PRESS STATEMENT 23.10.00

At a meeting of last Friday, concern was expressed over a statement issued last week by the Cornwall Community Health Council – the “patients’ watchdog”. In this statement, quoted in the local press, the CHC apparently accepts the fact that West Cornwall Hospital will lose all its emergency admissions to Treliske, and its main concern seems now to be centred around what other services can be expanded at the hospital.

spokesman Joe McKenna, of Canonstown, said “At the recent public meeting in the Queens Hotel, we were given an assurance by the powers-that-be that all options would be fully considered. We were told that the pros and cons of each option would be fully explained in terms of the advantages and disadvantages to the public, who would be given every opportunity to put forward their views on the options being discussed. The fact that the CHC – the only statutory patients’ body – has pre-empted this option discussion phase and has indicated its acceptance of the loss of emergency admissions at West Cornwall Hospital, has to be a matter of the gravest concern.”

is calling on the Royal Cornwall Hospitals Trust, together with the local Primary Care Group, to publish its full list of options with all speed, in order that all members of the public can make known their views on each option.

Mr McKenna went on to say: “Cornwall is unique in many ways – geographically due to its long peninsula shape, coupled with the fact that the size of the population explodes dramatically in the summer months. No other part of the country shares this inherent uniqueness. I believe that in order to meet the “clinically led” need for change, we need a unique solution. We are still suffering from the inherited legacy of a major mistake made years ago when two major District General Hospitals should have been developed in this county. We must ensure that history does not repeat itself. We cannot afford another mistake and therefore we need to know NOW, what are the options to be considered, so that if needs be we can add our own!”

It is understood that a representative from will be attending a meeting to be held shortly with representatives from the West Cornwall and associated hospitals League of Friends, Penwith District Council, all the town councils in Penwith, and local M.P. Andrew George. This meeting aims to ensure that whatever the final outcome of this “need for change”, it is truly in the best interests of the local community.