Meetingto put NHS care under spotlight

SERVICES to NHS patients on the Yorkshire coast and Ryedale are under scrutiny again following a public meeting called to discuss healthcare concerns.

Hospital officials are being invited to respond to the worries and outline their vision of how the system can best serve up to 240,000 local people.

Plans to develop safe and viable long-term healthcare services in Scarborough, Whitby and Ryedale are to come under the spotlight at a meeting of North Yorkshire County Council’s Scrutiny of Health Committee next week.

It follows a public meeting in Scarborough last month at which concerns were voiced about some aspects of NHS services in the town and surrounding areas.

Scrutiny Committee chairman County Councillor Gareth Dadd said: “We heard many concerns from local councillors, members of the public and indirectly from staff at the Scarborough Hospital.”

He said of the forthcoming meeting: “We shall be providing a platform for the NHS, including the Hospital Trust, Strategic Health Authority and not least the local PCT to outline a vision for improvements in health care for the local population.

“We shall in addition, be asking how we can best assist the vital re-building of patient, staff and public confidence that has undoubtedly been dented in recent months, and how we can work with all sectors of the NHS for the betterment of healthcare.

“This is our second meeting in Scarborough in the space of a month. One of the goals of all partners in this exercise must be to ensure we have prosperous Scarborough and Bridlington Hospitals in the long term.”

He encouraged people to attend the meeting at 6pm on Tuesday next week at the Oasis Family Centre in Castle Road, Scarborough.

NHS North Yorkshire and York chief executive Jayne Brown said: “Public opinion and clinical engagement has always been at the heart of this project and we are confident that these views are reflected in the proposals now being presented.”