The future of Hemel Hospital: I , Dr Howard Koch parliamentary party candidate UKIP Hemel Hempstead, attended the public meeting last night (23rd December 2015) at Hemel Hospital hosted by the CEO of the trust Samantha Jones. I believe I was the only PPC at the meeting. I started as a student in the NHS in 1978. I also produce dental NHS software, so I have a real World understanding of the NHS. We were presented with the progress that has been achieved and future plans for the three hospital in the trust; Hemel. St Albans and Watford. I was genuinely impressed with the new management style (recognising many aspects that I have been using in my own practice). I was particularly impressed with the policy on blame. People make mistakes and what is important is not just saying sorry , but learning from the mistake and trying to make sure it does not happen again. The other aspect that the CEO has incorporated is allowing rapid change ie at regular meetings if one of the team identifies a better way of carrying out a procedure then it is changed on the hoof. I believe that this indicated that the CEO has working in the NHS (specialist nurse) and thus has real World experience, something UKIP values very highly. I have no doubt that the CEO and her team genuinely want the best that they can achieve for the trust and are making real positive progress. Now for the politics! There is a review of services at the 3 hospital in the trust. The results will be published AFTER the next general election in 2015. We were told that the trust still has a deficit and is required to make cut backs. We were told that it was not known what services would be at Hemel Hempstead, but it would not be the case that there were none. Add to this the Hemel Hempstead final master plan 2011-2021 adopted by Dacorum council January 2013, which shows the hospital as a community hospital, and it is understandable why local people are worried. Not only does the UK have an open door immigration policy but Dacorum council is planning on building 10,000 new homes which could mean around 40,000 more people to provide NHS services for. Add to this the ageing population and advances in health case, and you can see that current funding levels are grossly inadequate. The NHS is like any other business, it does not have a bottomless pit of money and it must be run efficiently. However, the cut backs and deficit of the trust is being measured in tens of millions (not a small sum by any means), but when compared to the £12 Billion (12 thousand million ) given in over seas aid, which mostly ends up in the pockets of the dictators, it is a drop in the ocean. We also have to look at the recent financial demand by the EU for our back dated membership fee of £1.7 billion (1.7 thousand million). There seems to be plenty of money for these causes, but never the appropriate amount for the NHS. Hemel Hempstead hospital needs an A&E! The journey time to Watford is not acceptable as everyone knows. In my opinion, Hemel Hospital also needs; a maternity unit, a high dependency unit, radiology, pathology, and an oncology ward. I agree with the model that there should be specialist hospitals, but we need a local hospital which can stabilise the patient first, before they are move to the specialist hospital. All this will take political will. The absence of the local MP at the meeting, Mr Penning, was remarked by several attendees. It is all well and good for the LiblabCon to talk the talk on the NHS but they must deliver appropriate funding. It is blatantly obvious that Hemel Hempstead needs these services, and funding must be provided to pay for them. Hemel Hempstead needs effective representation in parliament from a party and MP who genuinely cares about the NHS. UKIP is the party and I am the person. UKIP is totally dedicated to keeping the NHS in public ownership we firmly believe in the National Health Service not the international health service. We believe in appropriate funding and management (which our trust now has). Only UKIP has the real World experience and will to be in charge of the NHS.
Posted on: Wed, 24 Dec 2014 12:08:55 +0000
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