Campaign to Save Frenchay Continues

In 2003, I carried out a major survey of local residents to find out their views on proposals to downgrade either Frenchay or Southmead. Nearly four fifths of residents (79%) rejected closure of Frenchay’s Accident & Emergency department.

In February 2005, I called a debate in Parliament on the future of Frenchay hospital, urging the Government to make sure the people of South Gloucestershire were listened to.

In March 2005, I encouraged local residents to write to the heads of the NHS Trusts involved in making the decision on the future of Frenchay. I was overwhelmed by petition forms and e-mails in response to this call. I also addressed 250 local residents who gathered outside the Beeches Hotel, Brislington, to register their protest at the plan to deprive South Gloucestershire residents of their only major hospital, at Frenchay. Inside the hotel, the chairmen of each of the six local NHS trusts were meeting to decide the future of the hospitals in North Bristol and South Gloucestershire.

Next I teamed up with neighbouring Kingswood MP Roger Berry to take the fight back to the House of Commons. We tabled an Early Day Motion - an MPs' petition to draw notice to an issue - to raise awareness of the matter in Parliament.

I met with the director of health policy at the Strategic Health Authority to discuss next steps, and encouraged local residents to write to her. I was delighted to secure a promise that more work will be done by the local Trusts on the impact of their plans on access to local hospitals.

In summer 2005, I wrote to the members of South Gloucestershire Council's Health Scrutiny Committee, who agreed to ask the Secretary of State for Health to investigate the Frenchay decision by referring it to a body specially set up to look into disputed changes to local health services such as this - the "Independent Reconfiguration Panel". Meanwhile, staff at Frenchay were told by the chief executive that they must not show any support for the Save Frenchay Hospital campaign when at work.

In the summer I also 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. I was furious to learn that 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 immediately wrote to the Secretary of State to urge her to look at the decision again in the light of these documents.

In October 2005, after a delay of three months, the Department of Health decided not to refer plans to downgrade Frenchay to the Independent Reconfiguration Panel.

I have now joined forces with South Gloucestershire's Lib Dem council group in a new bid to save Frenchay. We are investigating the possibility of referring the issue to the Parliamentary Ombudsman under a complaint of maladministration, or of taking expert legal advice over a possible judicial review of the Frenchay decision.

In September 2006, the Parliamentary Ombudsman told me that she would not be investigating a complaint submitted earlier this year by the Save Frenchay Hospital Group and myself 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 I will seek to persuade the Ombudsman to look again at her decision.

Late September 2006: We were shocked to learn that the plan to keep a "minor injuries unit" on the Frenchay site once a new super-hospital is built at Southmead is likely to be scrapped.

In February 2007, I expressed concerns over plans for the new Southmead 'super-hospital' to be financed by the controversial 'Private Finance Initiative'.

In March 2007, I took the local campaign to Westminster to call for action on the massive debts of North Bristol NHS Trust, which runs Frenchay and Southmead. I secured a 90 minute debate at Westminster on the Government's handling of NHS Trust debt, to which health minister Andy Burnham responded.

In August 2007, I indicated that I would be writing to the new Health Secretary, Alan Johnson, asking for a face-to-face meeting and calling for an independent review of the plans for Frenchay.

In September 2007, the Health Scrutiny Committee at South Gloucestershire Council decided to make a fresh referral to the new Health Secretary about the future of Frenchay Hospital.