Closing Bridlington Community Unit ‘worst possible outcome’ for patients and staff

Plans to close Bridlington Community Unit, which provides elderly care, will result in the ‘worst possible outcome for patients and staff’, Unite, the UK’s leading union, said today.

The board of directors at York and Scarborough Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust today announced its support to close the unit, despite acknowledging that 91 per cent of people surveyed during the public consultation opposed its closure.

The trust says that patients not needing acute services will receive community-based care, which it does not have responsibility for and does not pay for. Unite believes this attempt to generate short-term savings will not outweigh the long terms costs due to patients being readmitted to hospital because of the gaps in community care provision.

Closing the unit will result in elderly patients languishing in Scarborough, York or Hull hospitals if care is not available, which will likely often be the case. There is also a danger that patients will be sent home without adequate care provisions being in place due to pressures on bed availability at those hospitals.

Furthermore, the ward’s nurses and healthcare assistants face redundancy or transfer to York or Scarborough.

Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “This is a cruel decision that will leave vulnerable patients at risk of substandard care or stranded miles from home.

“It will result in the worst possible outcome for patients and staff and is nothing more than shameless cost cutting at the expense of Bridlington’s residents. Unite remains firm in demanding the trust abandons these plans.”

Bridlington Hospital has suffered years of cuts to services – despite being one of the region’s most modern hospitals at just 30 years old.

Many of the hospital’s wards are standing empty, resulting in patients being forced to make 50-mile round trips to Scarborough or 80-mile rounds trips to York.

Closing the community unit would make the situation even worse, as many elderly patients will be left stranded with their relatives having to travel miles to visit them. It would also leave transferred workers facing overly long commutes before and after their shifts, with the risk of exhaustion putting them and their patients at risk.

Unite regional officer Chris Daly said: “The trust claims that services at Bridlington Hospital are actually going to increase while announcing the closure of one of its most crucial wards. Nobody – not staff, patients nor the people of Bridlington – is fooled.

“It is as clear as day that Bridlington’s is being treated as a poor relation. Unite will be providing maximum support to our members in fighting to save these vital health services.”

ENDS

For media enquires ONLY contact senior Unite communications officer Ryan Fletcher on 07849 090215 or 020 3371 2065.

Email: ryan.fletcher@unitetheunion.org

Unite is Britain and Ireland’s largest union with members working across all sectors of the economy. The general secretary is Sharon Graham.