Doughty warns on local health cuts

11.34.02am UTC (GMT +0000) Mon 5th Dec 2005

Sue Doughty, Former MP for Guildford has today raised the issue of cuts in health care with Steve Webb MP, Lib Dem Shadow Secretary of State for Health. She said

"Yet again we are seeing cuts to patient care which will save the budget for this year, only to see problems arising next year. The bureaucracy imposed by Whitehall demanding delays in this financial year will lead to real problems for patients. While the Royal Surrey County Hospital has made real strides in the quality of care, cuts in nurses are bound to affect the care patients receive and cause delays in treatment."

Frimley Park Hospital which is working towards getting Foundation status has been told that it should meet its targets - but only just. Meanwhile local doctors have been told to cut the number of people they refer on for treatment by 10%.

Sue Doughty is particularly worried about the expected very cold winter. She said "This is the time when we see the most pressure on hospitals and admissions rise. We will see much more pressure on beds than ever before, and on our nursing staff. The situation could get very grave indeed."

With the Primary Care Trust consulting on the closure of beds in Cranleigh and Milford Sue added: "We could be planning state of the art health care, close to where people live. The proposals for the new Village Hospital are hugely exciting, and a new Health Centre is urgently needed to deal with the very large practice.. But uncertainty in local funding and consultations on which community hospitals will lose beds is meaning that time is being wasted on planning and replanning when we need to get going on the job."