Ravenscourt Park closure to go before Scrutiny Committee
Why only three day's consultation asks patients' forum
Hammersmith and Fulham's Scrutiny Committee is to discuss the closure of Ravenscourt Park Hospital, a specialist orthopaedic. The hospital was closed at the end of October.
The issue was referred to the Scrutiny committee by the Patient and Public Involvement Forum for Hammersmith Hospitals Trust (PPIF), a statutory patient watchdog comprised of volunteers from the local community, on the basis of the Trust’s failure to consult patients and the public about the closure.
Forum spokesperson Lynette Royle said: “NHS Trusts are obliged by law to consult and involve patients in the development of the services they offer. The Patients’ Forum was given three working days confidential notice of the closure announcement. That cannot in any way be considered a consultation process.
“Ravenscourt Park Hospital was hugely popular with patients, their carers, its surgeons and its staff. It had low infection rates, no MRSA, guaranteed operation dates, excellent parking and public transport connections, first class care from small, dedicated teams - and all this in a pleasant, tranquil environment where patients found it easy to get better. It was in fact a very fine example of the NHS at its best. So what happens next? They close it.
“In a truly patient-led NHS, we would be cloning Ravenscourt Park, not closing it. We hope that as many former patients, people on waiting lists for joint surgery and concerned members of the local community as possible will come along and support us at this event.”
The PPIF will present its case to the Scrutiny Committee on 21 November at 7.p.m. at a meeting in public at Hammersmith Town Hall. Interested members of the public are invited to attend.
November 16, 2006
