Conservative Parliamentary Spokesman for Wyre Forest Mark Garnier has raised concerns over the Governments latest round of health reorganisations. Whilst he sees that the reorganisation of the primary care trust in Worcestershire is more of an administration change, and almost certainly won't affect services, Mark Garnier raises serious doubts about the changes to the Ambulance Trust.
The Government's latest plans to merge Primary Care Trusts in England halves the number from 303 to 152, whilst the 29 Ambulance Trusts in England is slashed to just 12 - all to happen by July 2006.
What does this mean for Wyre Forest and Worcestershire as a whole? A new PCT will cover the whole county, whilst the Hereford and Worcestershire Ambulance Authority will be sunk into a new West Midlands Ambulance Trust.
Commenting, Mark Garnier said:
"Yet again, the Government seems to think that re-organisation is the key. I am surprised, with regard the PCT, that they seem to think a U-turn back to a similar organisation in terms of size and function as the old Health Authorities (abolished just three years ago) is the answer. When looking at the NHS as a whole - especially in light of the recent huge spate of country wide redundancies - this really is like rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic.
"What I care about most, however, is that residents in Wyre Forest get the best services available and I have to ask the question: will these changes in any way diminish the services offered in Wyre Forest? IN the case of the PCT, probably not and I think that residents are unlikely to see any change to their local GPs directly as a result of this change.
"But I am very fearful of the changes with the Ambulance Trust. We will almost certainly go to centralised control centres, although we are promised local ambulance stations will remain. However, the potential problem is highlighted by a recent incident of an elderly woman in Severn Bank Park, who needed an ambulance because she had injured herself. The local dispatchers sent the ambulance to the wrong side of the river and poor Mrs Bennett lay in agony for 45 minutes whilst the ambulance had to get to the right side of the river. The excuse given was that Severn Bank Park is too new to appear in the satellite navigation system. My concern is that sat-nav is fine when it works, but when a glitch happens - for any number of reasons - local knowledge is of paramount importance and that can never be provided by a regional dispatch centre."
Mark Garnier's stance differs from that of local single issue health campaigner Dr Richard Taylor MP who, at a recent public meeting, stated that he was happy with the Ambulance Trust changes, but worried about the PCT changes.
"Richard and I differ because I think in this case he is looking at the effect on the staff, not the services. My first and foremost concern is that of the delivery of the services and how it affects local residents."
In conclusion, Mark added:
"I have many local residents coming to me in desperation about health services. Wyre Forest has been the most vocal constituency in the country when it comes to protesting about health changes and yet despite successive protest votes at a succession of elections, the Government has completely ignored Wyre Forest and its health campaigning MP Richard Taylor. What is happening in Wyre Forest is symptomatic of the problem that is country wide. There is now only one option left for the NHS and that is a new administration under a new Government that understands local doctors and nurses know how best to deliver local services."