Southport & Ormskirk NHS Trust’s departing CEO Trish Armstrong-Child has confirmed in a letter to MP Damien Moore that “there are no proposals or plans which would see Southport and Ormskirk Hospitals closing in the future”.
The letter comes as the “Save Ormskirk & Southport Hospitals” group plans to host a “Stop the closure of Southport Hospital” public meeting this Saturday.
Damien Moore MP said: “I am disappointed and concerned to learn that a local group has been delivering leaflets and sharing social media posts indicating that Southport and Ormskirk Hospitals are set to close.
“I want to reassure residents that the suggestion that either hospital is facing closure is completely false. I am sharing below a letter I have received from the Chief Executive of the hospitals confirming this.
“I understand that the group counts local Labour and Liberal Democrat councillors and political activists among their members – community figures who should know better.
“It is distasteful to peddle such misinformation, which has caused hospital staff to fear for their jobs and local residents to fear for their services.”
Campaign organiser Michele Martin replied: “This letter from the ‘here today, gone tomorrow’ CEO of Southport Hospital, that she has no plans to close the hospital, is far from reassuring. Especially when she’s reported that there are a dozen more ‘fragile services’, code for those earmarked for removal.”
Southport Labour CLP said: “SOSH is a local campaign group founded to stop the ongoing reduction of services to our local hospitals. The Labour Party is fully supportive of better funding the NHS and avoiding these cost cutting and service cutting measures. Let us not forget that the Labour Party founded the NHS and the Conservative party repeatedly voted against forming it.
“Local party members and councillors are members of many Facebook groups where activists want to fight back against the ramifications of Tory austerity and privatisation. We are glad to hear that there are no immediate plans to close Southport Hospital, but what services it retains remains to be seen.
“We, as a CLP, will support local activists who wish to fight back against this callous Tory government and we hope Damien Moore supports Southport residents by voting against the Health and Care Bill. Residents can contact their MP to urge him to do this and can also look up his voting record on theyworkforyou.com”
OTS has also approached the Liberal Democrats for comment.
Is Southport Hospital going to close?
Damien Moore and Trish Armstrong-Child are correct when they say there are no (public) plans to close Southport Hospital, though there is considerable evidence that the hospital is experiencing significant difficulties.
As first reported locally by OTS News, last month the Southport & Ormskirk NHS Trust Board confirmed that there were ‘a dozen or so ‘fragile’ clinical services’ which the Trust was struggling to continue offering alone.
Trust chair Neil Masom said at the time: “The Trust Board and NHS England consider that St Helens and Knowsley Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust is best placed to offer support. We are now in discussions about how this might be achieved.”
The Health Service Journal, a leading healthcare industry publication, said that the departure of Trish Armstrong-Child could and should pave the way for the entire local trust to be taken over by St Helens.
Local healthcare campaigners have also highlighted to the government’s proposed Health and Care Bill, which is expected to reach committee stage in September, could also mean drastic changes for local healthcare provision.
The changes proposed by the bill are wide-reaching but are broadly supported by the NHS Confederation, a membership body for organisations that commission and provide NHS services, though criticism is raised over additional powers handed to the secretary of state, issues over boundaries, and a tight deadline for implementation.
OTS News on Social Media