Once again from the murky shadows steps the Royal Cornwall Hospital Trust with plans to finish off West Cornwall Hospital and its accident and emergency department.
A crazy plan to turn the hospital into a “community style hospital” and have doctor cover from 9am till 11pm is closure through the back door.
We had this before... most of you will remember the march that took place through Penzance to protest against the closure of the accident and emergency department. You might remember that the trust told us that Penzance had never had and A&E, only a minor injuries department. Mind you they soon changed their minds when they saw how people felt in our town.
West Cornwall Hospital serves a much wider community than just Penzance. Those who live in Sennen, St Just, St Buryan, Pendeen and so on have quite a distance to travel already. Asking them to travel yet further is unacceptable.
What can be done? Do we have any legal rights to challenge this new decision?
WEST Cornwall Hospital is being eroded and rebranded as a community hospital in a betrayal of earlier promises, according to health campaigners.
This week, the Royal Cornwall Hospitals Trust published its strategy for health services in the county, which stated there would no longer be a 24-hour doctor-led casualty service in West Cornwall.
Instead, the five-year plan outlines proposals for the Penzance hospital to be an "acute diagnostic and treatment" centre in the future.
Specialist
An experienced doctor will only be on site at the hospital between 9am and 11pm.
"Outside these hours the first point of contact is a nurse practitioner supported by telephone advice from the specialist doctors at the emergency department at RCH," the Clinical Development Plan states. Reports the Cornishman Newspaper
A crazy plan to turn the hospital into a “community style hospital” and have doctor cover from 9am till 11pm is closure through the back door.
We had this before... most of you will remember the march that took place through Penzance to protest against the closure of the accident and emergency department. You might remember that the trust told us that Penzance had never had and A&E, only a minor injuries department. Mind you they soon changed their minds when they saw how people felt in our town.
West Cornwall Hospital serves a much wider community than just Penzance. Those who live in Sennen, St Just, St Buryan, Pendeen and so on have quite a distance to travel already. Asking them to travel yet further is unacceptable.
What can be done? Do we have any legal rights to challenge this new decision?
WEST Cornwall Hospital is being eroded and rebranded as a community hospital in a betrayal of earlier promises, according to health campaigners.
This week, the Royal Cornwall Hospitals Trust published its strategy for health services in the county, which stated there would no longer be a 24-hour doctor-led casualty service in West Cornwall.
Instead, the five-year plan outlines proposals for the Penzance hospital to be an "acute diagnostic and treatment" centre in the future.
Specialist
An experienced doctor will only be on site at the hospital between 9am and 11pm.
"Outside these hours the first point of contact is a nurse practitioner supported by telephone advice from the specialist doctors at the emergency department at RCH," the Clinical Development Plan states. Reports the Cornishman Newspaper
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