Text of Letter to Steve Webb from North Bristol NHS Trust

From: Sonia Mills, Chief Executive of North Bristol NHS Trust

To: Steve Webb MP

Date: 25 May 2006

Re: Macmillan Cancer Unit

Dear Steve,

Thank you for taking the trouble to write to me about the views people have expressed to you about the Macmillan Cancer Centre.  I hope the following information is helpful.

Questions about the way the Centre is funded

The costs of building the Centre came from both Macmillan and NHS funds.  Of the £1,272,832 building costs, £666,713 was donated by Macmillan and £606,119 came from the NHS.  The NHS meets virtually all the running costs including staff salaries, equipment and drug costs, catering, cleaning, fuel and maintenance costs.  The Centre does receive very generous donations from the public, and these are used to provide equipment and facilities over and above basic NHS provision, ranging from special mattresses and additional medical equipment to DVD players and soft furnishings.

Disloyalty to the people who raise the funds

I am grateful for the generosity of local people to the Macmillan Centre, and I can assure you that the patients and staff on the unit value the many gifts that they have received.  The Trust has a responsibility to review all its services and this extends to specialist palliative care service, including the Macmillan Centre, to make sure that we continue to provide a high quality hospital palliative care service as part of the network of services available in the Bristol and South Gloucester area.  Part of the review will be to make sure that this highly skilled and caring service is on a sound financial footing both now and in the future.  Regrettably some have taken this to mean that the Macmillan Centre will inevitably close.  I can assure you that no such decision has been taken.  The review will be completed later this summer and will be given very careful consideration.

Access to support

At North Bristol Trust we recognise that, for all our patients, we are part of the team that cares for them and we know that family and friends, local GPs and nurses, Social Services and voluntary organisations, all play their part.  We are committed to providing a local palliative care service.  A key part of this service is the specialist palliative care team, which visits patients with specialist palliative care needs wherever they are in North Bristol's hospitals.  The team offer expert advice and treatment as well as emotional support to the patient and their family.

What will happen to assets provided by charitable donations?

This question assumes that the unit will close and, as I have said, no such decision has been taken.  In other circumstances, such as the transfer of stroke rehabilitation services from Blackberry Hill to Southmead Hospital, we have honoured the spirit in which the donations were made, as well as our legal obligations.  So, for example, equipment bought from donations for stroke patients has continued to be used for stroke patients.

What about the pain clinic?

There are no plans to change the location of the pain clinic.

Possible effects elsewhere

As part of the review we are seeking the views of the local primary care trusts, other providers of palliative care and of Macmillan, as we are acutely aware that we are part of a network of local palliative care services. 

In conclusion, I would like to emphasise that there has not been a decision that would change the future of the unit and I assure you that the outcome of the review will be given very careful consideration.  Do feel free to circulate the letter to all those who have registered their concern with you, and please contact me again if I can be of any further assistance.

Yours sincerely,

Sonia Mills (Miss)

Chief Executive, North Bristol NHS Trust