Calls for more hospital beds following closure of Edward Hain in St Ives
Cornwall councillors say the lost beds should be provided elsewhere
Cornwall councillors have said that beds lost due to the closure of a St Ives hospital should be provided elsewhere in the local area.
Edward Hain Hospital in St Ives was temporarily closed in 2016 after concerns were raised about fire safety.
However, while the hospital has since been used to provide clinics the beds have remained closed.
A new report from the NHS now says that the hospital is no longer viable as it is not suitable for the delivery of health and care services so is planned to permanently close.
Under the NHS proposals the inpatient beds will close and the clinic services will be relocated elsewhere in St Ives.
The recommendation was also that the NHS continue to work on a local model of care which would try and help people to be treated closer to or in their homes rather than needing to spend time in a hospital bed.
These recommendations went before Cornwall Council’s health and adult social care overview and scrutiny committee yesterday (Wed) and while councillors accepted that the hospital would close they said they wanted to see the lost beds provided elsewhere in the local area.
Helen Charlesworth-May, joint accountable officer for public health and care for NHS Kernow and Cornwall Council, said that staff had worked hard to engage with the community about the plans for the hospital.
She said: “We recognise the need for people who live in Penwith and St Ives to help shape the health and care proposals for the area.
“We know that our community hospitals are really important and have historic standing in their communities. We need to review their functions to ensure we are best placed to respond to the health and care needs of the population and have facilities fit for the 21st century.”
Mrs Charlesworth-May said that the overarching aim was to try and ensure that people receive treatment as close to home as possible and are able to live independently at home for as long as possible.
She said: “When they do have to have a stay at hospital the support services should allow them to return home as soon as possible. People are better in their own homes, they recover more quickly and are generally safer in their own homes than they are in institutions. That is particularly true for older people.”
Kate Mitchell, NHS Kernow project manager, said that extensive work had been done to look at the services provided by the hospital and the cost effectiveness of those services.
She said: “It led us to a conclusion that Edward Hain was not a viable proposition to proved health care in the future. The hospital is not a safe and appropriate environment to deliver health or care.”
However councillors were concerned that just closing the 12 beds at Edward Hain permanently and providing more support services was not enough.
Some councillors said that they had heard of people from the Penwith area having to travel to community hospitals in Newquay and Bodmin for treatment.
As a result the committee put forward a recommendation to replace the beds lost at Edward Hain.
Committee vice-chairman Colin Martin made the proposal which was seconded by Loveday Jenkin.
It states: “The committee recognises that out of hospital care in West Cornwall has changed since the Edward Hain community beds were temporarily closed in 2016 but expresses concerns that this transformation has not prevented patients from being stuck in hospital further from home.
“The committee therefore calls for the beds lost at Edward Hain (and previously at Poltair) to be re-provided in south west Cornwall as soon as possible, including the option to use West Cornwall or Hayle hospital and provide an ‘Edward Hain wing’.
“The Governing Body commit to the re-provision and retention of the stepdown/reablement beds within Penwith and South west Kerrier in line with community views until there is proven safe capacity in the acute sector, patients can be cared for fully and appropriately at home or in residential or nursing homes with safe levels of staffing.”
The recommendations were unanimously approved by the committee.