17 November 2005

MALCOLM MOSS BECOMES PATRON OF SUPPORT GROUP FIGHTING FOR COMMUNITY HOSPITALS

Malcolm Moss has become Patron of a new support group campaigning on behalf of community hospitals under threat of closure across the UK. CHANT (Community Hospitals Acting Nationally Together) was launched this week in the House of Commons.

At present there are more than 90 community hospitals threatened with cuts or closure that provide important local health services close to people’s homes.

Mr Moss has  actively supported campigners who fought to retain Alan Conway Court and the Iceni Ward at Doddington Hospital when they  were under threat of closure. He believes it is essential to retain these facilities, particularly in rural areas where public transport is often infrequent.

Mr Moss said he was delighted to be asked to be a Patron of CHANT.

“There is tremendous support among the public for community hospital services, as we have seen in Fenland, and this is evident by the number and strength of local campaigning groups which have been set up in response to proposed cut backs.

“CHANT is an excellent organisation that aims to bring together these local groups and be a national voice in making the case for community hospitals and their role and importance in delivering government health objectives. I shall do all I can to support it.”

The launch was held on the same day as a health debate in the House of Commons when Shadow Health Secretary Andrew Lansley outlined the financial crisis being suffered by Primary Care Trusts.

He said that despite unprecedented resources provided to the NHS, NHS trusts were over £600 million in deficit in 2004–05 and predicts deficits approaching £1 billion this year; as a result, these deficits threaten the delivery of NHS services. And despite the Government promising new community hospitals, the reality is that more than 90 were threatened with closure.

Mr Lansley said that in Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire, the Strategic Health Authority has predicted a £92 million deficit, and that increasing numbers of SHA’s in the UK were faced with grave financial problems.