Local MPs Tackle Minister on Hospital Funding

Tamworth’s MP Christopher Pincher, together Burton MP Andrew Griffiths met Health Minister Dr Daniel Poulter earlier this month to discuss issues at the Burton NHS Hospitals Foundation Trust, which runs the Sir Robert Peel hospital in Fazeley.

Mr Pincher also organized representatives of the Burton Hospital Trust and the GPs Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) to join the minister to highlight the help they need. Dr Poulter agreed to put Department for Health expertise at the disposal of the Burton Trust to help them organize their funds. He also promised to write to NHS funding agencies encouraging them to look at the funding formula for Burton. Funding is decided on a two-year basis and determined by a formula operated by arms length agencies, so ministers are not able to simply order further funding.

After the meeting Mr Pincher said, “I am very pleased we were able to secure this meeting so we could impress on the minister the importance to the hospital and the CCG of getting the right funding to provide the services. We also discussed the importance of proper community engagement.

“So I am pleased that the Burton Hospitals Trust has now agreed to set up a much wider Advisory Board to reconsider any changes to services, such as day surgery and endoscopy services, at the Sir Robert Peel. Local CCGs, who commission services from local hospitals, will also be involved.”

The Advisory Board will meet four times between June and September and will consider all services around the Trust. The Board will consist of a wide variety of interested parties its proceedings will be fully transparent. It is hoped that this approach will provide much more local input about what kind of services can and should be operated from the Sir Robert Peel which, as Burton Trust executives have been at pains to point out, is not going to close.

Mr Pincher has asked that the Friends of Sir Robert Peel, or an equivalent local volunteers group, is included on the Board to ensure the widest representation of views.

Burton Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust also runs the Samuel Johnson hospital in Lichfield.