South London Healthcare Trust - impacts on Orpington Hospital and Princess Royal Hospital (From This Is Local London)

South London Healthcare Trust - impacts on Orpington Hospital and Princess Royal Hospital

4:39pm Monday 29th October 2012 in News By Mark Chandler

Matthew Kershaw

PARTS of Bromley's health sites could be axed and private organisations may end up providing services under plans revealed this week.

The proposals have been made by administrator Matthew Kershaw who was appointed to run the debt-ridden South London Healthcare Trust (SLHT) in July after it ended 2011 with a deficit of £69m.

Mr Kershaw's report states the prefered option for the future of Princess Royal is for King's College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust to take it over as early as April 2013.

But a second option would see bids to procure the Bromley services from a range of organisations - both NHS and private - with a new trust set up to take over its overall management.

The report also recommends selling off Orpington Hospital to make savings of £1.5m and ending the Beckenham Beacon lease, saving £1.7m annually, though services would still run from that site.

Despite the changes, the Pru will continue to provide its current services like hyper acute stroke care, complex procedures and maternity facilities. In neighbouring boroughs, Lewisham Hospital would lose its A&E department while Sidcup's Queen Mary's would become a 'health campus'.

Administrator Matthew Kershaw said: "These proposals not only address the situation, but will, I believe, actually achieve a sustainable improvement in the quality and safety of both emergency and planned healthcare for the two million people who live in south east London."

A spokesman for King's Health Partners (KHP), which runs King's College, said: "The King’s Health Partners Board is united in its view that the partners' role in the solution to SLHT should be complementary to its own integration proposals."

Reaction

Orpington MP Jo Johnson: "Any reconfiguration of SLHT must be studied closely to ensure that it will provide a sustainable solution and deliver the best care for Orpington residents. All lessons of the last merger must be fully learned before we embark on a new reorganisation of our local hospitals.

"As the MP for Orpington, I would like to restate once again the strength of residents' attachment to Orpington Hospital, their desire to see an end to the destabilizing uncertainty over its future and their strong opposition to the loss of high-quality, locally-provided healthcare in Orpington town centre."

Sue Sulis, 67, Community Care Protection Group campaign for Orpington Hospital: "We’re not giving up because this is important to us. It’s our NHS and we don’t want to see it closed down or sold off. There are vulnerable people who are suffering because of this."

Beckenham MP Bob Stewart: "King's has an excellent reputation so I’m told and people think it’s a good hospital and it will improve the service to patients in my constituency, so that suits me down to the ground. I think the administrator did a good job considering the circumstances."

Key recommendations

- The Pru could be acquired by King's College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust. An alternative would see a procurement process allowing any NHS  or private sector provider to bid for its services.

- Selling off "vacant and poorly utilised premises" around the Queen Mary's site and Bromley estate, including Orpington Hospital and Beckenham Beacon.

- A £20m to £25m annual payment from the Department for Health to cover the costly PFI payments which funded Queen Elizabeth Hospital and the Pru.

- Improving "operational efficiency", slashing £79m across the trust sites over three years - including cutting full time staff by 140.