BMA cymru wales disappointed in the breakdown of negotiations with the welsh assembly on future of community hospitals

Main Category: Public Health
Article Date: 06 Aug 2004 - 12:00 PDT


In a letter to the Minister for Health and Social Services Jane Hutt, Dr Andrew Dearden - the chairman the BMA's (British Medical Association's) GP Committee for Wales - has expressed his bitter disappointment in the breakdown of negotiations between the BMA and the Welsh Assembly Government on the future of community hospitals in Wales

Dr Dearden said: "In the past few months I have spoken to numerous GPs across Wales who are involved in community hospitals - some for decades.

Many of them want to be able to continue to work within community hospitals as they enjoy the work and feel that they are directly contributing to their communities. They asked for a national agreement that would safeguard current patient services and allow a planned review and development of these services in the future."

The new GP contract, which started in April this year, is designed to improve the level and quality of care received by patients. The new Quality and Outcomes Framework emphasises health promotion and disease prevention.

It will require a great deal of effort over the next few years to raise the quality of care to the levels aspired to by GPs throughout Wales.

"It is this new work that has made practices look at both their commitments to their practice and patients as well as to their local community hospitals. Many feel unable to commit sufficient time to both their patients and community hospitals, and do justice to both under the current arrangements," he added.

"Therefore, a major part of the desired agreement was to be a nationally agreed system of resources available to practices covering community hospitals, modernising the way they are funded and bringing extra resources into the practice, allowing them to take on extra staff and doctors."

The Welsh Assembly Government has told BMA Cymru Wales that it feels unable to agree such a national deal for community hospitals, in spite of having done so for hospital juniors, consultants and GPs within the past few years.

Dr Dearden added: "GPC Wales feels that the failure to agree a national structure places some community hospitals at significant risk of closure over the next 1-2 years. We now fear for the future of many community hospitals as a direct result of the Welsh Assembly Government's decision not to seek a national deal to safeguard current service provision and allow the future development of the services that these community hospitals could provide for vulnerable patients."

For more information please contact:

John Jenkins
Tel: 029 2047 4611
mobile 07788 565216
pager 04325 638059
Fax: 029 2047 4621
Email: jjenkins@bma.org.uk

BMA Cymru Wales
Fifth floor
2 Caspian Point
Caspian Way
Cardiff Bay
Cardiff
CF10 4DQ

Telephone: (029) 2047 4646
Fax: (029) 2047 4600
email: info.cardiff@bma.org.uk

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