Hospital”
* investment in localities;
* transfers and transport. Southend Council explained: “We believed that proposals around transport and transfers were unclear and poorly defined, and would not be able to support the STP until detailed workable proposals were set out
*consolidated discharge and repatriation;
* capital investment; and workforce.
By suggesting that they could refer the issue to the Secretary of State it could mean that £118million, which has been set aside for the three hospitals for investment in the future, could not be accessed.
Coun Arscott commented: “Access to this £118million available to pay for the reorganization would be on hold.”
This article originally appeared on Leigh Times
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