news story

11th September 2006

Ombudsman Rejects Frenchay Protest

A last ditch attempt by Northavon MP Steve Webb to save Frenchay Hospital looks to have been unsuccessful. The Parliamentary Ombudsman has refused to investigate a complaint submitted earlier this year by the MP jointly with the Save Frenchay Hospital Group about the way the decision to close the Hospital was made. Now the only hope of getting the decision changed lies in a meeting at Westminster where the MP will seek to persuade the Ombudsman to look again at her decision.

The complaint is over the plans to reduce Frenchay from its current status as a major acute hospital with over 700 beds and a 24 hour casualty department to a 'community' hospital with around 100 beds and only a minor injuries unit. In their letter of complaint, the MP and the hospital campaigners identified three reasons why the decision should be looked at again.

The first was that the councillors whose role was to oversee the plans for health services in the Bristol area couldn't do their job properly because the NHS failed to supply the information that they needed and put pressure on them to approve the plans so that new investment was not held up.

The second complaint was that the scheme that is now going ahead - which involves a big reduction in the number of inpatient beds compared with the total at Frenchay & Southmead at present - is significantly different from the one on which the public was consulted.

The final complaint was that when South Gloucestershire councillors objected to the decision and asked for a referral to an independent body to review the decision, this request was unreasonably refused by the Government. In response, the Ombudsman said that whilst campaigners may not agree with the decisions that were taken, they were predominantly policy decisions and therefore not examples of 'maladministration'.

Local MP Steve Webb said he was dismayed by the Ombudsman's letter. He said: "Tens of thousands of local people have registered their support for Frenchay and yet health chiefs took no notice because they had already made up their mind. If you were to ask people across the area today if they are happy with losing hundreds of acute beds as well as 24 hour A&E at Frenchay, they would give you a very clear answer. Yet the NHS continues to pretend that the current plans are the result of 'listening' to local people".

Barbara Harris of the Save Frenchay Hospital Group said: "I am shocked that the Ombudsman has refused to investigate our complaints. Real consultation is not just about having lots of meetings - it is about listening to what people say. Our petition in support of Frenchay shows the depth of feeling that there is in our area and people are angry and frustrated that they don't seem to be able to influence the decisions that are made".

The decision has also been condemned by Emma Bone, Lib Dem candidate for the new Filton & Bradley Stoke constituency, which includes Frenchay Hospital. She added: "I know from my conversations with local people how much they value the quality of care that is provided at Frenchay. For people in large parts of South Gloucestershire, losing Frenchay will mean much longer journeys to hospital, especially at times of peak traffic congestion".