Does PCT want to 'cherry pick'?

4:34pm Wednesday 2nd July 2008

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I READ with interest the article about the proposed development of St Catherine’s Hospital (Wirral to get new hospital? June 18).

That Wirral Primary Care Trust hope to provide a “range of new services” to Wirral residents is misleading.

The Primary Care Trust seems to want to “cherry pick” the medically fittest patients who generate a large portion of the funding that sustains the provision of all services at Wirral Hospital Trust.

When they talk about minor and day-case surgery facilities the very nature of a community hospital will ensure that the chronically ill, expensive to care for and really sick patients will still be treated at Arrowe Park and Clatterbridge wherever you live.

How will the residents of Wirral feel when there isn’t enough income to maintain the hospitals existing A&E, Intensive Care and Neonatal services? The Primary Care Trust won’t be offering these in a community hospital.

Whereas I fully agree that patients should have choice and convenience about where they receive treatment can’t the Primary Care Trust at least be honest that these are not “new services”, they are already provided on the Wirral and the pot of money doesn’t get added to, it moves...

Yes I work for the NHS but I am also a taxpayer and a patient.

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