No confidence vote overwhelmingly carried against the South Warwickshire University NHS Foundation Trust (SWFT) by 308 votes to two at League of Friends of Shipston Hospital meeting
Relations between Shipston residents campaigning for their local hospital and the area’s NHS trust took a bitter turn last week.
During a meeting of the League of Friends of Shipston Hospital at Townsend Hall on 20th September, a vote of no confidence was overwhelmingly carried against the South Warwickshire University NHS Foundation Trust (SWFT) by 308 votes to two.
“The sea of arms raised summed up the strong feeling in the community,” said Bryan Stoten, chair of the League of Friends.
Trouble had started before the meeting when the league was told that no one from SWFT would be attending. This is despite the trust continuing to hold £635,000 of funds raised by the League (given over in 2018 to buy land next to the existing hospital) and pleas for clarity on what was happening with the development site from local people.
The trust on its part put out a bulletin last week saying that the presence of a protected species of bats had caused a slight delay in the development of the site where it is demolishing the old hospital and building a wellbeing and medical centre that will host a wide range of services. Prior to that asbestos found in the old hospital building had also halted progress. However, SWFT still hoped to start work next month, and to begin construction work in 2023.
It said: “Since the proposals were initially discussed there have been several external factors that have contributed to changes in the design, plans and timescales. These include responding to and learning from Covid, funding within the wider health economy and increasing costs in the construction market, which has impacted on the plans for Shipston Medical Centre to relocate to the Ellen Badger site.
“As with lots of large-scale development plans, things occur that are unplanned for. As part of the pre-construction work, protected bats were found. Natural England have been working to establish a way forward which will enable us to continue the essential pre-construction work ahead of demolition, whilst creating a bat roost. We are currently awaiting confirmation that this can progress.”
The two sides have continued to have an increasingly fractured relationship since SWFT altered its plans to build an enhanced community hospital with the existing GP medical centre sharing the site.
In June 2020 it published plans and artist’s sketches of the new hospital and other facilities at the site of the old Ellen Badger hospital, but by the August SWFT announced that it was now intending to have a phased approach to the site development, prioritising the medical centre, ‘wellbeing hub’ and offices for community nursing staff and Shipston Home Nursing, with the hospital being postponed until phase two.
When the league objected to the delay, and rejected the idea of committing its funds to landscaping of the site rather than the hospital, it maintains it was then excluded from discussions with SWFT.
Mr Stoten clarified: “We were told by SWFT that fundraising for the hospital should cease as its development could not be guaranteed. We therefore suspended further fundraising while seeking to persuade the NHS that the original scheme was desirable and much wanted by local residents.”
After SWFT applied for planning permission for the site, including the hospital, the league says it was once again encouraged that the hospital would have an inpatient facility.
However, it emerged last December that the new hospital was to be dependent upon a consultation project and the outcome of a bed review of hospitals in Stratford, Shipston and Leamington. And in July the Shipston Medical Centre GP surgery made the decision to withdraw from its role and financial contribution to the site development, blaming the escalating costs.
These delays and regressive steps once again saw the mood of the townspeople turn pessimistic and the decision was made to hold the no-confidence vote.
Mr Stoten states that both the chief executive of SWFT, Glen Burley, and a local board member, were invited to explain SWFT’s current plans. But that they “both refused the invitation”.
The motion for the vote read: ‘That the assembly hold “a vote of no confidence in the South Warwickshire Foundation Trust Board (asking) the Secretary of State for Health to intervene and secure a better representation for our views (as) we need an alternative and more competent provider of the services.”
A spokesperson from SWFT strongly refuted that there had been any kind of snub on its part.
They said: “The League of Friends invited Glen Burley with no flexibility on date and Glen was unable to attend. The trust has been open and transparent with the Ellen Badger development, all information including proposed construction timescales are detailed within [the bulletin].
“If and when we need to host a public meeting, we will arrange this as have we done previously.
“We are keen to work with the League of Friends to ensure the money they are holding for the hospital, the majority of which is from two large legacies, can be used to support this very significant investment in local healthcare.
“The bed review is still on-going, with options currently being appraised – as soon as a decision is made, the public will be notified.”
