The Secretary of State for Health, Jeremy Hunt MP, has been asked by a cross-party group of politicians in the Council to investigate the closure of the Neuro-Rehabilitation Unit, Royal National Hospital for Rheumatic Disease (RNHRD), Bath.
The Council’s Wellbeing Policy Development and Scrutiny Panel were highly concerned about the speed of the decision and lack of consultation with the patients affected by the proposed closure.
Councillor Vic Pritchard (Con. Chew Valley South), Chairman of the Wellbeing Policy Development and Scrutiny Panel, said, “Despite the Government being clear that consultation must take place between health organisations and council health scrutiny panels, there has been no opportunity to meaningfully comment on the proposal. The Unit is a highly respected, much valued service and closing it at such speed has shocked many people.
“The consultation that took place did so when matters were beyond the point of no return and the impact assessment was reported just days ago. If the Government legislation is to have any impact on improving local involvement in decision-making, most people would expect proposals like this to be reported at a much earlier stage.”
At the public meeting on January 28th 2013, the PDS Panel were officially informed of the decision by the RNHRD Board to close the Neuro-Rehabilitation Unit. No report was received about the impact on patients until 22nd March. Government legislation passed this year makes clear that health scrutiny bodies must have a chance to consider substantial developments of the health service or for a substantial variation in the provision of service.
Councillor Katie Hall (Lib-Dem, Lyncombe), Vice Chairman of the Panel, added, “We feel it is important that the Government stands strongly behind its own legislation and backs Local Authorities to do an effective job of scrutinising local health decision-making. Therefore, we are asking the Secretary of State to investigate why the Board of the Hospital paid little more than lip-service to the consultation.”
