Westbury hospital overlooked in hunt for care beds

AS controversy about the future of Westbury Community Hospital rages on, it has emerged that the Wiltshire Clinical Commissioning Group is searching for a hospital for 20 dementia care beds – but, has completely overlooked Westbury hospital.

The Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) is looking to find a permanent home for 20 specialist hospital dementia care beds, and is asking Wiltshire residents to share their views.

The service has been held from a temporary location in Salisbury for the past two years, but is now looking for a new permanent base and the CCG has launched a survey asking for people’s comments and suggestions.

The CCG say there are three viable sites under consideration; Charter House in Trowbridge, Green Lane hospital in Devizes, and Amblescroft South in Salisbury.

But campaigners in Westbury say the town’s hospital should be considered and have asked why it wasn’t on the list, especially as Westbury Community Hospital has stood dormant for eight years and occupies a central and accessible location in Wiltshire.

Erica Watson of Westbury’s League of Friends said, “I completed the survey several weeks ago and commented then that Westbury Hospital site would be the obvious choice for a 20-bedded unit. With more beds it could be used as a dual purpose site for those needing residential respite care for patients not quite able to cope at home.”

Meanwhile, NHS Property Services, insist that no boards or organisations have shown any interest in the Westbury site, and that it is  unwanted by the health service.

A statement from Wiltshire Clinical Commissioning Group said, “The three options put forward in Trowbridge, Devizes and Salisbury are the only viable options for specialist dementia care  that utilise assets that are currently owned by the mental health service provider, Avon and Wiltshire Mental Health Partnership Trust.

“Westbury Community Hospital is not owned by Avon and Wiltshire Mental Health Partnership Trust; it is well documented that ownership of the hospital building and the land passed into the ownership of NHS Property Services in 2013 as stipulated by the NHS Health and Social Care Act 2013.

“The Westbury Hospital site is therefore out of scope for consideration.”

It was also noted that even if the hospital wasn’t out of scope, due to the specialist needs for the site, the cost of preparing the hospital would be “extraordinarily high.”

The CCG consultation, which ends on Tuesday 10th March, has so far listened to the views of over 500 people countywide, including people with dementia their carers, residents, volunteers, community groups and professionals around the county.

Ted Wilson, spokesperson for Wiltshire CCG said, “We are really keen to hear what people think about the proposed changes. We’re working closely with Healthwatch Wiltshire to coordinate an extensive public consultation, which takes into account the thoughts and views of those people who have been touched by dementia in some way.

“There are only a few more weeks left for people to let us know their thoughts, and we would urge anyone interested in the outcome of this consultation to go to our website and fill in an online survey, or to request a hard copy questionnaire, telephone or face to face interview from Healthwatch Wiltshire.”

Full details on the three proposed locations, including costs, can be found in the consultation document available from www.wiltshireccg.nhs.uk.

A link to the questionnaire can also be found on www.wiltshireccg.nhs.uk. To contact Healthwatch Wiltshire to provide verbal or written feedback please email info@healthwatchwiltshire.co.uk or call 01225 434218.