PROPOSALS to build a new hospital for Basingstoke and North Hampshire on Junction 7 of the M3 have split opinion - with 52 per cent of people saying they are in favour of the plans.
The opening of the new hospital would see services at the Royal Hampshire County Hospital downgraded, with the closure of the A&E department.
A consultation into a major shake-up of healthcare in Hampshire, including a new hospital estimated to cost between £700 and £900m, has been held by Hampshire Together.
More than 98,000 people interacted with the 14-week consultation, with 3,685 people through submitting questionnaire responses, while thousands of others contributed by telephone interviews, attending feedback events and posting on social media.
On Wednesday, July 10, a report looking into the responses was published.
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Caroline Morison, chief strategy officer at NHS Hampshire and Isle of Wight said: “We would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who took the time to share their views during the consultation period.
“We are now continuing to work with our local partners as we move towards making a decision regarding this multi-million-pound programme which looks to improve local health provision for so many people in Hampshire.”
As part of the consultation, NHS Hampshire and Isle of Wight put forward three proposed options which residents, NHS staff and stakeholders were encouraged to give their views on.
Under the plans, Basingstoke’s emergency department and maternity services would be relocated - as would Winchester’s - and some services across Hampshire centralised.
A dedicated children’s emergency department would be created at the new hospital, as well as an obstetrician-led birthing unit alongside a midwife-led birthing unit.
Services such as outpatient appointments, diagnostics, therapy services, and day-care surgery would continue from the current Basingstoke hospital site.
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Winchester hospital would be upgraded to have a dedicated planned surgery centre meaning that specialist and emergency care would be separated - something that concerned more than half of those who responded (54 per cent) to the consultation.
Fifty-two per cent of residents were in favour of a new specialist acute hospital being built at Junction 7, rather than building on the current Basingstoke hospital site, but 32 per cent of residents and 17 per cent of staff thought that neither site proposed were a ‘better’ location.
The report said: “This view tended to come from those who disagreed with the principle of delivering planned care and specialist and emergency care from different hospitals; many commented that the increased journey times to reach emergency care for those in the south of the county could put lives at risk.”
Others said that building the new hospital at Junction 7 would be ‘less disruptive to staff and service prevision’, along with providing an opportunity to build ‘a modern, fit-for-purpose hospital with more scope for future expansion’.
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During the consultation there was strong support to keep frequently used services (i.e. outpatients, diagnostics, and therapies) at both current Basingstoke and Winchester hospital sites, with 88 per cent of residents in favour of the proposal.
Throughout the consultation concerns were raised about the importance of care, especially consultant-led emergency and maternity care, being provided as close to home as possible, especially for those who are less mobile or more reliant on public transport, and that ‘a consolidated A&E department risks being overwhelmed by demand’.
The responses to the consultation will now be considered by Hampshire’s Joint Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee on Monday, July 22, who will produce key points for the NHS to consider and respond to.
The NHS will then consider the feedback from the committee alongside the consultation report and will formally respond to panel in the summer setting out the process for considering the points that they have raised.
This will help in the development of the final proposal and the decision-making business case is expected to be published later this year.
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