Fears over hospitals’ private beds plans


CONCERNS continue to grow about a deci- sion by Maidstone and TunbridgeWells NHS Trust to build up private patient business in bothMaidstone and Pembury hospitals. The trust has set up a separate operation –


MTW Healthcare – to compete with private hospitals in this lucrative market. But health campaigners,


GPs and some consultants are worried about the impact on the 500,000 NHS patients in the trust’s area. The early signs are bad,


Services in Hospital). Chairman Dennis Fowle said: ”Use of NHS facilities for private patients is driven totally by the serious financial problems of a trust in a mess and due to the enormous costs of fi- nancing the new PFI hospital.


with NHS patients complain- ing of confusion and serious delays due to a shortage of surgical beds at Pembury now the trust has set aside 26 sin- gle rooms just for private pa- tients with integral consulting rooms in the newWells Suite. A similar private suite is planned for Maidstone Hos- pital, which recently lost core services such as women’s and children’s, trauma and orthopaedic surgery to Pembury, after massive local protest. The trust says it wants to capture one-third


MTW chief operating officer Nikki Luffingham said: “There was an in- evitable and entirely predicted reduction in activity in our hospitals during the pe- riod of the move into the new Tunbridge Wells Hospitals. There have been no can- celations of any operations due to a shortage of beds atTWHsince it opened. “It had nothing whatsoever to do with


the opening of theWells Suite private pa- tient unit, which will generate extra money to improve services for NHS pa- tients. We anticipate a profit of £1 mil- lion in the first year which will be ploughed back into NHS services. “We are nowworking hard to make up


the ground that we lost during the move, including putting on extra operating the- atre lists.”


of the local private healthcare market. It ex- pects a net profit of £1m in year one and sees the initiative “injecting millions of pounds into frontline NHS services”. It claims more than 60 consultants have moved all or part of their private business to the new organisation. The initiative causes serious concerns for campaign groupMASH(MaidstoneAction for


County Council rivals


fail to ‘get Carter’ KCC boss Paul Carter has sur- vived a leadership challenge. In a ballot of members, Cllr


Carter, who represents Maid- stone Rural North at County Hall, secured 53 of the 73 votes.


Former cabinet members


Cllr Keith Ferrin and Cllr Nick Chard claimed it was time for a change at the top. They polled nine and 11 votes respectively. Afterwards, Cllr Carter, who


lives in Langley, said he was delighted to receive such a clear mandate. "There’s much to do and I


am relishing getting on with the job, he added"


Electric car has


council road test MAIDSTONE Council was loaned an electric vehicle for three days to test its suitabil- ity.


Representatives on behalf


of theMitsubishi Innovative Electric Vehicle (i-MiEV) also explained its benefits to members of the regeneration and economic development overview and scrutiny com- mittee. It was used as a pool car


for officers and tested by members.


Cllr Dan Daley holds a small version of the statue to be unveiled at Brenchley Gardens


“We keep get-


ting serious pa- tient complaints about the new hospital,


the


worst being about long delays and confusion and a lack of surgical beds. This would not have hap- pened if the trust had stuck to its original plan in- stead of setting up this private busi- ness. “We


always


claimed the trans- fer of services


from Maidstone to Pembury was largely driven by Tunbridge Wells consultants with private practice interests – here’s the proof.” Maidstone GP Dr Paul Hobday, past chair-


man of the local BMA, said: “GPs are very alarmed at effects on our NHS patients, fur- ther squeezed by those who can afford to pay and queue jump. “Thiswill also impact on use of theatre and hospital staff’s time and contact with consult- ants’ secretaries.”


Councillors to make


tour of their patch NEWmembers of Thurnham council are going on a tour of the parish to put them in the picture. The itinerary for the November 12 minibus trip will take in locations where issues have arisen or are in the pipeline. There are several newcomers to the council, who will be joined on the outing by long-standing members, such as chair- man PeterWaite. They will start from his home in Caring


Lane (where the narrow medieval bridge has been damaged by HGVs), proceed alongWater Lane (passing Cobham Manor riding centre where there have been plan- ning issues), up Coldblow Lane to the radar station and then to PilgrimsWay and Castle Hill, stopping off at White HorseWoods. Next stop is the BlackHorse pub on Pil-


grimsWay (whose growth plans have been supported by the parish council), then on to St Mary’s Church (threatened by closure). From there, the tourmoves on toWare


Street and the Bell bridge, where there have been complaints about poor lighting; followed by theAverenches Road “ran- som strip”, which the parishwants to buy to extend the play area. They will travel along the A249 to the County Showground and the aerodrome industrial area before finishing at Crismill Lane and the M20 junction 8, the poten- tial setting for controversial warehousing. Parishioners wishing to talk to council-


lors should contact the clerk beforehand on 01634 867173 or thurnhamparishcoun- cil@sherriebabington.co.uk.


Companies praised for helping 36 Engineers statue appeal


THE unveiling of the statue to honour Maidstone- based 36 Engineers Regiment was due to take place on Tuesday, November 1 (11am). Maidstone Cllr Dan Daley said that the provi-


sional fundraising total of £36,000 to erect a bronze life-size image of an Engineer in Brenchley Gardens did not need to be reached, thanks to the generosity of local businesses. Cllr Daley said: “Some corporate contributions


have made significant reductions to our costs; no- tably from Gallagher – with the gift of the plinth and its placement, and the waiving of fees by Gordon Newton from the Stone Shop. “Other corporate donations have been made most generously andmoney has come from all sectors of Maidstone society.” Among those donating were the Royal British Le-


gion, The Mall shopping centre, Town Centre Man- agement and DHA Planning. The statue is being crafted by Sussex sculptor


Mary Cox and will be mounted on a ragstone plinth. It is being unveiled in time for Remem- brance Sunday. A public appeal was led by Maidstone Borough Council and the Maidstone Trust.


Invicta hosts European assistants INVICTA Grammar School is hosting Elisabetta Reali from Italy and Noemi Galan and Miriam Cencerrado from Spain as part of an EU scheme giving young people better insight into life across Europe. They will live in Maidstone as members of the com- munity and work as members of school staff for up to nine months. The Comenius Assistants programme is funded by the European Commission and managed in the UK by the British Council.


Charity Christmas cards SHOPPERS in Maidstone can buy Christ- mas cards from more than 25 national and local charities in one place. Cards for Good Causes, which sells charity cards across the country, has opened a shop at the Unitarian Church, Market Buildings, Earl Street. Staffed by volunteers, it is open Monday to Satur- day, 10am to 4pm, until December 17.


Visit Downs Mail’s website — downsmail.co.uk East 25


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