Warwickshire: Woman in High Court sight battle

A woman who could lose her sight has been given permission for a test case at the High Court to try to get an NHS Trust to fund her treatment - reports the BBC.

Warwickshire Primary Care Trust refused to pay for Patricia Meadow's eye treatment, even though the drug is available in other areas.

The trust took a "resource-based" decision not to fund treatment, the court heard, meaning it has insufficient funding from central government to provide the care Ms Meadows needs.

Ms Meadows suffers from wet age-related macular degeneration (AMD) in her left eye, and dry intermediate AMD in her right.

There is no treatment for the dry condition, but there is hope that a course of the drug ranibizumab (trade name Lucentis) will save the sight in her left eye.

The High Court heard from her lawyers that objective medical evidence shows a course of the drug has up to a 95% chance of arresting her eyesight deterioration.

They said there was also a chance of it improving her vision and without treatment she could lose her sight in a matter of months.

Her case is being backed by the Royal National Institute of Blind People.

Mr Justice Undershill gave permission for a judicial review to be heard within a matter of weeks.

David Lock, appearing for the PCT, said that Novartis, the manufacturer of Lucentis, was refusing to provide the support recommended by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (Nice).

He said: "Without the manufacturers support, Nice has clearly advised that this is not a cost-effective treatment.

He said the PCT had to balance a budget of £668m and it was impossible to meet all the needs of patients.

So while this is the case, why has the government agreed to giving the audit-failing European Union a massive and unreasonable 63% increase in payments, taking Britain's contribution to an astonishing £115 million (net) every single week?

It's people like Ms Meadows who are being forced to pay the price of the utter waste of huge amounts of public money on the EU.

Chichester: NHS bosses confirm hospital cuts

Health bosses have confirmed they will go ahead with the downgrading of St Richard's Hospital in Chichester - reports the BBC.

West Sussex Primary Care Trust (PCT) announced last week that Worthing would be the county's major general hospital, having full paediatrics, A&E and consultant-led maternity care

Emergency A&E and maternity services at St Richard's will be cut, forcing long travel times on those who require these services from the area served by the hospital.

The PCT has said St Richard's will retain 90% of its A&E services, with only patients with major problems, those needing emergency surgery and victims of serious accidents going elsewhere.

It said 50% would go to Portsmouth and 50% to Worthing, with the majority being taken directly by ambulance to the appropriate hospital.

However, journey times to those hospitals from the area covered by St Richard's are significant and highly vulnerable to traffic problems at rush hour.

One St Richard's campaigner told BBC South Today: "I often have to go in as an emergency.
"If I have to go to Worthing or Portsmouth it could be fatal."

The PCT said journey times had been taken into consideration when making the decision and it was aware that people in Selsey suffering serious accidents and requiring emergency surgery would have travel times greater than one hour at peak times.

But it said that, on balance, a much greater number of people would be adversely affected if the major general hospital was in Chichester.

Why the PCT has been forced into making this choice and there are insufficient public funds to keep adequate services at BOTH hospitals is the key question in this affair - and very likely due to central government wasting vast sums on other areas of spending.

For example, by sending £115 million every single week to the European Union, whose budget has failed its annual audit for 13 years in a row, and which has a terrible reputation for waste and fraud.

This is totally wasted money and far more than would be required to maintain services at St Richards. The government needs to decide which is more important - health services, or the European Union.

Campaigners for St Richard's are now considering whether to seek a judicial review of the decision.

Cambridge: Protest over ward closures

Protesters have marched through Cambridge to object to plans to close two wards at a hospital - reports the BBC.

A review of services at Brookfields Hospital, looking at the closure of 72-bed Davison House, ends on Monday.

Keep Our NHS Public (KONP) group, supported by the union Unison, held the march against the plans over the effect on elderly care.

The health trust said the closure of Davison House, which provides a rehabilitation service for elderly patients, was just one option.

Maidstone: Campaign to save hospital services

Local campaigns to save services in Maidstone Hospital are to be co-ordinated in a new organisation called MASH (Maidstone Action for Services in Hospitals) - reports the Downs Mail.

The group is already supported by Maidstone's two MPs, cabinet members of both Kent and Maidstone councils, Maidstone Division of the British Medical Association, the two main local newspapers the Downs Mail and Kent Messenger, together with patients and relatives.

Maidstone Hospital has several mountains to climb, including better management of C-Diff infections which killed more than 90 patients and led to a damning report by the Healthcare Commission.

While the hospital's record is now improving, reports still abound of A&E patients being "stacked" in ambulances due to serious delays in emergency admissions.

December saw a significant increase in the number of people waiting over four hours from a decision to admit to admission - 941 waited more than four hours, with 4 patients waiting more than twelve hours).

The main reason was said to be a lack of beds in A&E.

The hospital also has continuing financial problems, with the trust facing a deficit of £18.7m for 2008/09 and a total savings requirement of £21.2m - amounts that could be wiped out with two days' worth of our payments into the audit-failing European Union budget, if that wasted money were diverted into hospital services.

Call for hospital debt write off

A Surrey hospital trust's £56m debt should be written off to let it rebuild its reputation, a local MP has said.

According to the BBC, Reigate MP Crispin Blunt said during a Westminster Hall debate on Tuesday that the size of East Surrey Hospital's debt was because of a delay in the transfer of acute services from Crawley to Redhill in 2001.

Prior to the meeting, Mr Blunt said: "Since 1998 the financial settlement for East Surrey Hospital has been the victim of government interference.

"The current deficit is over £55 million, the largest of any trust in the country" - an amount that could be wiped out with just 4 days' worth of our net contributions to the European Union's audit-failing budget, if the cash were diverted from being sent to that wasteful organisation.

Commenting on his demand that the government write off this debt, Mr Blunt added: "Only this can give the trust the financial footing on which it can begin to rebuild its quality of service and its reputation."

Health minister Dawn Primarolo said Surrey and Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust was one of 17 classified as "financially challenged".

She added that measures were in place to enable the trust to restore its finances.

But maybe if Ms Primarolo and the government of which she is a part didn't condone wasting so much public money on the audit-failing EU, she wouldn't have to force East Surrey hospital to take these financial "measures" which will very likely harm provision of essential health services.

Hospital downgraded in NHS revamp

Health chiefs have revealed plans to downgrade Bridlington hospital so that it will no longer treat heart patients or medical emergencies - reports the BBC.

The site will become a community hospital under proposals announced by the Scarborough and North East Yorkshire Primary Care Trust (PCT).

Cardiac and acute patients will instead be treated at Hull or Scarborough.

Elsewhere in East Yorkshire, the NHS received news of a £20m funding boost, including a new hospital in Beverley.

However, this extra money - while welcome - is little more than a day's worth of money the government now pays into the EU's audit-failing budget at £115 million every single week.

The government investment will also fund a new healthcare facility in Hornsea and major refurbishment work at Driffield's Albert Bean Hospital.

So imagine what could be achieved with the equivalent of just one more day's payment to the EU, if our massive financial contribution to that audit-failing organisation were diverted instead to essential health services.

The investment is the largest single award in the latest wave of the Department of Health's £750m capital investment programme for community hospitals and services (NHS improvements being worth only six and a half weeks' worth of our payments to the EU, in the government's eyes).

On the future role of Bridlington Hospital, the Scarborough and North Yorkshire PCT said: "During the public consultation run by the trust earlier this year the support and passion for Bridlington Hospital was extremely well voiced by local people.

"Whilst recognising the level of public interest and concern...it would be neither prudent clinically, professionally nor financially to maintain services in their current format in the long term.

"Overall the number of patients served by both hospitals [Bridlington and Scarborough] is relatively small and having services duplicated across sites affects future sustainability of those services."

In September, health union officials warned that if the cardiac unit at Bridlington was closed, lives would be put at risk as patients would have to travel further for treatment.

Earlier this year, the trust revealed it intended to cut 600 jobs in an attempt to reduce its £20m deficit and cut costs.

But the losses were averted at the last minute after an agreement was reached between the trust and the strategic health authority to write off the debts.

Norfolk: Bed crisis sparks hospitals alert

Hospitals across the east of England have been placed on "black alert" as staff and wards are overwhelmed by high patient numbers - reports the BBC.

Non-urgent cases have been sent home after up to 10 ambulances were left queuing outside one hospital.

Few or no beds are free at Queen Elizabeth Hospital, King's Lynn, and the James Paget Hospital in Gorleston, both in Norfolk.

People with minor injuries have been urged not to attend A&E.

The alert status means plans designed to enable staff to cope with major incidents, such as terrorist attacks and train crashes, are put into action.

At the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital (NNUH), which announced it had reached the emergency status on Wednesday afternoon, managers worked with other agencies to discharge non-urgent patients from the 1,000-bed hospital to create space.

However, the hospital said that between 60 and 70 beds were still being blocked because patients who were medically fit to leave had no where to go.

Paramedics treated patients in ambulances outside the NNUH on Wednesday evening.

A spokesman for the East of England Ambulance Service said: "Most things we can manage - it only becomes critical to get someone out of the ambulance and into the hospital if someone is bleeding to death or in full cardiac arrest needing resuscitation.

"There were serious condition patients but they were being treated at the NNUH by hospital staff."

NNUH spokesman Andrew Stronach said there was no single incident that brought on the beds crisis.

"It's just general run of the mill problems, like chest pains, collapses, diarrhoea and vomiting."
The James Paget hospital and the Queen Elizabeth in Kings Lynn said there were sufficient beds, but a sudden change in the weather was putting extra pressure on them.

Norman Lamb, MP for North Norfolk, said the hospital was regularly well above the safe occupancy level of 85%.

He said: "If there was to be a flu epidemic this winter then we've got a major crisis.

"Across the country we're seeing occupancy rates increasing. There's also evidence that you run an increased risk of hospital acquired infections if you've got a hospital that's literally full.

"This is a serious problem and yet there appears to be nothing being done to increase the capacity to ensure that there's enough beds to treat patients."

Milton Keynes and Hertfordshire health officials have said they are not on alert, but Bedford Hospital has been on red alert since Friday.

In Suffolk, Ipswich Hospital said it had very few beds but was managing the situation and a spokesman for the West Suffolk Hospital said its alert had been caused by sickness bugs.

Norfolk MPs Norman Lamb and Henry Bellingham can fairly claim to be doing their best to ensure local hospital services have the facilities and resources they need to avoid situations like this developing - by opposing the payment of an extra £7bn to the audit-failing European Union.

However, Tony Wright MP for Great Yarmouth and Ian Gibson MP for Norwich North both voted on Monday to approve this unjustifiable extra multi-billion-pound spending on the wasteful EU, so can hardly claim to be doing their best for essential local services.

Local voters need only wait a likely 18 months for the next general election, to let them know what they think of such irresponsible decision-making.

'Inadequate care' in half of A&E trauma cases

Less than half the patients admitted to accident and emergency departments with severe injuries get adequate care - according to the Daily Telegraph.

A Government-funded report has found that 20% of hospitals have no dedicated trauma team and that care standards drop significantly at night, adding that trauma patients are being treated by inexperienced staff who display little urgency and make incorrect clinical decisions.

The Government is expect to seize on the findings to support a White Paper published last year advocating centralising trauma care in specialist regional centres, at the price of local A&E departments.

Critics suspect the proposals are more about cost-cutting than patient care and say the move could see 29 hospitals closed. They argue this will jeopardise the survival of patients, who will be put at risk by travelling the extra distance to a trauma centre.

Their fears are backed by recent research which suggested that mortality rates increase by 1% for every extra six miles travelled.

Commenting on the report, Dr Jonathan Fielden, of the British Medical Association, said: "It must not be taken to support closing local units, it should be used to improve patient care. There need to be more consultants employed in the NHS to lead trauma teams."

The report, "Trauma: Who Cares?", published today by the National Confidential Enquiry into Patient Outcome and Death, says hospital trusts must ensure a trauma team is available 24 hours a day with an experienced consultant as leader.

Sadly this is unlikely to be affordable while MPs splash so much public cash on the audit-failing European Union.

On Monday, MPs voted to approve a massive £7bn increase in funds, taking our annual EU payments to an astonishing £10.5bn gross every year.

But while the "majority" of the EU's spending remains unverifiable by auditors, and reports of EU waste and fraud continue, there is absolutely no justification for rewarding the EU with such a huge increase in payments.

No wonder the government is having to consider centralising trauma care in regional centres, instead of properly equipping local A&E departments. Where are our MPs' priorities?

London: Health summit paves way for abolition of traditional hospitals

A major health summit is taking place today will change the face of the NHS in London, reports the Evening Standard.

Senior managers and doctors are meeting to draw up plans that will abolish traditional hospitals.

They are finalising a major consultation document that asks every Londoner to decide if GPs should move into big polyclinics.

Patients will be asked a series of crucial questions - signed off at today's meeting - that will lead to the massive changes next year.

They will be asked about the centralisation of services such as trauma care, treatment of children and the care of stroke victims should be centralised away from local hospitals into so-called "specialist" centres.

And whether more maternity departments should be run by midwives instead of doctors.

The consultation will be launched at the end of the month and is likely to trigger battles to
save local services.

Bosses have refused to name the hospitals and surgeries that should close and are consulting on "ideas" first.

Robert Creighton, chief executive of Ealing primary care trust, and one of the leaders of the consultation, said: "We want to get people's views about the proposals and we intend genuinely to listen to what the public have to say."

But doctors have warned that the plan is being driven through. Dr Stewart Drage, head of Londonwide Local Medical Committees, said: "We have reservations about this whole process. We are concerned that the local input is going to be very limited."

It comes as campaigners find out the results of a consultation to downgrade Chase Farm hospital in north Enfield.

Thousands have been fighting plans to move A&E and maternity services to Barnet and North Middlesex and make Chase Farm a community hospital.

The summit meeting into changes across the capital - taking place at the Sofitel hotel near St James's Park - could mean the plans for Barnet and Chase Farm change again.

The proposals are based on plans drawn up in the summer by junior health minister Lord Darzi, who is now leading a nationwide review of the NHS.

Questions must be asked as to whether these changes are being driven more by attempts at cost-cutting than to enhance patient care.

With MPs voting an extra £7bn to the European Union completely without justification on Monday of this week, public funds for essential services are becoming increasingly tight.

It's time MPs looked again at the real priorities of those they represent, before they give final approval to this multi-billion-pound funding increase to an organisation that has failed its annual audit for 13 years and is beset by reports of needless extravagance, waste and fraud.

Come next year, it'll be no good MPs posturing in protest against hospital closures in their constituencies if they've voted to waste such vast sums of public money on the EU. They will be personally responsible for the money running out, and themselves can expect to pay the price at the ballot box.

Swindon: Hospital's £600k cuts to cleaning

The Great Western Hospital in Swindon is to make £600,000 of cuts to its cleaning and catering service, reports the BBC.

Health workers' union Unison said the cuts would reduce standards and could lead to higher rates of hospital infections such as MRSA.

Joanne Kaye-Smith, of Unison, said: "These cuts cannot be justified."

"The government and the Department of Health say they are committed to improving the cleanliness of all our hospitals," she said.

But the Swindon and Marlborough NHS Trust, which runs the hospital, claim the changes would not reduce the quality of cleaning or catering.

In a statement, the trust said: "It is part of our responsibility as a trust to get the best value for taxpayers' money that we can alongside providing quality patient care.

The Great Western Hospital has 464 in-patient beds, 87 day-care beds, 10 operating theatres, two maternity theatres and 3,500 staff.

Lewisham: Rally against cuts to hospitals' A&E

A call has been made for South-east Londoners to join a protest against cuts and changes in hospital and health services - reports icSouthLondon.

Greenwich Unison and campaign group Keep Our NHS Public are urging people to join a national march and rally on Saturday.

Proposals for the region have provoked widespread anguish and have been slammed by MPs for being "a step too far".

In the past year the hospitals have made millions of pounds worth of savings and cut hundreds of jobs.

Last month, recommendations that emergency and critical care should be axed from two of the region's four cash-strapped hospitals were revealed.

The proposal came out of a review of health services in Greenwich, Lewisham, Bexley and Bromley led by the boroughs' primary care trusts.

In the document A Picture of Health, the trusts outlined their aim to save cash and improve services by relocating some hospital treatments to centres closer to people's homes and by concentrating specialist services in fewer hospitals.

No firm decisions have been made but a key consideration is likely to be the economic argument to keep full services at the hospitals with the biggest private finance debts - Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Woolwich and Princess Royal in Bromley.

Salford: Closing unit safest for babies

A hospital where maternity care is soon to be axed has become the first in the country to achieve the highest ratings for emergency and baby safety - reports the Manchester Evening News.

Staff at Hope Hospital in Salford have been given the coveted 'level three' safety ratings from the NHS Litigation Authority after a series of tough risk assessments.

They had to prove they have good safety policies in place, can deal with medical and maternity emergencies quickly and have improved care.

The unit is set to close by 2011 as part of a controversial shake-up of regional maternity care, but managers say staff decided to go for the gold standard to show local people the decision was not a reflection on the care they provide.

Politicians who fought to save the service commended staff for proving the unit was one of the best in Greater Manchester to have a baby - and say it makes the closure decision all the more disappointing.

Deborah Carter, the associate director of women's and child services, said: "I have to congratulate our staff, who have been working with uncertainty for years and - more recently - the knowledge their department will close.

"They made a huge effort to drive up standards to reach this very difficult target. They want people to understand the closure does not in any way reflect the level of care here."

Salford council leader John Merry, who led the campaign to save the unit, said: "I would like to congratulate staff for working hard to meet this very difficult target and demonstrating to local people they are receiving the very best care.

"This news makes the closure decision a bit more disappointing, but the skills the staff have built up will not be lost."

Almost 3,000 babies are born at Hope each year and its 12-bed special care baby unit and nine-bed neo-natal intensive care unit is one of the largest in the region.

Salford PCT is now considering funding a midwifery-led unit at Hope. Having level three status also means the trust is likely to save around £1m over the next three years - by paying lower premiums to cover itself against legal claims.

In the shake-up, maternity and children's inpatient care will be cut from 14 to eight sites at North Manchester, Stepping Hill, Tameside, Wythenshawe and Wigan, with super-centres providing intensive care for the sickest babies in Manchester, Oldham and Bolton.

NHS repairs 'backlog' hits £4bn

NHS trusts have a £4bn backlog of key maintenance repairs which range from fixing heating to meeting fire safety rules, reports the BBC.

Government figures suggest the backlog is eight times this year's much-heralded NHS surplus, which was achieved by making a variety of cuts.

"Backlog" repairs are those needed to bring NHS property in line with various standards.

They include repairing roofs and fixing drainage, but do not cover painting wards or replacing furniture.

It is large city hospital trusts which have the greatest backlog, according to Hospital Doctor, which first reported the details.

"The truth is that the NHS surplus, which the government enjoys boasting about, is a sham," shadow health secretary Andrew Lansley said.

"Public health budgets, education and training budgets and now the basic maintenance and upkeep of our hospitals have been laundered to produce this surplus."

Health Minister Ben Bradshaw said urgent maintenance work that will affect patient care "is always prioritised", but he added that making this decision was up to the local NHS trust concerned.

Ealing: Six-year waiting list for NHS wheelchairs

EALING Primary Care Trust's mammoth six-year waiting list for NHS electric wheelchairs was this week described as "obscene" - reports icEaling.

The waiting list, which has been calculated at 316 weeks, has got so out of hand that for a time it had to be closed to anyone wanting to get on it, (though it has now reopened).

It puts Ealing bottom out of 99 Primary Care Trust's (PCTs) in terms of waiting time for NHS electric wheelchairs.

Wiltshire's waiting list is 260 weeks, East Midlands' is 224 and Hillingdon's is closed on 156 weeks.

The revelations have prompted urgent calls from politicians for action from Ealing PCT, which funds the rental service.

Leicester: Protest at hospital plan collapse

Dozens of patients from Leicestershire and Rutland have been turned away from an NHS Trust board meeting where they planned to demand answers about the future of local healthcare - reports the BBC.

Their main concern is the collapse of a £700m plan to revamp Leicester's three city hospitals, which has been abandoned amid claims that the plan was becoming too expensive.

Zuffar Haq, chairman of the Leicester Patients' Group, said the government's vow to consult the public about healthcare was simply not happening.

Earlier in the year the trust also said it was looking to cut hundreds of posts to make budget savings.

West Sussex: Campaigners march over NHS cuts

About 14,000 people have taken part in a demonstration over NHS plans to reorganise West Sussex hospitals, reports the BBC.

Campaigners say the turn-out in Haywards Heath made it the largest NHS protest in the county to date.

Under NHS restructuring, only one of three West Sussex hospitals will remain a major general hospital, the county's primary care trust (PCT) has said.

Singer Vera Lynn was among those who took part in the protest.

She told the assembled crowd: "We need our hospital. We must have it, and it is essential we fight for it."

West Sussex has hospitals in Worthing, Haywards Heath, and Chichester.

The protest on Saturday was to show opposition to downgrading Accident & Emergency and maternity services at the Princess Royal Hospital in Haywards Heath.

Campaigners said 70,000 people had now signed their petition, thousands had attended public meetings, and 180 GPs had spoken out against the plans.

But the PCT said centralising services would make more expertise available.

Mid Sussex MP Nicholas Soames said the continuing fight by residents was "inspiring" and the rally was "another major opportunity for people to show their total opposition" ahead of the conclusion of the public consultation in mid-November.

The rally comes a week after several hundred people took to the streets of Uckfield to show support for the Princess Royal Hospital, in Haywards Heath, and Uckfield Community Hospital.

After the protest in Uckfield, PCT chief executive John Wilderspin said: "We will be keeping many services in our local hospitals and increasing the amount of care we provide in GP surgeries and patients' own homes.

"We are proposing to develop a major general hospital for West Sussex, providing specialist services such as a main A&E department, the consultant led maternity unit and emergency surgery."

London: Hospital cuts 'step too far' say MPs

Doctors and nurses have recommended emergency and critical care should be axed from TWO hospitals - reports the South London Press.

The aim is to cut costs and improve services for the one million residents of South-east London.

The surprise outcome was the result of months of discussions by 100 clinicians from Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Woolwich, Lewisham Hospital, Queen Mary's Sidcup (QMS) and Bromley Hospitals.

It was expected they would suggest that one accident and emergency department should close.

Shocked MPs have described the proposal to reduce the number of acute hospitals to two in the area as too drastic and a "step too far".

The medics were asked by the primary care trusts to consider ways specialist services could be concentrated at fewer sites.

As outlined in their document, A Picture of Health, the PCTs also want to provide many hospital treatments closer to people's homes.

No decisions on which hospitals will be downgraded will be made until the outcome of a review into how extra services in the community could be provided and a public consultation is held.

John Austin, MP for Erith and Thamesmead, said: "Reducing major acute trauma centres in South-east London from four to two is a change too far."

Eltham MP Clive Efford said: "I would not support any relocation of services until there are sufficient alternative services in place that are seen to be meeting people's needs."

Manchester: MP defiant over hypocrisy claims

Health minister Ivan Lewis has denied he is a hypocrite after supporting a shake-up which includes the closure of a maternity unit he campaigned to save - reports the Manchester Evening News.

Last year, the Bury South MP joined a march aimed at keeping full maternity and children's in-patient care at Fairfield General Hospital.

But he has now backed the decision of an independent panel to close four of Greater Manchester's 12 maternity departments, including Fairfield.

Mr Lewis called criticism a smear campaign and said it was unfair and untrue because he has always accepted doctors' arguments that the current system was unsafe.

He said that although he believes there is a strong geographical argument in favour of a full service for children at Bury, his constituents will benefit from the £60m investment that comes with the shake-up.

Shadow Health Secretary Andrew Lansley claimed Mr Lewis had bowed to pressure from Gordon Brown to back the cuts.

He said: "This is an incredible U-turn by Ivan Lewis. Only a few months ago he was campaigning to save his local maternity services. Ivan Lewis has been squeezed by Number 10. Either that or he is indecisive in the extreme."

Maternity units in Trafford, Rochdale and Salford will also close by 2011 because of a shortage of specialist staff.

Sharron Entwhistle, from Fairfield Baby Lifeline Society, which led the support for the unit, said: "Ivan Lewis has supported us and we are grateful for that - as a result of our campaign we have won concessions.

"I don't think he is a hypocrite but as a health minister he should have a lot of influence and we believe he could have done more to help - whether he could have made more of a difference, who knows?"

Norfolk: Protest at hospital closure

Today more than a thousand letters from people in Norfolk appealing to the government to intervene and save a much-loved cottage hospital will be handed to the Westminster.

April Pond, Lib Dem parliamentary spokesman for Broadland, will give more than 1,100 letters from Norfolk residents concerned about the proposed closure of St Michael's hospital in Aylsham, to the Department of Health.

The letters have been sent to April over recent weeks, many with added notes of personal experiences of the care at St Michael's, and they appeal directly to Health Secretary, Alan Johnson, for his help in saving the hospital, which was the only one targeted for closure in a shake up of Norfolk PCT services.

Ms Pond said: “The Department of Health has told us that health care decisions should be made locally, but we are saying that by ordering the repayment of the huge deficit the Norfolk Primary Care Trust has in less than a year, a huge pressure is being brought by the department to cut and close much needed and much loved local hospitals.

“We feel Norfolk is being badly treated and ask for Alan Johnson to intervene.”

Trust warns of £15m hospital debt

Swansea NHS Trust says it faces going £15.5m into the red unless it closes 86 beds and cuts around 750 jobs - reports the BBC.

Amicus and British Medical Association staff officials say the move is needed to safeguard services and patient care but Unison said it was "unacceptable".

The union has called for a halt to the bed closure programme claiming it was being driven by "financial cut-backs and not any planned improvements in health care".

The trust, which currently employs 9,500 staff and manages health services across the city including Morriston and Singleton Hospitals, claims it could be £15.5m in debt by the end of this financial year.

It said it has been able to avoid large debts in recent years through "one off" savings but now needed to introduce a programme of clinical efficiencies.

It said around 750 posts would go over the next three years through "natural wastage" and it would reduce 86 beds from around 1,800 that are currently used.