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 St Mary’s could be part of a merger plan with Hammersmith Hospital |
Merger bid to take St Mary’s off critical list
Struggling hospital could join west London neighbour and prestigious college
THE future of Westminster’s main hospital hinges on a controversial merger with debt-saddled Hammersmith Hospital and Imperial College London.
St Mary’s is on the cusp of the biggest organisational change in its 160-year history amid plans to create an Academic Health Science Centre – the first of its kind in the UK.
The plans, which are out for public consultation until July 31, will bring the two hospitals together with the clinical research college under one board.
The proposed AHSC will be established from October 1.
The London Strategic Health Authority has already agreed that the new organisation should become an NHS Foundation Trust, sponsored by Imperial College London. It is the first time that any organisation other than an NHS Trust has bid to become a Foundation Trust sponsor.
The double whammy has been criticised by campaigners who fear job losses, service cuts for the elderly and that local hospitals will be edged out in an increasingly competitive market.
“It will be incredibly damaging,” said Geoff Martin, campaigns director at London Health Emergency.
“Foundation Trusts are run as a quasi-autonomous business. They are no different from private hospitals. Their task is to maximise patient referrals and sod everyone else. It is the Sainsbury’s versus Tesco methodology – it is all about who is the biggest. I don’t think that’s the way to run a properly integrated healthcare system in London. That competitive model should not be applied.”
He added: “My main concern is that the Foundation Trust will be in direct competition with neighbouring hospitals. The partnership with Imperial is all about kudos and pumping up their status. There are winners and losers in this government policy and the losers in west London will be Central Middlesex and Charing Cross hospital.”
Advocates of the scheme, including board members of all three institutions, say cuts and job losses would be likely if they did not push forward with the plans.
They say the move would increase income by more than £35 million a year for St Mary’s and Hammersmith and guarantee a massive cash boost under NHS reforms now rewarding the biggest and the best.
And by joining St Mary’s and Hammersmith hospitals with academic research at Imperial College the AHSC is set to receive an extra £100 million for the next five years – guaranteeing its status.
The funding would provide much-needed stability for St Mary’s, according to a member of the Public Patient Forum, who said the hospital had suffered from “serious neglect” during an aborted Private Finance Initiative to demolish St Mary’s and build a super-hospital in Paddington Basin.
The Paddington Healthcare Campus was approved in 2000 – at a cost of £200 million.
But as costs soared by £800 million, and with planners demanding twice the space as had been approved by the council, the scheme was axed without a brick being laid.
The Audit Commission last year revealed the botched project had cost taxpayers £15 million.
A £700 million application to build a 43-storey tower block in Paddington Basin is being debated by council planning chiefs.
In January the West End Extra reported how a confidential report from Sir Bruce Keogh, one of the most eminent cardiothoracic surgeons in Britain, found patients were exposed to “serious risk” during that time of uncertainty.
He said facilities for patients were “almost certainly the worst in the country”.
There were reports of an “internal apocalypse” and staff morale being “at an all-time low” as the Healthcare Campus plans imploded.
Chairman of the St Mary’s Public Patient Involvement Forum Roy Oliver said: “I think they felt like they owed us since then. We have got a lot of machines and benefits since that we would not have got otherwise – I think out of sympathy.
“Of course, we are left in these old Victorian buildings, which I am not happy about. I am not a fan of Foundation Trusts, but the government is saying we all have to be one by August 2008, so what do you do?
“The focus should be on getting the bottom of the pile up to the top – not making the best better. There are fears over 20 per cent of services, but in general I think the changes are probably the best option – even if it is the only option.”
Ruth Carnall, chief executive of NHS London, claimed the AHSC would mean better service for patients.
She said: “We strongly believe the Academic Health Science Centre has the potential to increase London’s international competitiveness in biomedical research and deliver a quicker translation of research into benefits for patients.”
Professor Stephen Smith, principal of the faculty of medicine at Imperial College, who is responsible for the establishment of the AHSC, said consultants would visit GPs under the changes.
He said: “Healthcare is changing and we want to be at the forefront of helping patients benefit from it.
“We carry out some of the best biomedical research in the world in this country and we need to transfer that innovation to create the best hospitals and networks of care. We can provide it.”
Sir Richard Sykes, rector of Imperial College London, said: “The AHSC will mean we can bring cutting-edge developments from our laboratories to local patients in west London and the UK in the shortest possible time.
“It will also help us in our mission to train the doctors of tomorrow – first-rate researchers and clinicians who are capable of meeting the challenges of 21st-century medicine.”
Mark Davies was this week appointed as an interim chief executive for both hospitals – replacing Julian Nettel, who is the new chief executive at Bartholemews in Islington.
Mr Davies is currently a director of consultancy company Coalescence Consulting Limited, specialising in personal development and organisational performance improvement.
He said “The vision of the AHSC is compelling, and we must ensure that during this period of change we continue to provide first-class and highly responsive services to our patients.
“My job will be to lead and support staff in their pursuit of excellence.” |
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