Staff revolt against plans to axe hospital beds

Senior medical staff have revolted against plans to slash hospital beds by almost half - and expressed their 'gravest concerns' for health care in the region.

The chairman of the medical staff committee of the Heatherwood and Wexham Park Hospitals Trust revealed that 82 per cent of consultants are opposed to the bosses' 'turnaround' financial proposals.

The staff claim that the planned beds axe raises 'serious concerns' for the future of patient care in East Berkshire and worry that cost cutting could have the detrimental effects that led to the recent Mid Staffordshire NHS scandal.

The letter to all medical staff managers, registrars and specialists is from Dr Rangu Iyer, chairman of the medical staff committee.

He said he had convened an extraordinary meeting of the medical staff committee on January 19, where he asked the chairman, Christopher Langley, and the chief executive, Julie Burgess, to present a summary plan to the consultants.

He said that, a week later, 82 per cent of consultants 'disapproved' of the plan.

A trust spokesman said yesterday that there will be no immediate beds cuts prior to consideration and implementation of the ‘turnaround’ plans.

The trust said Dr Iyer’s angry letter was ‘not written in a spirit of blame’ and accepted that it was written was in the best interests of the trust and its patients.