News story

5th October 2005

Private Documents Reveal Frenchay Cover-Up

Northavon MP Steve Webb has accused the local NHS Trust of covering up important information relating to the future of Frenchay hospital.

North Bristol NHS Trust have been pushing for Southmead as the site for a new "super-hospital", and have argued that it is a better site than Frenchay, which they therefore propose to downgrade to a "community hospital". The "assessment" document that went to all the local Trust boards in March 2005, setting out these proposals, concluded that Southmead was a better site than Frenchay in all key respects;

This Summer Steve Webb wrote to North Bristol Trust under the Freedom of Information Act and asked for copies of internal Trust documents which related to the Frenchay / Southmead decision.  Among the paperwork that he received in return, he discovered an analysis by North Bristol Trust of access times to Southmead and to Frenchay for three key groups of people:

a) people who come in to casualty (under their own steam);
b) people who are admitted to hospital as "blue light" emergencies;
c) people who come in for planned operations.

The document concluded that for each of these key groups of people, Frenchay was on average a better site than Southmead in terms of journey times. (In terms of journey distances, the picture was much more mixed, but clearly what matters is not how far away from a hospital you are, but how long it takes you to get there). The report even said that this result was not surprising "...given Frenchay Hospital's proximity to faster roads than Southmead".

Steve Webb said:

"We have been arguing all along that Frenchay is a better site for the hospital, partly because of its location and accessibility.  This document proves that point.

"The Trust knew that its own analysis showed Frenchay was the best site for access, yet it continued to back Southmead, and allowed other Trust boards to think that Southmead was the better site.

"I was furious when I found this document, and immediately faxed off a letter to the Secretary of State for Health, urging her to get this decision looked into again. We have been waiting for her response on this request for a couple of months now, but I believe this document provides the clinching argument."