Both of the Huntingdonshire MPs; Jonathan Djanogly the MP for the Huntingdon constituency and Shailesh Vara, the MP for the North West Cambridgeshire constituency, today spoke out against new Government plans to abolish Huntingdonshire Primary Care Trust.
Under the plans it is likely that, in November, a consultation will be started to abolish the local PCT and to ask if the new PCT should be formed covering either the whole of Cambridgeshire (including Hunts) or the whole of Cambs. plus Peterborough.
Mr Djanogly noted: "If this is to be the form of the consultation it will be a sham because retention of the existing Hunts PCT would not even be an option for consideration. Whilst neighbouring PCT's have overspent by £40 million, Hunts PCT has broken even - why merge the good into the bad - this is NHS beaurocracy think - at its worst."
Mr Vara said: We must reject this 'done deal' which it seems has been sneaked through by the Health Service planners during August - they might have thought that we wouldn't have noticed!"
Investment
New investment, new developments:
The Facts
- Between 1984 when Hinchingbrooke was founded and 2001 when the PCT was founded - little new investment took place in the health services in Huntingdonshire.
- Between 2001 when the PCT was founded and today the PCT has worked collaboratively with its local partners Hinchingbrooke Hospital, Huntingdonshire District Council, Parish Councils, Local Housing Associations for the benefit of the community we all serve. The results of that collaboration include, but are not limited to, the following:
- New Acorn Surgery in Oxmoor Huntingdon.
- New Hinchingbrooke Hospital Medical Assessment Unit.
- New Barford Road GP Surgery in St. Neots.
- New Sapley Square (super surgery being built - for up to 8 GPs plus GP trainees) and a centre for minor surgery - Due to open in April 2006.
- New Hinchingbrooke Hospital treatment centre opens in October 2005.
- New Branch surgery at Bluntisham.
- New Hinchingbrooke Hospital children's unit planned to open in March 2007 (and PCT founded charity to provide furnishings for children's ward and support children's services across Hunts).
- Introduction of physio-direct service.
- Replacement of GP Surgery for Little Paxton.
- PCT operated "out of hours" service
- New GP super surgeries planned for St Ives, St Neots and Ramsey.
PCT's were set up to achieve better decision making, closer to patients, closer to clients and closer to the local communities they serve.
Last year an independent MORI Survey rated Huntingdonshire PCT joint 11th in terms of efficiency out of 264 PCT's in the country, so from a patient and public viewpoint, Huntingdonshire PCT is in the Premier League of PCT's so why is it being proposed that it be abolished?Dr Michael Dixon OBE, Chairman of the NHS Alliance, guest speaker at the PCT's recent AGM, said Huntingdonshire PCT was one of the "finest examples" of a PCT working in partnership with its community, GP's, clinicians and other partners, delivering the objectives which it had been set by Government.
Mr Vara said: "Our residents need to be aware of the huge threat to our local health provision posed by these proposals. An efficient, prudent, productive and popular local PCT is going to be merged into loss making organisations - for what purpose I ask - perhaps to satisfy some statistician in Whitehall - but not local residents, that is for sure.
Mr Vara and Mr Djanogly are starting a campaign to save our Hunts PCT. Before the consultation starts they are requesting that people write to the strategic Health authority to demand that the retention of Hunts PCT is included in the consultation. Letters to be sent to the Chairman Mr Keith Pearson, Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire SHA, Victoria House, Capital Park, Fulbourn, Cambridge, CB15 XB."