Beds across the border

By jnewton

Good Hope Hospital has been celebrating a new partnership that allows post-op patients to recuperate across the Staffordshire border.

Fifteen beds in Tamworth's Sir Robert Peel Hospital – a non-acute site that provides trauma and orthopaedic rehabilitation – have been made available for use by Good Hope patients needing specialist care.

The thinking is, says Good Hope, that the site may make for a more pleasant environment for patients whose needs are no longer acute.

But the development, which comes 18 months after Good Hope was swallowed into another trust, could raise murmurs among those on alert over the future of beds and services in Sutton.

Heart of England Foundation (HEFT), which took over Good Hope in April last year, has always maintained that there would be no downsizing of Good Hope. Chiefs have said in the past, however, that potentially some provision could be decanted elsewhere into the community – as opposed to eradicated entirely – if it served patients best.

This week the Observer asked HEFT whether the development was born of such a 'site strategy' and whether, if there was the will, Good Hope could still care for post-op patients now dealt with in Tamworth.

Lisa Dunn, director of corporate affairs for HEFT, issued the following statement: "This move provides the opportunity to see and treat patients in the most appropriate setting, and for a lot of patients, closer to their homes." Tamworth residents form a swathe of Good Hope's catchment.

The Observer has been told that the corresponding service in Good Hope has not been 'removed completely'. The Observer also understands that the move is optional for patients.

That should allay the fears of any patients from Sutton who think that Tamworth people may benefit at their expense. To that end, the Observer had also asked whether the convalescence provided in Staffordshire may have once been provided in Sutton's Cottage Hospital. In March, the Birmingham Road site lost 28 beds for rehabilitation patients.

Lisa Dunn said: "The partnership is not related to Sutton Cottage Hospital.

"We support any moves by healthcare professionals to see and treat patients in facilities which meet their individual needs."

HEFT said the arrangement with Sir Robert Peel – in place from October – had enabled Good Hope to keep waiting lists low and helped the trust achieve its commitment to seeing 'the right patient in the right bed first time'.