PRESS STATEMENT PUBLISHED 14th August 2001
by Andrew George M.P.
and endorsed by

St Ives MP Andrew George has accused the West Cornwall Hospital Review Bulletin Two, distributed last week, of being misleading - and said it raised questions about the Review's objectivity.

In a thinly veiled attack on Mr George, The Cornishman newspaper, and members of the public who have dared to voice fears about the hospital's future, the Review Bulletin dismisses genuine concerns as "scaremongering" and "sensationalism"

Its opening paragraph read: "Most of those involved at West Cornwall Hospital Services Review have striven to maintain an open and honest approach to the process of consultation against a backdrop of ill founded scaremongering. Those who are more interested in creating sensation than finding solutions for the best care of the people of West Cornwall are promoting fear and prejudice."

However, Mr George has made a robust response to these claims, saying "Generally the bulletin raises concerns for the objectivity of the review. Although my primary concern is that the use of tax payers' money in both preparing, printing and circulating this bulletin is a very significant missed opportunity, I have a range of concerns about it content. Review Bulletin One, published in May 2001, told us that a risk assessment was being prepared that would identify any immediate measures that have to be taken. Since that time the risk assessment has been completed and, not unexpectedly, has identified concerns with anaesthetic cover, radiology and diagnostic cover, the lack of 24 hour doctor led A&E and other concerns. Instead of dealing with these extremely serious matters immediately I have been told that these matters will have to wait for the conclusion of the review itself. Whatever the decision - if it were being undertaken "openly" - then in Review Bulletin Two there would be a report on the outcome of the risk assessment referred to in the previous Bulletin and an indication of what "immediate measures" will or have been taken. There was no reference to this in Bulletin Two.

"Furthermore, whether it intended to or not, the opening statement that "There are not and never have been any plans to close West Cornwall Hospital or downgrade its status" has the ability to mislead the many thousands of people who are concerned about the future of the hospital in the sense of a daytime A&E and emergency admissions are under no threat of being removed. In all my discussions with clinicians the reference to the word "acute" in relation to service delivery is always one which requires further definition and explanation and the term "casualty" is not used at all.

In addition, references in Bulletin Two to consultants' private work appear to have completely missed the point and are completely out of date. The primary point I was making was that the unsubstantiated and unhelpful remarks made to me by those based at both Treliske and Penzance hospitals about each other were not helping to create the proper or appropriate climate in which "one Trust" could operate seamlessly across the two sites. In reply Brian Milstead (Chief Executive of the Royal Cornwall Hospitals Trust) agreed that although these kind of comments were not helpful, it was part of the "froth" that can emerge when a debate heats up - and we both agreed that it would not be helpful to concentrate on these matters, but to quietly bury them in the hope that a greater and welcome consensus could be established as soon as possible. Curiously, the Review Bulletin seeks to re-open the issue again.

In conclusion, I do very much hope that the publication of this bulletin does not seriously hamper the review process itself. I have put on record my opinion that the review could well come to a conclusion to maintain emergency admissions and 24 hour doctor led A&E services in a way which the local community could support. I am surprised that the hospital and Primary Care Trusts and the Health Authority have published a bulletin of this nature at this stage," added Mr George - whose comments were endorsed by