‘Meet tests before any closure of Eastbourne Station Health Centre’

The tests come as part of a motion agreed by Eastbourne councillors at a full council meeting on Wednesday (November 18), which also calls on the NHS to withdraw the closure proposals entirely.  

A form of the motion had initially been put forward by Liberal Democrat cabinet member for finance Steve Holt, but the final motion was agreed cross-party, following a proposed amendment from Conservative councillor (and town MP) Caroline Ansell.  

Cllr Holt said: “I believe that right now it is incredibly short-sighted of the clinical commissioning bodies to be looking at closing the service. 

“It seems somewhat absurd that during this time of national crisis where health is so important. That they would even consider this right now is absolutely flabbergasting.”

In his motion, Cllr Holt argued the walk-in centre provided a valuable service for visitors and town centre residents, many of whom do not have easy access to other forms of healthcare. 

This was particularly true for homeless people living within Eastbourne and other vulnerable groups, he said. 

Similar themes were laid out by Cllr Ansell, although she recommended a different course of action.

She said: “There is almost nothing on which we don’t agree. When you speak about the vulnerable groups, when you talk about the visitor destination and how important this strategic site is I agree with you 100 per cent. 

“There is one issue which we might need to consider in our deliberations and that is the proposal by the CCG, that in changing this model of care they will be able to access enhanced funding. That is something we must be mindful of, in that change could be a positive.

“But I agree with you; now is not the time for change, in such challenging times. 

“Whilst I can concur almost to the word with your [motion] and its spirit where I diverge and where I want to add value is essentially in the action associated with the [motion], which is to halt this process.”

Cllr Ansell argued that as the CCG had already halted and restarted the closure process before, the call to withdraw the proposals was unlikely to succeed. 

She said that by including the three tests for the CCG, which she argued should be met if the closure was going ahead, the council could have a greater impact on the proposals.

These tests included: creating a new GP practice in the town centre, to be run as a satellite site of the Victoria Medical Centre; and putting arrangements in place with groups, such as the Salvation Army, whose premises could be used to provide medical outreach.

A third test called on the CCG to demonstrate that GP provision in the town centre reflects prospective town centre housing development, circa 1,000 new households and that current town centre GP practices have been able to re-open their lists. 

Even once all three of the tests had been met the CCG should hold a further public consultation before moving ahead, Cllr Ansell said.

While Cllr Ansell’s amendment was broadly welcomed, Liberal Democrats were uncomfortable with some aspects of it. This included calling on the CCG to continue providing the walk-in centre until at least 2023, rather than just withdrawing the proposals. 

As a result, the meeting was adjourned so that Cllr Holt and Cllr Ansell could agree a joint wording. Once this wording was agreed councillors almost unanimously supported the motion.

Only Cllr Colin Belsey (Con, Ratton), who is chairman of the East Sussex Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee (HOSC), did not vote on the motion.

This was to avoid the impression of predetermination, as the final proposals are expected to return to HOSC before the decision is made.  He  had also left the meeting during the initial discussion.