A MEETING of the COUNCIL OF THE BOROUGH OF GOSPORT was held in the Council Chamber at the TOWN HALL, GOSPORT on WEDNESDAY, the FIRST day of DECEMBER 2004 at 6.00 PM.
The Mayor (Councillor Edwards) (P) (in the Chair);
The Deputy Mayor (Councillor Burgess) (P);
Councillors Allen (P), Mrs Batterbury (P), Mrs Binfield, Bone, Carr, Carter (P), Mrs Champion (P), Chegwyn (P), Clinton (P), Mrs Cully (P), Cully (P), Davis (P), Dickson (P), Edgar (P), Farr (P), Foster (P), Gill (P), Hayward (P), Hook (P), Jacobs (P), Kimber (P), Langdon (P), Philpott, Redrup (P), Rigg (P), Mrs Salter (P), Searle, Smith (P), Taylor (P), Train (P), Mrs Wright (P) and Wright (P).
Also in attendance: Honorary Aldermen Mrs Bailey, Foster and O’Neill
APOLOGIES
Apologies for inability to attend the meeting were submitted on behalf of Councillors Mrs Binfield, Bone, Carr, Philpott and Searle and Honorary Alderman Rushton.
MINUTES
RESOLVED: That the Minutes of the ordinary meeting of the Council held on 6 October 2004 be confirmed and signed.
PRESENTATION OF BOROUGH COUNCIL PLAQUE TO DOCTORS JOHN AND JANET ANDERSON
Councillor Wright formally introduced Doctors John and Janet Anderson to the Mayor and Members of the Council. The Mayor accordingly presented the doctors with a Borough Council Plaque to recognise their long service as General Practitioners in the Borough.
Dr John Anderson replied briefly, thanking the Council on behalf of himself and his wife for the Plaque.
MAYOR’S COMMUNICATIONS
(A) GOSPORT MUSEUM SOCIETY, INDIANA, U.S.A.
The Mayor read out a letter he had received from Sue and Jennifer Trotman on behalf of the Gosport Museum Society, Indiana, U.S.A., which expressed their appreciation and gratitude for the way they had been treated when visiting Gosport for the 800th Anniversary Freedom Parade on 28 October 2004.
(B) FUTURE HEALTH SERVICES
The Mayor had agreed to allow Councillor Edgar to make a presentation on “Future Health Services” to the Council meeting. Councillor Edgar had previously circulated to all councillors in the Council Chamber a report he had prepared on “Future Health Services” (a copy of which is attached hereto as Appendix “C1”).
Councillor Edgar introduced the report by informing the Council that the Save Haslar Task Force at its meeting on Monday, 22 November 2004 had unanimously agreed a new policy direction with reference to the Private Finance Initiative for the Queen Alexandra Redevelopment Project.
The report detailed the following ten statements of the Save Haslar Task Force, appropriately evidenced under each statement:
• We do not accept the basis of the PCT’s Consultation starting point, namely that the PFI bid at Queen Alexandra is to provide most facilities for the area. We do not believe that the PCT Consultation is in accordance with Department of Health guidance and principles.
• Whilst we have always supported the re-development of the Queen Alexandra Hospital, we do not believe that an all-enveloping PFI is in line with Department of Health guidance on service provision.
• We consider that the starting point for any review of services should be in keeping with Department of Health guidance:- identifying first services that can be provided locally, and then those which need to be provided at the District General Hospital.
• Portsmouth and S E Hants Health Authority Consultation came to the conclusion that a wider range of facilities should be provided, locally – indeed, including a 24/7 Accident Treatment Centre.
• Local residents want medical services to be provided, as far as is practicable and possible, locally.
• Patients and their families very much value the excellent facilities and space at the Royal Hospital Haslar.
• We remain dissatisfied with the Ministry of Defence/NHS relationship, and the lack of ‘Joined-Up’ Government from these departments. There is a continuing need for a comprehensive plan for the assessment of land value and the use and development of all aspects of the Haslar site, yet we are unable to obtain a response on behalf of the Government as a whole on this matter.
• We are not satisfied that the PCT has demonstrated that they are comparing ‘Like with Like’ in their proposals, and we are concerned at the limited capacity for expansion and development at the Gosport War Memorial site.
• The future of the Diagnostic and Treatment Centre at Haslar had been guaranteed, and in performance terms is one of the top six such units in the country.
• In conclusion, the plans being pursued by the Portsmouth Hospitals’ Trust and the Fareham and Gosport Primary Care Trust are rooted in outdated concepts. They fail to take account of the new and radical guidance in the Government’s Policy document ,‘Keeping the NHS Local - A New Direction of Travel’.
Local opinion, supported by many medical professionals, demands the continuation of the Royal Hospital Haslar.
The Ministry of Defence and NHS have failed to achieve an effective dialogue with regard to the use of the excellent facilities at Haslar.
We urge the Hampshire County Council Scrutiny Committee, and Independent Review Panel to bring a fresh view to bear upon this vexed problem.
On the latter issue Councillor Edgar reported that at its Special Meeting on 26 November 2004 members of the Hampshire County Council Health Review Committee had revealed that they had serious concerns whether the options being considered for future health care in Fareham and Gosport were in the best interests of patients. The Health Review Committee had issued a comprehensive report of recommendations to the Primary Care Trust.
MOTION: That-
(i) the Borough Council formally adopts Councillor Edgar’s report and acknowledges it as the most practical and cost effective way forward to provide hospital services for the people of this region taking into consideration current Government guidelines;
(ii) due to the massively increasing costs and delays to the Private Finance Initiative Queen Alexandra Hospital re-development project the Borough Council calls for an independent review to ascertain whether the substantial investment in equipment and facilities at Haslar Hospital can be utilised to reduce the escalating costs of the Queen Alexandra Hospital Development;
(iii) the actions of the Hampshire County Council Health Review Committee in carrying out an in-depth investigation into the Primary Care Trust’s consultation into the Future of Health Services in Fareham and Gosport be fully supported; and
(iv) the Borough Council deplores the actions of the Primary Care Trust in not implementing fully the health proposals for Gosport and South Fareham as formally agreed at an Extraordinary Meeting of the Borough Council on the 13 January 2000 (viz: that the proposed new model of health care for the residents of Gosport and South Fareham which, subject to the Ministry of Defence approval, would be based in the Royal Hospital Haslar, be supported).
The Motion was accordingly put to the meeting and duly RESOLVED.
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