Campaigners concerned at plans for Leicestershire's hospitals

A campaign group - Save Our NHS Leicestershire - has been formed by people concerned at new plans for the county's hospitals.

After taking issue with a Leicester Mercury report about it, the group explains on its website:

A spokesperson for the Clinical Commissioning Group in Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland responds to this by saying that “Nowadays, modern patient care is not just about having beds in hospitals; our focus is on providing care closer to where people live.”

But community care is in complete crisis due to a decade of austerity and there is no explanation in the Trust’s plans as to how this alternative will be funded. In fact, on page 6 of the public consultation document, the Trust explicitly states that “This consultation does NOT include community hospitals, GP practices, mental health and other services provided in the community or in people’s homes.”

We are opposed to the dishonesty about the closure of Leicester General Hospital, the loss of public land and its impact on communities in Leicester East and in Leicestershire.

These changes to hospital provision in the county were reported as though they are part of meeting Boris Johnson's pledge to build 40 new hospitals in England by 2030.

It would be entirely typical of this prime minister and this government if the announcement turns out to mean we are actually losing a hospital.

Certainly, Save Our NHS Leicestershire thinks we are:

The CCG spokesperson states: “The General Hospital would not close, but would be retained as a community health campus including some non-acute beds.”

However, the only University Hospital of Leicester services remaining on the site will be the Diabetes Centre, an imaging hub (CT scans etc) for GP referrals, possibly an administrative block, and possibly (subject to consultation and for a trial period) a midwife-led unit.

Do these four services (compared to the 87 currently at the site) make up a hospital? We think not.