West Sussex County Council: County Council welcomes Fit For The Future put 'on hold'

Date: Oct 7, 2008

Press Release Number: PR2453

Press Release

West Sussex County Council has welcomed the decision by West Sussex Primary Care Trust to put the Fit for the Future process on hold.

It means that the Primary Care Trust (PCT) has effectively halted the implementation of the Fit for the Future proposals for the time being. It follows an announcement by the Royal West Sussex NHS Trust, which runs St Richard’s Hospital in Chichester, and the Worthing and Southlands Hospitals NHS Trust that a merger is being looked at to bring the two trusts together.

West Sussex County Council Leader Henry Smith said: “The County Council has been working with the hospital trusts and the PCT throughout to find the best solution for all residents which keeps acute services close to our communities, and we fully support the steps the two hospitals propose to take. The two hospital trusts will be briefing County Councillors this week.

“The County Council was clear from the start of the Fit for the Future process that it did not want to see a reduction in services at any of the three main hospitals in West Sussex.

“We supported many of the community level proposals and hope that these will continue to be implemented. However we didn’t support the loss of any A&E services and had major concerns that there would be only one consultant-led maternity unit in the county.

“We will continue to work closely with our partners in the NHS to help deliver better health and care for all our residents.”

The two hospital trusts will meet in December to decide on next steps for the merger.

Henry added: “While we welcome this good news we will wait and see what happens with the merger and the overall effect this will have on the Fit for the Future process.

“We deeply regret that there has been so much public cost involved and upset caused to West Sussex communities throughout the whole process.

“The Joint Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee decided to refer the Fit for the Future process to the Health Secretary following its July meeting as it did not believe the proposals were in the best interest of the health service in West Sussex and the surrounding area.

“It is now a matter for the Joint Committee to decide what happens with the referral and whether it should proceed at this stage.”