East Surrey MP Peter Ainsworth and Gordon Keymer, Leader of Tandridge District Council, have jointly written to the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman asking her to investigate the conduct of the Board of the East Surrey Primary Care Trust. Their letter follows board’s decision not to provide an X-Ray Service at Oxted Health Centre.
Despite an earlier promise in the wake of the closure of Oxted War Memorial Hospital in 2002, East Surrey PCT has decided that the siting of an X-Ray service at the redeveloped Oxted Health Centre is not cost effective. The decision was taken at a meeting of the Board on 27th June 2006. The Board is now drawing up documents for a consultation on the matter.
Mr Ainsworth and Cllr Keymer have suggested that the Primary Care Trust’s failure to make a budget provision for the service and the fact that no earlier document has suggested that the service would not go ahead as planned, may amount to maladministration by the Trust.
They have also expressed concern that the financial feasibility study on which the case was made for abandoning the X-ray service failed to take account of the financial benefit that the NHS received from the land swap of the Oxted War Memorial Hospital site.
Peter Ainsworth MP said:
“I am alarmed by the Board’s decision. They are reneging on a very clear promise to provide an X-ray service at Oxted and local residents are understandably extremely concerned. I can think of few better ways for the local NHS to lose the confidence of the community.”
Cllr Keymer said:
“The land swap was crucial for the trust to redevelop the site of the old hospital and the trust did well out of the deal financially. The swap would not have gone ahead without the trust's agreement to provide the X-ray service at the Oxted Health Centre. The trust has now reneged on their agreement and this must be maladministration or worse”
ENDS
PRESS CONTACT: 020 7219 5078
Notes to Editors:
The full text of the joint letter can be found below:
Mrs Ann Abraham
Parliamentary & Health Service Ombudsman,
Millbank Tower,
Millbank,
London SW1P 4QP
12th July 2006
East Surrey PCT
We are writing to lodge a formal complaint against the Board of the East Surrey Primary Care Trust (the Trust) in relation to their handling of X ray facilities in Oxted, Surrey.
Our complaint arises from the decision taken by the Trust at its Board Meeting on 27th June 2006 not to provide an X ray facility at the Health Centre in Oxted. We enclose a press release issued by the Trust following its Board meeting on 24th July 2002 which sets out the decision and announces a consultation.
The grounds for this complaint are:
1. That the decision is in breach of a commitment given by the Trust in 2002 that, following the closure of Oxted War Memorial Community Hospital, an X ray service would be provided in the redeveloped Oxted Health Centre;
2. That in reaching this decision, the Trust did not take sufficient account of their pre-existing commitment to locate an X ray service in Oxted, and failed to provide information regarding the commitment to the Board;
3. That the Trust failed to make a budget provision in respect of their undertaking to provide an X ray service in Oxted, thereby prejudicing the ability to provide such a service;
4. That, in reaching agreement with the Surrey and Sussex Strategic Health Authority regarding the provision of X ray services across East Surrey, the Trust failed to take account of the existing commitment to such provision in Oxted.
5. That, until now, no budget or other published paper has ever suggested that the X ray service would not continue.
6. That the financial feasibility study on which the case to cease the X ray service has been based has failed to take any account of the large financial benefit that the National Health Service has received from the closure of Oxted War Memorial Community Hospital and the resulting land swap.
We believe that the above considerations may amount to maladministration by the Trust, and we would be grateful therefore if you might investigate whether the matter was handled in an appropriate manner.
Yours sincerely,
Peter Ainsworth
Member of Parliament for East Surrey
Cllr Gordon Keymer
Leader, Tandridge District
Council
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