Council shifts its position on Hospital options
A meeting of Epsom & Ewell Borough Council on Tuesday 21st July discussed the future of Epsom Hospital. Having announced a mere four weeks ago that it favoured the "divestment" option, meaning Epsom would split from St Helier but forge links with another hospital, instead the ruling RA group has now supported the "demerger" option, which would mean Epsom Hospital standing alone alongside other larger general and critical care hospitals in the area.
Cllr Jonathan Lees, hospital spokesman for the Lib Dem group on the Council, said "The debate was very confused, mainly because the ruling RA group keep changing their minds and had no clear idea amongst themselves which option to support or even how many options there are. A motion to the Council about supporting full demerger was presented at short notice, without admitting that it would represent a complete change of Council policy. The RA group then chose to debate the issue on the night, rather than following the usual practice of referring it to the relevant Committee for a report and a properly informed debate."
He continued "Local people should bear in mind that a great deal of information about four options for the future of Epsom Hospital is due to be published by the Trust in the next few months. So it is premature and very risky to take a stand calling for the 'demerger' option at this moment in time, without knowing all the pros and cons of the other three options and how they will affect the prospects for future investment in the services available at our local hospital. A different form of separation may be a better way of protecting local services."
Epsom & Ewell's ruling Residents Party had been accused by the Lib Dems of sitting on the fence on the issue of the hospital's future and the chairman of the Social Committee, Cllr Christine Long, admitted to the meeting she had recently told the press she favoured the divestment option, without the formal support of either her Committee or the Council as a whole. When a member of her own group presented a different option for discussion, she admitted that guidance was needed and that the situation was changing very quickly. All that was really clear was that most people are worried that the future of services at Epsom hospital may be at risk under the Trust's originally favoured 'status quo' option.
Cllr Lees said "No-one really knew what all the other options were or what the urgency was about supporting any particular option at this time, while the Trust is still carrying out its review. If clear safeguards and the required investment in Epsom is forthcoming in the autumn, the ruling group will have 'egg on their faces' and will need to consider the options yet again."