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

PRESS STATEMENT 06.06.04

INFORMATION SOUGHT ABOUT HOSPITAL REFERRALS

In the past couple of weeks, West Cornwall HealthWatch has received a significant number of phone calls from patients, their families and hospital staff - all worried that West Cornwall Hospital is not being used sufficiently either for appointments or for emergency admissions. This is despite the Trust's assurances that patients will be treated locally wherever possible. In particular, in the past week we have heard about:

1. a patient being taken by ambulance to Treliske despite a bed being made available for her at West Cornwall
2. a patient with heart failure, living close to the hospital in Penzance, nevertheless being taken by ambulance to Treliske
3. a patient having to travel to Treliske from near Lands End by bus twice in one week for routine heart monitoring, despite the equipment and the personnel being available in Penzance
4. a very elderly patient who had just received cataract surgery in Penzance having to travel to Treliske for a brief follow-up check - which took her longer than the day surgery!

There is a definite feeling that patients are increasingly being sent "up the road", particularly for emergency admissions, but also for routine appointments which can and should be dealt with locally. This, coupled with continued fears about the future of emergency surgery in Penzance, needs to be addressed. So West Cornwall HealthWatch is appealing for patients to contact them if in recent weeks they have needed to access one of the three hospitals (West Cornwall, St Michaels and Treliske) in the Royal Cornwall Hospitals Trust. The Trust has recently stated that patient activity at West Cornwall Hospital remains at the same level as in previous years, but this does not seem to be the experience of some patients. Therefore HealthWatch needs to know the truth of the situation, and we cannot do this without information from the public. As an entirely voluntary, non-political and non-statutory organization, we exist solely to support the local population in its campaign for equitable access to NHS treatment. We will never pass on information about patients without their consent; but at the same time, we will not be taken seriously by the powers-that-be unless patients are willing to speak out, with our support, and let their names be known.

We will be grateful, therefore, if readers could contact us in one of three ways:
1. via The Cornishman offices
2. by email: westcornwallhealthwatch@yahoo.co.uk
3. by letter to 4 Botallack Moor, St Just, Penzance TR19 7QH

We would like to know if your recent hospital appointment or admission was to West Cornwall, St Michaels or Treliske. Were you given any choice of hospital? Were you happy with the hospital to which you were sent? From your own experience, do you feel that West Cornwall Hospital is being used more, about the same, or less than it was a few years ago?

We shall look forward to hearing from you.