Monthly Archives: July 2015

‘No reduction in beds’. That’s the claim of bosses at Shropshire Community Trust as they seek to justify closing one of the two wards at Ludlow Hospital. Is this actually true?

On Monday 27^th July, the website of Shropshire Community Trust had this to say:  Ludlow Community Hospital is a two ward, 40-bed hospital in southwest Shropshire.

By Tuesday 28^th July, the website has been amended. Now we are told: Ludlow Community Hospital is a two ward, 24-bed hospital in southwest Shropshire.

The number of beds has been reduced by almost a half – seemingly on a permanent basis, with no public consultation whatsoever. Continue reading →

The Shropshire Star has reported (“American experts to lead improvements at Shropshire hospitals”) that the NHS is bringing in so-called experts from Virginia Mason Hospital in Seattle in a bid to improve care at the two local hospitals.

They don’t report that this is costing the NHS $13 million (over £8 million) at a time when the local NHS is strapped for cash. So what are we going to get for our money?

Probably a lesson in how to cover up damaging problems. The experts come from the same Virginia Mason where 11 patients died as a result of a superbug infection. The outbreak ran from November 2012 to March 2014. Virginia Mason officials have admitted that they declined to inform patients or the public – and the superbug outbreak only became known at an infectious disease conference in October last year. According to a news report: “None of the patients nor their families was notified that they were part of an outbreak, hospital and health officials said.”

Continue reading →