A group campaigning against the closure of Wantage Community Hospital is asking for more detail after ‘flawed’ consultations.
The Hospital League of Friends and the Save Wantage Hospital campaign group want answers relating to their community facility.
In April 2016 the NHS Trust announced Wantage Community Hospital would be closing before the end of July, but offered a ‘compromise’ in June to keep the physiotherapy and maternity services open.
They said the hospital, which was scheduled to close because of fears of legionella bacteria in the water system, would only be shut down if legionella, a bacteria that can lead to a disease similar to pneumonia, flared up again.
Councillor Jenny Hannaby, county councillor for Wantage and Grove, said the group were assured of a consultation in October 2016 that would determine the fate of Wantage Community Hospital.
She said: “Regretfully this did not happen. Instead the consultation was split into two phases, one being acute hospitals and the other being community hospitals.
“How can a proper consultation take place when phase one has implication for phase two? The public need full facts and much more information of outcomes to make sound judgment.
“I believe the consultation process is flawed.”
She criticised plans to close 146 acute beds, saying that it cannot be justified “before viable alternatives have been put in place in the community”.
She added: “They do not have the capacity outside of hospital to reduce demand, neither do they have capability. Where are the workforce coming from? We are told 10 to 15,000 new staff would be required to make the plans in the STP (sustainable transformation plan) work.
“With care homes having to recruit abroad, lack of care home beds, and contracts for care in the community being given back to county, proposals to reduce capacity in hospitals will only be credible if there are robust plans to provide alternatives in the community before the number of beds is cut and valued community hospitals like Wantage are closed.”
She added the hospital could be closed for two years if they take too long to make decisions.
About 400 residents gathered with placards and home made posters to march from the town centre to Wantage Community Hospital in June against plans to close the facility.
The protesters delivered a letter to the Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust calling for the hospital to stay fully open.
Wantage MP Ed Vaizey marched alongside campaigners.
He said at the time: “Oxford Health must hold a genuine public consultation to assess what services are needed in Wantage.
“It is too far for people to travel from Wantage to the hospitals in Oxford or Wallingford.
“It is quite right for campaigners to say they don’t want the hospital closed.
“We don’t want the hospital to be closed down by stealth.”
A spokesperson from Oxfordshire Clinical Commissioning Group said: “The in-patient beds at Wantage Community Hospital are currently closed temporarily because of the risk of legionella but all other services at the hospital remain open.
“There are no plans to reopen the in-patient beds before the second phase of Big Health and Care public consultation which is expected to start later this year for three months.”
The second phase of consultations is due to take place in November.
Article originally published by Oxfordshire Guardian
