South Gloucestershire | Archive | 2005 | November | 18
From the archive, first published Friday 18th Nov 2005.
CAMPAIGNERS have slammed a Government decision to withhold information about the future downgrading of Frenchay Hospital as a smoke screen.
The Department of Health has refused to disclose copies of letters containing advice for Health Secretary Patricia Hewitt, before she decided not to refer the decision to downgrade the much-loved hospital to an independent panel which specialises in controversial local healthcare changes.
Frustrating campaigners, DoH chiefs said that the reason the documents would not be released was down to the balance of public opinion, which they said favoured withholding the information.
South Gloucestershire councillor Virginia McNab (Con, Longwell Green) responded angrily to the decision.
She said this week: "At every stage of this campaign there has been misinformation about Frenchay and now the smoke screen continues with this refusal to disclose to the public this vital information.
"It is increasingly clear that the decision to abandon Frenchay and to sell it off to house builders is a total whitewash and cover-up.
"How can the Department of Health seriously argue that it is not in the public interest to know why the government won't support referring the decision to downgrade Frenchay to independent scrutiny?"
She pushed for the decision to be overturned and for the documents to be made public.
"We need to know on what grounds the Department of Health has decided not to support Frenchay to see whether or not we have a reasonable chance of challenging the decision," she added.
"We know the NHS locally is frightened of the independent scrutiny we are fighting for and now the Department of Health is suppressing vital information.
"What do they have to fear from releasing the information and letting it be scrutinised?
"All we can assume is that they are frightened of the facts, which will support us in campaigning for Frenchay."
Supporters of the hospital, who do not want to see Southmead turned into the region's only acute healthcare unit and Frenchay left as nothing more than a glamorised health centre, pledged this week they would continue to question the government and the United Bristol Healthcare Trust which originally made the downgrading decision back in March.
© Newsquest Media Group 2008