THE Save the Alex campaign are to picket the annual general meeting of Redditch and Bromsgrove doctors in protest at the lack of progress in securing the future of care at the Alexandra Hospital.
The doctors’ local organisation, the Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG), hit the headlines three weeks ago when they called for urgent talks with other health providers after proposals put forward by Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust were described as ‘unsustainable’ by the West Midlands Clincial Senate.
Their move sparked an offer from University Hospitals Birmingham whose chief executive Dame Julie Moore said they would be ‘really interested’ in talk-ing about how they could support the Alex.
However other health groups in the county backed the trust’s rescue plan for the proposals, to be undertaken over the 10 week summer period by a Future of Acute Hospital Services programme board, and the local CCG had to fall into line.
“Everything is obviously not all sunny and fine with our local doctors,” said Neal Stote, chairman of Save the Alex.“The trust has been told ‘your emer-gency department model is not safe’ and there is obviously a major problem because if it was a minor tweak they would have suggested it and it would have been fixed.
“The trust has had a year to get this right and to think they can get it right in 10 weeks is disappointing and naive.
“It’s another ten wasted weeks of staff leaving, moral down and potential poor Campaigners plan AGM picket protest” he added.
Dr Jonathan Wells, chairman of Redditch and Bromsgrove CCG, said: “We under-stand why local councils, Save the Alex and a lot of public opinion say they want us to look at other options.“However as a CCG governing body we have to come to a corpo-rate view and we are unable to go outside the Future of Acute Services process as we would then be act-ing against our local partners.”
The CCG’s AGM is on Wednesday, July 8 at Bromsgrove Council Chamber, The Council House, Burcot Lane, B60 1AA at 6pm.
