Bishop’s Castle Hospital Closure: Open Letter Shropshire Community Health NHS Trust has agreed its 7th October decision was unlawful and is to be quashed.
The Trust has apologised for the way it took that decision without engaging. Bishop’s Castle resident Nick Mitchinson explains what happened: “The Trust – Shropcom – apparently took a decision to close our local hospital behind closed doors, in a private Board meeting on 7th October last year. They told staff on 14th October and then the media picked up the story on 15th October. They closed outpatient services and started moving patients out, and by the end of October, everything was gone. They said it was about safety but they didn’t provide evidence of that. And they didn’t work WITH local people to try and find an alternative to closure.
” I decided to take legal advice on what they’d done. I had very good support from my solicitor Michael Imperato at Watkins and Gunn, and we issued court proceedings against the Trust. I’m really glad the Trust has admitted they’ve acted unlawfully, and that they’ve now re-opened physiotherapy and diabetic eye screening – but what a shame we had to go to these lengths when the Trust could have just worked with the local community in the first place.”
What next? The signatories to this letter are committed to a secure future for Bishop’s Castle Community Hospital.
The hospital is an essential facility not just for Bishop’s Castle but for everyone living in rural South West Shropshire. It is really regrettable that the Board of Shropcom took its decision unlawfully, and there must be lessons to be learned there about being open and accountable, and about working with the communities they serve. To put things right on Bishop’s Castle Hospital, we now expect to see an inclusive public consultation lasting a minimum of six weeks; this to be led by a working group that includes Councillor Houghton, Councillor Hartin and Councillor Kidd, with an invitation also extended to the GP Practices in Bishop’s Castle and Clun.
Councillor Houghton commented, “Our commitment is to finding solutions that will keep the hospital open. It seems that staffing has been the big issue in the past. We’re confident that the Trust will now want to work with us in this very open and inclusive way. This is how we’ll tap into local community resources, recruit people who will want to stay, and also – by working together and by including local GPs – take a good look at how the hospital is working and how we can build the really good services that local people want and need.”
Signatories Nick Mitchinson, Judicial Review Claimant
Councillor Ruth Houghton
Councillor Heather Kidd
Councillor Nigel Hartin
Gill George, Chair of Shropshire Defend Our NHS
Councillor Julia Evans, Secretary of Shropshire Defend Our NHS
Tahira Paul, Chai Shop, Bishop’s Castle