The Friarage hospital

I thought today I would write something about my recent work around the Friarage proposals. The last few weeks have been very busy!

The public are very passionate about the Friarage and I share that passion. We all want to have a safe high quality hospital. Many reporters have asked me if I was surprised by the strength of feeling these proposed changes have created, and I always say the same thing - NO! The problem for me is that knowing how much the hospital is valued doesn’t solve the problems I need to solve.

I have worked in Richmondshire for 24 years. I know the Friarage well and have been a patient there myself. My children have been on the childrens ward. The consultants I know and respect are the people who are raising concerns about safety and sustainability into the future.  It is a compelling argument. As accountable officer for the new CCG (Clinical Commissioning Group) I can't commission services I am advised won't be safe or first class. We all want the best for ourselves and our children. So, we are continuing to look at all the options and models from around the country that might fit here. It is difficult and there aren’t any easy answers.

 I have been out and about meeting the public, I have had a meeting with the Facebook Campaign Group and yesterday met LINKs members. I enjoyed both meetings. It is good to be able to have a real discussion about the issues and address people concerns head on. People also have lots of ideas and want to help and support which is great. We try to follow up everything people suggest we look at.

I get frustrated when I feel the public get misleading information ( like everyone will have to travel 60 miles from the dale to have a baby) but small group meetings allow for real dialogue. We hope the public will like the format of the public meetings/roadshows that are coming up over the next two months across the localities, as they are a mixture of informal discussion and more formal question and answer sessions I can only hope that honesty and openness can begin to build some trust back into a community that seems to have lost faith with us, as an NHS.

I have never enjoyed the media spotlight but taking on this role means I need to get better at it, and I am working at it!  I get rid of stress by going to lots of Zumba in the evenings… and it is a relief at the end of the day just to be “one of the girls".

Doing things differently

I have recently been appointed to lead the new local commissioning group which is made up up GPs from Richmondshire, Hambleton and Whitby. We are developing as a group and as yet the Bill which will establish us formally is not yet through parliament but if and when it gets through it will be our job to get the best possible health care for the people who live in the area we serve. It will be a challenge, especially because of the financial crisis the country is in. We are ambitious. We want to work in a new and different way with the public, and hope that our honest and straight forward approach will encourage people to work with us. In future blogs I will talk about our new HEN ( Health Engagement Network) and the current work we are undertaking to talk with the public about the issues the Friarage Hospital in Northallerton is facing around the provision of paediatric and maternity services.

Recently I have been asked about whether I support the Health Bill going through the Houses of Parliament at the moment.  My response is that I believe in the NHS and have been proud to work in it for the last 30 years. I also think it is important that doctors, nurses and other health professionals have a role in the design and delivery of the services they work in. There are many ways of making that happen. The Bill is one of them. What ever happens there will be very challenging timers ahead for everyone who works in the NHS. I am reminded of a quote, attributed to Aneurin Bevan, architect of the NHS:

 The NHS will last as long as there are folk left with the faith to fight for it.