GPs are likely to give the unpopular HRI plan the nod next week, the Examiner has learned.
Just a few weeks after saying they would not be officially approving or rejecting hospital chiefs’ controversial proposals for Huddersfield Royal Infirmary, members of Greater Huddersfield Clinical Commissioning Group (GHCCG) are set to confirm their support.
Papers for the CCG’s governing body meeting next Wednesday reveal they are likely to recommend to NHS England that it is implemented.
The decision will not be final until a vote is taken, but GP members of GHCCG are told in the document that the view of CCG chiefs is that the hospital’s so-called Full Business Case (FBC) does meet the CCG’s aims.
It claims it is in line with the public consultation, is affordable, and is sustainable.
Savings of about £18m per year are predicted if the reconfiguration goes ahead.
The news is sure to anger campaigners who say hospital bosses’ plan is significantly different to the one the people of Huddersfield were consulted on in 2016.
During the consultation, the draft proposal said HRI would be downgraded to a 120 bed premises at Acre Mills.
But there was shock in July when the FBC was published, featuring only 64 beds for the new hospital.
Mike Ramsden, chairman of Let’s Save HRI, said: “Sadly, the CCG has demonstrated an unwavering commitment to these deeply flawed plans which the CCG themselves has publicly described as being ‘pioneering’.
“In other words, they are prepared to use the people of Huddersfield for what is, in effect, their experiment.”
Mike Forster, chairman of Hands Off HRI, said the CCG would be “foolish” to show their cards before the decision by the Secretary of State.
He said: “We will urge them not make a decision yet because the FBC is wholly unsound. They will put themselves in further legal jeopardy by doing this now.
“We think it’s foolish to make a decision at this stage.”
Nicola Jowett, secretary of Let’s Save HRI, said their view was the FBC was not in line with public consultation.
She said: “Either the CCG and the trust made a catastrophic error in their calculations of bed numbers needed in future or they deliberately misled local people about the scale of the replacement hospital facility they are planning for Huddersfield.
“How can we possibly have any confidence in anything these people are saying now?”
Karl Deitch, president of Let’s Save HRI, said hospital bosses had justified their plan on the basis of projects overseas.
He said HRI executives had told them increased care in the community had led to significant reduction in hospital admissions in parts of Spain, Alaska and New Zealand.
But he said the only evidence of similar success in the UK had been in rural Lincolnshire.
He said: “Incredibly, the hospital and the CCG are relying on information, which has not been quantified, from areas such as Alaska and New Zealand to justify their belief that they can reduce demand for hospital services by up to 23% over five years.
“It is only by achieving such an unprecedented and incredible reduction that the planned cutback in hospital capacity could be made to work.
“Can anyone have any belief in these projections, at a time when we have a growing and ageing population?”
Mr Deitch added: “The fight goes on.
“These plans are not a ‘done deal’ and will only happen if we stand by and let them.
“Let’s make sure we take every opportunity to stop them.
“Let’s Save HRI has called for the removal of leaders of the CCG and the hospital trust on the basis that the proposals submitted for public consultation have been dramatically changed in the final version of their plans.“
Let’s Save HRI is urging people to sign its petition calling for all the health chiefs to resign.
It can be found at www.petitions24.com/letssavehri
