30.07.14
You say change, they say closure
Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust is experiencing what many trusts before it – and many more in the future – have come to know all too well.
Hospital reconfiguration plans, no matter the communications strategy, no matter the reasons, no matter the clinical support, virtually always rouse public anger and usually politicians’ too.
The proposed changes, downgrades and upgrades at Hammersmith and Charing Cross and the trust’s other facilities have certainly angered Labour MP Andy Slaughter, whose quotes on the issue have been incredibly forceful and media-savvy.
The fact is, the NHS has an over-capacity of some types of care services and treatment options, and an under-supply of others. For some services, centralisation and specialisations has clinically-proven positive outcomes (though this can be overstated). But, when money is tight and savings have to be made, it doesn’t take a cynic to think plans that involve A&E closures and hospital beds being scrapped might be more money-driven than health-driven.
Protestors and politicians will make their voices heard today, the media will report what they say, and the trust will struggle to make an incredibly complicated case for change in just a few seconds or few words. That’s not to say their plans are 100% right – we haven’t analysed them enough yet to say that for sure – but it is to say that reconfiguration remains incredibly contentious and all the fine words at conferences about how the right communications strategy, early involvement and listening carefully can win public support aren’t necessarily worth much.
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