Cannock Chase and New Cross sister hospital plan cash 'long overdue'
Investment in Cannock Chase Hospital under plans to move services from New Cross Hospital is 'long overdue' but running shuttle buses between the sites is a waste of time and money, it was claimed today.
Radical plans to overhaul health services in the region were revealed by the Express & Star at the weekend. The proposals would see Cannock Chase effectively become a sister hospital to New Cross.
Thousands of Wolverhampton patients would be shuttled some 10 miles across to Cannock on free buses for non-emergency surgery.
The move includes an upgrade costing around £30 million for Cannock, which was built 23 years ago, to take on the services with work expected to be completed in the next two years.
John Mellor, speaking on behalf of the National Pensioners Convention and a former chairman of the city's patients group LINk, welcomed that news. He said: "The investment in Cannock is long overdue." His enthusiasm was however tempered by concern about how shuttle buses would work in practice.
Mr Mellor added: "I'm not very happy about a shuttle bus system because if a person is aware of what hospital they would be treated at, surely they can go straight there. I can't see the economy or the speed or the benefit for patients of shoeing them around to different hospitals."
The plans come as the fallout from the Stafford Hospital scandal continues to be felt. Moving non-emergency surgery to Cannock from Wolverhampton will free up New Cross to take on services from Stafford as administrators finalise plans to shake up services in the next few weeks.
The proposed move would help with capacity issues at New Cross, which has suffered in recent months with its accident and emergency department seeing record numbers of patients come through the doors.
Cannock Chase Hospital is currently 40 per cent unoccupied. A £70 million downgrade of services at Cannock Chase and Stafford hospitals has been recommended by a team appointed by health watchdog Monitor.
Cannock Chase MP Aidan Burley, who has been urging administrators placed in control of Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust to back the hospitals, however said it was too early to celebrate investment. The administrators are preparing a report on the futures of Cannock Chase and Stafford.
Mr Burley said: "I think it's premature to be celebrating because the full report from administrators is not out yet."
