Public Meeting Bridlington – 12 September 2011
Mike Proctor and Patrick Crowley, Chief Executives at Scarborough and North East Yorkshire Healthcare Trust (SNEY) and York Teaching Hospital Foundation Trust (YFT) were please to see a large turn out at the Public Meeting held at The Spa Bridlington on Monday night. They were joined by Matthew Groom, Bridlington Hospital’s newly appointed manager, as they briefed the meeting on the progress of the merger between the two trusts and how this was improving the services at Bridlington Hospital.
A packed meeting room heard how Consultants from York have already begun holding clinics in the hospital and work has commenced to improve the condition of the buildings, including the operating theatres. An especially well received piece of news was that wards would begin reopening at the hospital as the part of their commitment to making better use of the excellent facility the hospital is. Mike Proctor was decisive in his responses to questions regarding the return of A & E, Cardiology and Maternity services at Bridlington; they would not be returning as the current standards for these services could not be met at the hospital but it was planned that the Minor Injury Unit, Minor Ailment Unit and Out of Hours services at the hospital be delivered in such a way as to provide an efficient and cohesive service for as many issues as possible. An issue for many present was the fear that residents of the East Riding would simply be shipped to York for services, undertaking a long and costly journey. Both Patrick Crowley and Mike Proctor definitively dispelled this fear stating that the aim was to provide local services for local people. Acute patients will need to travel to centres of excellence at Hull, Leeds and York for some services but this is inline with national directives not as a result of the merger between the trusts.
The current issues with the failings of the ambulance service in the region featured high in the concerns of the meeting attendees and it was agreed that whilst SNEY and YFT were not responsible for this they could perhaps be involved in helping Yorkshire Ambulance Service (YAS) improve services in rural locations.
Following a lively and informative meeting both Chief Executives are eager to continue the series of meetings and so requested that East Riding of Yorkshire Local Involvement Network (ERYLINk) organise another meeting early in 2012. Information about ERYLINk and details of the next meeting may be found on the ERYLINk website; www.erylink.ork.uk, by contacting Julia Bugg at the ERYLINk office on 01377 232135 or by email to erylink@hwrcc.org.uk.
