Save Hinchingbrooke Hospital

The Day After.....

Yesterday was very busy, I did a quick interview on the radio and said that I think the Circle Health "deal" will be a Flash in the Pan.

My reason....they won't make cash out of it under the Health & Social Care Bill structure, if it gets passed along with the huge NHS cuts that the CCG (commissioning groups that take over from the NHS Cambs PCT) face.

CCG's will ration Hospital referrals and our healthcare locally, way more than was forced upon the local Health Board in the 80's.

As the majority of patients know,especially the elderly ones, how their Health Care has been rationed over the last 30 years with us have 50% of national funding instead of being afforded the full funding other areas get and now we are going to get even less and with an expanding and ageing population....is that fair?..NO
But then is this rotten government fair.....NO..and the 80's Government who reduced the health care funding was of the same ideology as today's

Pre 2006 Hunts PCT had a deal with Hinchingbrooke where the Hospital got paid under tariff, so more patients were referred and referred earlier.
The result being balanced books everywhere and Patients conditions were treated at an earlier stage and better outcomes achieved.

Post 2006 and Labour's top down creation of Cambs PCT and EoESHA things got tougher, especially because the Treatment centre was to handle referrals from a large area yet during the build the goal posts changed....and hence Hinchingbrooke's debt...likewise PBR was introduced too compounding the debt.
Post 2006 led to the SHA suggesting the hospital may close.....well that's history as we kept it open......however, the number of "interim" Chief executives of the local trusts came and went and took their £1000 + per day and nowt changed.

Cambs PCT as it was before renaming to NHS Cambridgehire, said that Hinchingbrooke would have 25% less activity and more will be done in the community.
They built Oak Tree Centre a Darzi type unit, where minor procedures could be done and grandstanded a £2m investment in community services.
I said that £2m was only enough to provide vehicles and phones and maybe offices but not services....and I was correct.
Over the past few years NHS Cambs was formed and Cambs Community Services formed and CCC is funded by PCT and Cambs County Council and this is where things get complicated.
Social care is allocated by the County council and Community Services has taken on that service with some former county employees now in community services and they are house.....in the Oak Tree Centre...the Darzi type unit where the treatment rooms (still with sinks and cupboards etc are used as meeting rooms and offices)and not providing healthcare.

It's all in a mess really but then things have got more stable where you visit your GP and he may or may not refer you to a hospital of your choice, in the main with the rubbish road network we choose Hinchingbrooke as it is close by.

Out of Hours care is another story and post Dr Ubani scandal,most go straight to Hinchingbrooke and bypass the GP route. This is being discouraged but the 2004 choices made post GP contract led to Private companies running OOH GP's and failed.

Is Circle the answer or retribution for keeping Hinchingbrooke open?

Circle is just payback for keeping the hospital open, and a political opportunity to get the Private Sector parasites into the NHS, nothing more.
When you see the local political structure and how it got to this then you have the answer to why Hinchingbrooke was a soft target.

In the post Marching and Save Hinchingbrooke fall out, the Hospital restructured and has made annual surplus's and the hospital has been refurbished too.
Everything has been done to make the Hospital run efficiently and Circle wont make anything like the changes they want to without sacking staff...

Magic Ali said yesterday they they want to reduce red tape etc....that is a DOH issue and about data collection, any clinical procedures have parameters that cannot be changed to prevent errors, although Addenbrookes the wonderful have made grave surgical errors recently.

Circle Health take over next February, in my last post I said January but there you go.....and how will they make money...they wont unless there is more activity (bodies through the door) I do know the intention is to run the Theatres 24/7 and I would hazard a guess many will be shipped from Circle's other units to keep throughput up.

Under the Health Bill, this is a failed and old model that is not sustainable.

Magic Ali is going to use Hinchingbrooke's Support services, for FREE,for his other units....sterile services, Blood Labs,Catering and X-ray to save cash at the other units and we pay for it.....

Only Transparency will show that this is not going to happen and his other business's will pay the going rates,but of course we know that we will never find out....but yes I will...an insider who tweets,as well as staff members who send me anonymously information to share.

Circle will also be getting rid of middle managers, in fact I know of 3 who have been "encouraged" to retire early so that they then will not be replaced.
Circle have had their "pink and fluffy" orchestrated stunt filled staff meetings all this week, before the announcement yesterday and they only like sessions which do not question their motives.

Lastly, the contract is watertight in Circle's favour....they can get out whenever they want.... so that gives me and the community no faith in the deal which in fact isn't worth the paper it is written on