WITH regard to the threatened downgrading of facilities at DCH, it should be noted the reports, on which such decisions are based, are generally created by firms that may know a lot about finance and PR, but not necessarily as much about the delivery of medical services.

The NHS has spent (wasted?) over £33million with these accountancy companies on preparing similar reports for other hospitals, over the last two years, with a view to saving money, but bureaucracy prevails and there seems to be little enhanced efficiency; just closure or downgrading of vital patient services.

It should be remembered that the Commissioning Group responsible for DCH was set up primarily to satisfy the specified requirements of GPs, who, one would have thought, should be doing their best to enhance local medical provision for their patients, not overseeing its demise.

The facilities currently provided by DCH primarily serve the needs of people residing in West and South Dorset. Moving important facilities away towards the eastern boundary of the county does not make sense.

It means that A&E support for critical cases could be delayed, with the potential for bad outcomes. Patients and their families and friends will be put to considerable disadvantage having to travel longer distances in a county with relatively poor transport infrastructure and inferior major roads. Perhaps the authors of such reports are more conversant with the London environs.

Excellent standards are already achieved at DCH, particularly in the critical areas under threat. What is the point of transferring them? How can it make any financial sense whatsoever to build and create new facilities at Poole or Bournemouth, in order to replicate facilities already provided at DCH. There is no reason to suppose that Bournemouth Hospital will do better than DCH, particularly as some of its ratings have not always been good over the years. Is there room to expand Poole Hospital, which is already, justifiably, a ‘centre of excellence’ for cancer treatment? It will be very interesting to know what will be done with the vacant space left at DCH if common sense does not prevail and the recommendations are agreed. In the past, we believed the deficit at DCH was under control and not significant. So, with more money now available for the NHS by the Government, is there really any need to continue with this destruction?

M Foggon

Weymouth