Ludlow hospital bailout rejected to protect nurses' jobs

Work on the new hospital at the town's eco park was expected to start last autumn.

It would have replaced the community hospital in Gravel Hill and provided a new home for the town's Portcullis and Station Drive GP surgeries.

But the project was initially delayed due to a change in the wording of a clause in the Government's Health and Social Care Bill held up a deal on paying for the work.

The project was dealt a further blow when officials at Shropshire Community Health NHS Trust revealed the project was facing a £1.1 million a year funding shortfall due to a miscalculation over the number of patients expected to use the site.

A plea was made to Shropshire Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) to help plug the gap for a period of 25 years.

But members of the CCG almost unanimously voted against it at a meeting held at Ludlow Racecourse yesterday.

Of the 15 voting board members, 14 voted against and one abstained due to a conflict of interests.

The future of the hospital will now be discussed at the Community Health NHS Trust's next board meeting on September 19. Options include scrapping the scheme altogether or scaling it down.

The meeting, attended by more than 100 people, was told the existing Community Hospital would be fit for purpose for the next five years if £160,000 was invested.

Meanwhile, it emerged at least 22 district nurses would have lost their jobs if health chiefs had agreed to the bailout.

In a presentation to the board, Dr Caron Morton, accountable officer for Shropshire CCG, said if the board agreed to the proposal the cash would have to be taken from other budgets.

She said: "The only realistic option would be cutting front-line staff, and that kind of money would equate to 22 district nurses. It is that thought that makes this question very real and very tangible for me.

"We need to focus on the front-line care and the patients, and not necessarily on the facilities."

Dr Morton said there were currently 228 district nurses in the county, and 76 in the south, so such a move would see a 10 per cent cut in nurses county-wide or a 30 per cent reduction in numbers in just the south.

But she pledged that the CCG was still committed to keeping a hospital in Ludlow, and hit back at claims the current community hospital was unfit for purpose.

"There is an investment that needs to be made," she said. "We are completely committed to having care provision in Ludlow."

Former Ludlow district councillor Ed Havard, who attended the meeting, said the ongoing situation was "dreadful".

He said: "We have got people travelling to Birmingham, Cheltenham, Hereford for treatment.

"My father died in Church Stretton from a really bad heart attack on the way to Shrewsbury.

"My mother died choking while she was waiting for an ambulance to come.

"The people of Ludlow have chosen, and they chose to have a hospital. It really is a dreadful situation."

Ludlow councillor Rosanna Taylor-Smith pledged it would not be the end of the fight.

"Somehow we have got to find a solution to this problem," she said. "This is not the end of the road, we are all going to keep working together to do something that will result in getting the facility we need."

After the meeting a a spokesman for the Shropshire Community Health NHS Trust said: "The trust is considering the implications of this decision for the new facility and is completing on-going work to see if it can provide a solution to bridging the funding gap through other means, such as making space available for other health-related purposes to generate additional income, or adapting the potential configuration of the building."

An assessment of the current hospital has confirmed that it is suitable, with maintenance and some small-scale building improvements, for providing safe care for the next two to five years.

"Both the trust and the CCG remain absolutely committed to a solution which ensures that community health services are at the heart of healthcare provision in Ludlow and South West Shropshire,"he said.

Timeline of events affecting the hospital:

May 2012 - Shropshire Community Health NHS Trust and the Strategic Health Authority both announce backing for the £27 million hospital scheme, with developers Amber Investments to be paid £1.5 million a year for 25 years under a Private Finance Initiative scheme. Reports suggest building work could start in September.

January 2013 - Work still not started – and announcements are made that it will not start for at least four months due to changes in legislation. Politicians claim they are still firmly committed to the scheme.

April 2013 - Ludlow councillor Martin Taylor-Smith claims the start of work on the new hospital is imminent and that contracts will be signed in the "next few weeks". He says he is looking forward to the arrival of diggers on site.

June 2013 - Ludlow MP Philip Dunne reveals a shake-up of the NHS at the top level and a change in the wording of a Government bill is holding up the funding. He pledged, however, that work was "weeks not months" away.

July 2013 - Shropshire Community Health NHS Trust admits at a board meeting there is a funding shortfall of £1.1 million per year, due to miscalculations over the number of people who would use the site. This is stopping the project from going ahead. Members reveal they have asked the Clinical Commissioning Group for a bailout.

August 2013 - Shropshire Clinical Commissioning Group refuses to pay £1.1 million annually for 25 years to bail out the scheme and allow work to start, leaving it hanging in the balance again.

See also: Ludlow hospital plans in jeopardy as officials oppose bailout