A DOCTOR is urging residents to engage in a public consultation and fight against cuts to the NHS.

Dr Jon Orrell addressed a gathering in Dorchester on Saturday calling on people to have their say on the consultation which proposes major changes to hospitals and healthcare across Dorset.

The Weymouth GP and Green Party councillor spoke at a Socialist Party meeting, just one of many talks he is delivering in the upcoming weeks.

Leaflets were handed out in the town centre before the meeting began.

Dr Orrell said: “What’s happening in Dorset is a response to a national crisis, waiting times are shooting up and A and E departments are under threat. The NHS is underfunded, of all the advanced western democracies the NHS gets the least funding as a percentage of the GDP.”

Talks are planned to advise residents of the ongoing Clinical Services Review by NHS Dorset Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG).

The CCG proposes a major shake-up of Dorset health services which, if agreed, would see Royal Bournemouth Hospital become the major emergency site, Poole Hospital becoming a major planned hospital, and Dorset County Hospital remaining broadly the same.

Other plansup for consultation include cutting the numbers of community hospitals from 13 to seven ‘community hubs’ with beds, and a further five ‘community hubs’ without beds.

Dr Orrell said: “The problem with Bournemouth is that it is that it is the other side of the county, it’s almost in Hampshire. In terms of GPs and primary care instead of 12 sites in Weymouth and Portland they envisage that coming down to three. In Purbeck it will go down from six to three.”

The CCG launched the review in response to major challenges including an increasing demand on services, workforce shortages, and a potential funding gap of at least £158m per year by 2020 if nothing is done.

Dr Orrell added: “If these changes come into place hospitals start to get less attractive for junior doctors and the reputation will start to slip.”

Dorset CCG has distributed 75,000 copies of its ‘Improving Dorset’s healthcare’ review across the county along with a number of public events encouraging residents to get involved.

Lynne Hubbard, a dietitian who has worked in the NHS for 35 years, said: “It is about how we get the message across. People are so overwhelmed it is not until someone needs an operation and it keeps being cancelled because someone needs their bed that they realise something is wrong.”

“A lot of people at this stage put their heads down and think they cannot change what is happening but this is exactly when we need to act. Once the NHS is gone, it’s gone.”

The consultation gives residents an opportunity to have their say on the future of Dorset’s health services. 

After more than two years work on its Clinical Services Review the NHS Dorset Clinical Commissioning Group launched the 12 week consultation on December 1. 
The CCG say the proposals will improve our healthcare system to better meet the needs of local people.

It says change is necessary to meet the demands of an increased population and increased life expectancy.

As people are living longer, long-term conditions like diabetes and dementia are putting an increased pressure on our health services. 


If nothing is done, the CCG says there will be an increased demand for hospital beds but no increased number, while residents will also struggle to get appointments and see more operations cancelled. 


A series of drop-in sessions have been organised throughout the county to encourage residents to engage with the review. 

The next session will take place on Tuesday, January 24 at Easton Methodist Church on Portland from 2.30pm to 8pm.
The consultation runs until February 28. Visit dorsetvision.nhs.uk to have your say.