Deadline extension on St Peter's Hospital Consultation

The South Woodham Ferrers Residents Party is calling for residents to take advantage of an extended deadline for a consultation on the closure and possible sale for housing of our nearest hospital. St Peters in Maldon.

Residents now have until Thursday 4 April to submit their thoughts to NHS Mid and South Essex’s consultation survey, a two-week extension on that previously announced.

Under surprise proposals made by Mid and South Essex NHS last month, St Peter’s Hospital in Maldon will soon close with its current services used by residents of South Woodham Ferrers such as maternity, stroke care and outpatients relocated to facilities as far away as Braintree, Rochford, Brentwood and even Halstead.

Residents of South Woodham Ferrers would have to drive twice as far, if not more to appointments for ophthalmology, physiotherapy, respiratory medicine, urology and stroke facilities. Those without a car might not be able to reach them at all.

And even if the residents are able to reach those services further away, it’s likely they will need to wait longer for appointments with proposals to build approximately 1,200 new homes in South Woodham, adding to up to 10,000 homes being built over the next ten years in a 15-minute drive radius of St Peter’s Hospital, creating more demand than ever.

The consultation document reveals that St Peter’s Hospital sees more than 80,000 patients a year, many of who come from South Woodham Ferrers.  And in a document released last week by the Trust (see attached), it says that ‘Existing health facilities in Tylers Ride, South Woodham Ferrers’ are being ‘suggested’ as potential future locations for the provisions of ‘ambulatory/outpatient’ services. However, the SWFRA can find no evidence of any active discussion about what that might entail and how it would be implemented.

The SWFRA is urging the Trust to get together with Chelmsford and Maldon Councils to discuss the possible use of Community Infrastructure Levy ‘CIL’ money which can be used to “fund a wide range of infrastructure that is needed as a result of development such as …. health and social care facilities”. While such money couldn’t be used for day-to-day NHS spend it could be used for the renovation or improvement of St Peters Hospital.

South Woodham Ferrers Residents Party Chair, Keith Bentley, said: “The residents of South Woodham Ferrers are directly affected by the planned closure of St. Peter's Hospital in Maldon.

“Getting to the new locations proposed will take a very long time by car and extremely difficult for those using public transport.

“Residents in South Woodham Ferrers have already experienced a similar issue following the relocation of all our GP surgeries to the Crouch Vale Centre with many older and infirm residents reporting difficulty reaching it.

“Making journey’s longer for patients will have a negative effect on the health and well-being of our residents and overstretch services elsewhere.”

The district’s MP, John Whittingdale is also running his own surveywhich residents are urged to fill out too.