A KEY part of the process in deciding on a site for a proposed new hospital has been put off.
The citizens’ jury that will take evidence about the best site for the £11 million replacement for Lydney and the Dilke hospitals was due to sit for three days later this month.
But Gloucestershire health chiefs — while reaffirming their commitment to the controversial move — have said the start of the Citizens’ Jury will be delayed “to allow for more detailed analysis and information to be presented to the jury for their consideration.”
The move has been welcomed by the Friends of Lydney Hospital who recently expressed concern about the process, which will see a panel of 18 local people and four Forest health professionals consider evidence to enable it to make a recommendation to the boards of Gloucestershire Care Services NHS Trust and the Gloucestershire Clinical Commissioning Group.
The evidence gathering sessions, which will allow the jury to recommend a site near Cinderford, Coleford or Lydney, were due to take place between May 29 to June 1 at the Forest Hills Golf Club .
The proposal could also come under pressure after campaign group HOLD — Hands Off Lydney and the Dilke — successfully raised £4,000 by crowdfunding to finance a judicial review of the move to close Lydney and the Dilke hospitals.
The decision to postpone the jury sitting has been taken to look again at the key issue of access to services, a concern that was widely raised by the public and by the Friends of the Dilke Hospital who, in a recent letter to The Review, said that unless it was looked at again, there was a risk that the new hospital “would not be fit for purpose before a spade has even been struck.”
Health chiefs commissioned Citizens Juries, a community interest company (CIC) with wide experience in the area, to design and run the panel which would be balanced in terms of age, gender, educational background and where jurors live.
A spokesman for the two health boards said: “Following discussions with Citizens Juries CIC, a decision to delay the start date of the citizens’ jury has been taken to allow for more detailed analysis and information to be presented for their consideration.
“A new date for the citizens’ jury will be confirmed soon.
“The feedback from the earlier public consultation told us that access to services was a key issue for local people, and we want to ensure that the jury members have the best possible information to assist them in reaching their recommendation.
“To support this, detailed travel and transport analysis will be progressed and further work will be carried out to assess the impact of location on people with protected characteristics, e.g. people with a disability and people of different ages.
“We strongly believe that this (the single hospital) offers a number of benefits to local patients — whether that’s improved clinical space to support services, overcoming the challenges of maintaining some essential services across two sites or providing a great care environment for patients and staff.
“We recognise the importance of travel and access to community hospital services for all people in the Forest of Dean.
“It was agreed that travel and access issues should be reflected in any consideration of location.
“We are committed to carrying out further public engagement on the location of a new hospital, including the use of a citizens’ jury of Forest of Dean residents to make a recommendation to the CCG governing body and GCS board.
“We are also committed to further work, including ongoing public engagement, on the full range of services that would be provided in a new hospital. This will inform the design of the building and the business case,” he added.
“Moving forward, our shared ambition is to work in partnership with local people and staff to deliver a fantastic new, state-of-the-art community hospital that can support high quality, modern healthcare and respect the rich heritage of the Forest of Dean.”
The secretary of the Friends of Lydney Hospital, Mary Thurston, said she was “very pleased” that the boards were reviewing the issues around the new hospital.
She said: “This is clearly a sensible way because the process did not reflect the particular circumstances of the Forest.”
Article originally appeared on Forest of Dean and Wye Valley Review
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