tCI Commentary:
Frustrated campaigners fighting to retain A&E beds at Poole hospital got nowhere in the Court of Appeal on Wednesday.
Behind this story are the dashed hopes of people who believe that the NHS has reduced their access to essential services, and having lost their legal challenge last year came to Court to argue that the Judge had got it wrong.
The Institute declares an interest – we had undertaken a full Quality Assurance of this particular consultation – so Rebecca Wright and I both attended the Court of Appeal to hear the arguments.
It’s sad to report, but although there were, in our view, weaknesses in Judge Silber’s original judgment, ‘Defend Dorset’ had a very weak case. To win, they needed to show major failures to observe the Gunning Principles or some other procedural deficiencies in the consultation. As Judges pointed out, too many of their concerns really boiled down to disagreement about the ‘merits’ of the NHS decisions rather than the ‘process’.
From this story, the lesson for managers everywhere is the cost of having to defend plausible legal challenges, and the need for sound advice and Quality Assurance beforehand.
But then we would say that … wouldn’t we ??
Article:
Campaigners fighting the reorganisation of hospital services have been refused an appeal in the High Court.
Dorset Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) has begun a shake-up, including shutting Poole’s A&E, after winning a judicial review in July last year. Defend Dorset NHS launched a second legal challenge against the plans in September. The reasons for the decision will be handed down in a written judgement in a few weeks. The shake-up aims to avoid a projected funding shortfall of at least £158m a year by 2021.
The plans are currently being reviewed by health secretary Matt Hancock and Dorset Healthcare Trust NHS Board will hold its next meeting on 31 July.
Dorset CCG said it was “disappointed” not to be able to move “more rapidly” on its plans as a result of court proceedings.
“We recognise that the judicial review and appeal process is right and proper, however it has so-far involved considerable cost to the publicly-funded NHS,” Tim Goodson, chief officer of Dorset CCG, said.
The group added it hoped the decision made at the High Court would “reassure people that we acted properly in reaching the decisions”.
Under the CCG Clinical Services Review, Poole’s A&E, maternity and paediatric services will be lost to Bournemouth, which will become the area’s main emergency hospital. Poole is set to become a centre for planned treatment and operations. Changes to mental health acute care include the closure and relocation of beds at Weymouth’s Linden unit and the creation of extra inpatient beds at St Ann’s Hospital in Poole and Forston Clinic near Dorchester. Beds at Portland Hospital have already been closed. Campaign group Defend Dorset NHS, which has raised more than £21,000 in its legal bid, has argued travel times from areas like Swanage would be too great if the changes go ahead.
This article originally appeared on BBC News
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