Co-ordinator: Marna Blundy, 4 Botallack Moor, St Just, PENZANCE, Cornwall TR19 7QH
Tel / Fax 01736 788107
Email: westcornwallhealthwatch@yahoo.co.uk

PRESS STATEMENT 17th September 2001

has responded cautiously to the unfolding news about plans for a major expansion of health services in the county. At a conference in Newquay last week, representatives from the county's district councils, along with M.P.s and health service executives, were told about the new long-term strategic vision for decentralising health services away from the centre at Treliske. The Chief Executive of the Royal Cornwall Hospitals Trust, Brian Milstead, also said that the plans will need the support of the people of Cornwall if they are to succeed in the competitive market of bidding for funds from the Government.

HealthWatch, which has monitored developments in NHS provision ever since it began working nearly five years ago, has welcomed certain features of the Strategic Outline Case.

In a statement issued this week, the HealthWatch committee says:
"The stated emphasis on moving services from Treliske into the community, on using tele-medicine links to bring services to patients rather than patients to services, and on putting the patient at the centre of service planning - all these ideals reflect closely what HealthWatch has been saying for years.

However, stated plans do not always turn into reality. Penwith residents recall the promise of a maternity ward at West Cornwall Hospital when Bolitho Maternity Home was closed - it never happened. They more recently recall the undertaking that children's day surgery would continue at West Cornwall Hospital when the Rainbow Ward closed - no children's surgery has taken place in Penzance for many months. Some members of the community will take a lot of persuading that these new dreams will actually come true.

In particular, of course, the eyes of west Cornwall are on the West Cornwall Hospital Service Review, which is due to report in November. We have already been given an undertaking that the hospital will not be downgraded, and we trust that these are not empty words. With the new vision for decentralising services, it would seem reasonable to assume that the hospital will in future take many more patients, developing emergency as well as routine caseloads. In particular, we would expect ambulances to be able to take more emergencies straight to Penzance, rather than have to make the arduous journey to Truro. In this way, pressure on Treliske will be relieved and patients truly treated locally.

All this is in line with The People's Option, which we published in March, and which continues to represent the options for West Cornwall which are most in tune with the wishes of local people.

So, we would be glad to believe that in the Strategic Outline Case, the health planners in Cornwall are finally going to implement what we have long believed. But we have yet to be convinced that it will happen, and we shall continue to monitor developments very closely to ensure that the hoped-for decentralisation really does happen, particularly of course as it relates to West Cornwall Hospital."

Marna Blundy 17.09.01