Fears downgrading of Winchester hospital could impact the already over-stretched A&E at Queen Alexandra Hospital in Portsmouth

It comes as the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Integrated Care Board, which oversees NHS services, and Hampshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, which runs hospitals including the Royal Hampshire in Winchester, presented their plans for a new hospital in Basingstoke to help better serve the needs of that area of Hampshire. The new hospital would have an emergency department which would serve the Winchester area, with the one at the Royal Hampshire then no longer needed.

The plans have been challenged by Winchester City Council in a ‘passionate’ and ‘robust’ meeting of questions which went on for more than three hours with councillors were concerned about transport links, its location, ambulance response times, and finally the likely realisation of the new hospital by 2032.

As Councillor Jonny Morris (Lib Dems, St Barnabas) said: ”Let a thousand blossoms bloom. No-one here is objecting to a new hospital in Basingstoke. The main problem is the opposition to the downgrading, as people see it of Winchester’s A&E, in particular the maternity and stroke units. “

He said current thinking for treatment is to act quickly with a stroke or difficulty in labour, something that can, at the moment, be dealt with in minutes within the building. He questioned the idea of a patient being put into an ambulance for 20 minutes to go to Basingstoke instead. The lack of any ambulance response times information was a hot topic, with Cllr Morris saying it was a “glaring omission from the impact assessment”.

Another concern highlighted was how taking away the A&E from the Hampshire Royal would impact Southampton General Hospital and the Queen Alexandra Hospitals in Portsmouth which have both declared critical incidents because they are unable to cope with the demand. The increasing demand in Portsmouth has also led to the creation of the new larger Emergency Department currently under construction at the Cosham site.

FOR MORE READ: Critical incident stood down in Portsmouth after patient influx strains services

During the mammoth Health and Environment Policy Committee meeting, which went on for three and a half hours, councillors questioned whether the funds were available to realise the new hospital and asked for reassurances, making sceptical comments about it being an election year along with the scarcity of builders able to realise such a building.

Denmead’s Councillor Caroline Brooke (Con) apologised to the medical chiefs and said: ”I feel you have been used as a political football in some ways. For those concerned about an A&E that haven’t seen a really good treatment centre, the one closest to me is Petersfield and that is excellent.”

Councillor Kathleen Becker sought reassurance that the health board is doing all it can to get locals engaged in the consultation, which is available on the Hampshire Together website. The chair, Councillor Steve Cramoysan (Lib Dem, Worthys), summed up the meeting by saying he commended Hampshire Together for being in the game of the national hospital rollout, but was concerned about funding and momentum for the project from the government. The public consultation has been running since December 11 and closes at midnight on Sunday, March 17.