Lodge an appeal '“ report is flawed, says top doctor

The Support St Richard's campaign team asked Dr Lois Lodge to look at a briefing paper which informed the decision-making process of the Fit for the Future consultation.

Dr Lodge found 'an appeal could be lodged on the grounds the report does not meet its own remit'.

The campaign team will decide whether or not to use the findings as evidence in making an appeal to the Joint Health and Overview Scrutiny Committee (JHOSC).

Dr Lodge came to the following specific conclusions about the report:

n The report does not identify/quantify the extent of impact of health inequalities for the specialist services of in-patient specialist maternity, paediatrics and acute surgery.

n It does not present evidence the proximity of the deprived communities to these specialist services affects health outcomes.

n It does not present evidence on whether improved access to improved primary and community services and outpatient services could mitigate health inequality issues and cannot therefore be used as evidence of the importance of health inequalities to locating the major general hospital.

The chairman of the JHOSC Peter Griffiths has outlined the role the committee takes to clear up any confusion over the next series of meetings, the first of which takes place next Wednesday.

Mr Griffiths said: "The JHOSC will decide only whether or not a referral should be made to the secretary of state for health when it has considered all the relevant evidence.

"This could be at its meeting on June 25, or at is meeting on July 23.

"At the PCT's further board meeting on July 10, it will decide whether or not to confirm the decisions it made on May 7 and June 4.

"It is likely the JHOSC will not make a final decision on a referral until after it has had the final view of the PCT board in July.

"The JHOSC has very specific statutory powers which set out only two grounds for any referral.

"These are first that the effectiveness of the consultation with the committee by the PCT was inadequate.

"Secondly, that the committee considers the proposals are not in the interests of the health service and therefore the residents in the area as a whole.

"There is no other more general power to make a referral.

"Once a referral has been made to the secretary of state, it may then be referred to the independent reconfiguration panel who would investigate and advise the secretary of state.

"Previous experience suggests this could take a number of months.

"In contrast, judicial reviews are a challenge to the legality of the way in which a decision has been made, rather than the merits of the conclusion reached.

"A judicial review challenging the decisions made by the PCT on May 7 or June 4, or indeed July 10, would have no connection with whether or not the JHOSC had made a decision to refer the matter to the secretary of state, given the different considerations for each action.

"Different timescales also apply."

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