Doctors say paediatric plan is unsafe


THE plan to transfer young patients at Maidstone Hospital to the new Pembury Hospital by 8pm daily has been criticised by a group of doctors. The practice would put extra pres-


sure on parents and ambulance serv- ice, they say. The Invicta Commissioning Group


Dr Tony Hulse: “Removing pae- diatric services is totally unac- ceptable”


of GPs is strongly opposing the trans- fer of Maidstone Hospital children’s services to the new Pembury Hospi- tal next summer. In a letter to West Kent Primary


Care Trust, the group – which repre- sents 18 GP practices in Maidstone – says the planned reduction from the


CONCERNS about the extent of services being re- moved from Maidstone Hospital to Pembury have been expressed by the Invicta Commissioning Group of GPs toWest Kent Primary Care Trust and to the Secretary of State for Health. Its board says it has considered “the overall long-term impact of moving paediatric and other services fromMaidstone and the overall viability of Maidstone as a functioning district general hos- pital.


“Past, current and future proposals envisage moving gynaecology, obstetrics, ENT, paediatrics and acute trauma emergency services to Pembury. “Thiswill severely downgrade the capability of


A&E services and result in a slow atrophy of Maidstone as a general district hospital. “It should be noted that Maidstone has more


A&E attendances and non-elective admissions than its counterpart at TunbridgeWells. “We recognise the financial liabilities that PFI (private finance initiative) has imposed on the acute trust but the health needs of the population,


current paediatric emergency serv- ices from 24-hour to 12 hours Mon- day to Friday atMaidstone will mean a “marked reduction in quality” with large numbers affected. It adds that A&E doctors at Maid-


stone will be deprived of proper and prompt paediatric support for emer- gencies. The group says it would support instead children with complex needs going to a specialist centre at Pem- bury – but not en-masse transfers. Their letter supports the views of MASH (Maidstone Action for Serv- ices in Hospital) which has included


How district hospital could ‘fade away’


including accessibility¸ are foremost when taking all considerations into account for the board.” While less than a quarter of the groupmembers


agree with moving consultant-led maternity serv- ices from Maidstone, the group chairman says it will “not oppose this move”. But it strongly opposes reconfiguration of chil-


dren’s services and has asked the Health Secre- tary to reject this and seek immediate renegotiation with the PCT


Trust delays maternity move


THE proposed transfer of Maidstone Hospital’s women’s and children’s services to the new Pem- bury Hospital has been put back by at least two months – to September 2011. The hospital trust says this is to tie in with the completion of access routes to the hospital. The current services on the Pembury Hospital


site (includingmaternity)will move in to the new building in January because constructionwork is months ahead of schedule.


comments by three top local special- ists in its submission on “clinical dangers” in one of its 11 papers of objections to the Secretary of State for Health. The PCT’s community clinical lead paediatrician for Maidstone, Dr Nel- lie Adjaye, says in a personal state- ment that a large proportion of children who attendMaidstone A&E are at risk more than 50% of the time. She says: “I believe the Maidstone


child population would have a raw deal, particularly vulnerable chil- dren with handicap or special needs


and cannot accept such in- equality.” She says this is “potentially dangerous”. The previous clinical director


of women’s and children’s serv- ices at Maidstone Hospital, Tony Hulse, accuses the trust of recreating a difficult situation seen as unsatisfactory at Kent and Sussex Hospital, which led to a number of serious inci- dents. “That there would be no weekend paediatric presence significantly raises the safety concerns and must be totally unacceptable on safety grounds.” Dennis Fowle, chairman of MASH, said: “Maidstone must retain its children’s ward with 24/7 paediatric consultant cover.”


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