Leek Moorlands Hospital: Councillor Jill Salt’s Letter to Karen Bradley MP

Jill Salt Councillor for Biddulph East
7 July at 09:08 ·
My letter to Karen Bradley…
Dear Karen,
I have read with interest your comments on Leek Hospital over the last few weeks and months. I also read your comments in Biddulph’s Chronicle this week. As far as I am aware, the Save Leek Hospital campaign is not politically affiliated. I am not a part of the Campaign group but very distressed about the path that the CCG is walking down. I appreciate that behind the scenes, you have probably spoken to the CCG at length. However, as you well know – you are actually powerless to change anything related to decisions made by the CCG. The Health and Social Care Act of 2012, which you voted for, took away any kind of democratic political power in the procurement of local NHS services. Therein lies the problem, if the CCG can prove that patient safety will not be put at risk with the closure of these beds, they’ll be gone.
What irritates me Karen is that you voted for the implementation of this policy and are now crying wolf when it threatens a service in your constituency; did you not foresee issues such as this will arise? You may agree with the CCG that community beds don’t have to be in a hospital – however with recent news that a quarter of private care facilities are not safe – I know where I’d want intermediate care for my family, and that’s in a NHS hospital bed!
Back in March you ‘categorically’ assured your constituents that the hospital would not close, you refused to clarify whether that included beds. If you are so astute as to the workings of the CCG – how could you assure your constituents of this before a consultation had even taken place? It’s very telling that you made this claim on your social media account just prior to a general election too, I would therefore argue it was you politicising this issue! You also closed down any comments on your Facebook account, so that anything criticising you could not be seen by others. Surely this is not a democratic way to conduct yourself? I appreciate that abuse should not be tolerated, but that which questions you should absolutely be allowed to be debated in public. You failed to turn up to a hustings too – Karen you need to understand that these actions are causing much anger in the local community. Comments in local newspapers do nothing to quell fears. You have not been physically visible on this issue – you have just released statements. Claiming that your majority has increased in the recent election is all well and good, but you now represent us all and this claim in defence of your authority creates resentment.
This hospital is a burning local issue, you cannot change a decision made by the CCG, if the evidence used by the CCG is sound. If it’s not sound, it can be challenged. The elephant in the room Karen is that there is NOTHING you, Sybil Ralphs or even the campaign can do about this. What you do need to accept responsibility for, is your vote that contributed to the creation of the CCGs that fundamentally allowed decisions such as this to be taken. The only thing that could save the beds and services at all of our cottage hospitals is the removal of a Conservative government.
Kind regards
Cllr Jill Salt