PRESS STATEMENT
21.05.04

ALL WEST CORNWALL EMERGENCY SURGERY UNDER THREAT

It seems increasingly likely that all emergency surgery at West Cornwall Hospital will be lost in the coming weeks. Signals emerging from meetings and documents all point to the likelihood that decisions have already been made to centralise all emergency surgery for the county at Treliske:
" Recently the RCHT held a press conference to announce the shake-up of medical admissions at West Cornwall Hospital, but no mention was made of surgery.
" The Trust remains unable, after a year of uncertainty, to resolve the issue of 24-hour anesthetic cover which would safeguard the continuation of emergency surgery.
" The community awaits the full detail next month of the findings of the government-funded consultant into the future of the hospital, but his draft findings again made no mention of emergency surgery.

Now an undated document, apparently from the RCHT Surgical Directorate, which has come into our hands, states that the Royal Cornwall Hospital "is soon to become the sole site for emergency surgical activity in Cornwall."

So, it seems that the future for the hospital has already been decided. The implications for the west of the county, and indeed for everyone in Cornwall, are that all emergencies - whatever their complexity - will have to be transported to Truro for treatment. This could in some cases have very serious consequences, if the delay in treatment is life-threatening. As the Mayor's Parlour Campaign Team pointed out in a statement last month, there is a growing risk of "superbug" infections in our hospitals which will sooner or later put a whole site out of action. If this happens at Treliske, and there is no alternative emergency admitting hospital in the county, the outlook is grim.

Neither can the Royal Cornwall Hospitals Trust argue that diagnostic treatments are increasingly being offered more locally, to replace the emergency treatment being transferred to Treliske. We have recently learned that access to echo and treadmill exercise tests, which West Cornwall Hospital had been offering to local heart patients, is being denied. Patients are now expected to travel to Truro instead, leaving perfectly good equipment and trained staff in Penzance unable to offer the service.

The situation seems to be looking more bleak by the week. Despite much vaunted consultation and community involvement in meetings over the past two years, West Cornwall Hospital continues to have essential and valued services eroded. It seems that only an enormous outcry from the community will have an effect in halting the loss of emergency surgery from Penzance. So we felt it imperative to warn readers what is likely to follow.