Orwell Ahead (OA) has been actively supporting efforts to save orthopaedic services and surgery at Ipswich Hospital.
East Suffolk and North Essex Foundation Trust will meet on 14 July to discuss a proposal for the development of a £35m Elective Care Centre at Colchester Hospital that will see these essential services close in Ipswich.
At the time of writing this decision is a fait accompli. ESNEFT has ignored their public consultation (two-thirds against), ignored several of their own surgeons, Ipswich's MP and Ipswich Borough; and tried to discredit Orwell Ahead's public petition against the move.
ESNEFT claimed OA's petition raised public concern and fear by a false assertion that ALL orthopaedic services and surgery will close. The petition never said that. The petition title simply referred to “orthopaedic services and surgery” with the body of the petition providing a concise statement from Tom Hunt MP and IBC Leader David Ellesmere explaining the loss of “elective orthopaedic services”. The public saw through ESNEFT's shameless tactic. The petition stood at 3500 before their intervention, but surged by a further 5500 signatures after it. The petition stands at around 9000 but may well reach 10,000. The reality is that if the petition title had have stated “hip and knee surgery” support for the petition would be exactly the same!
Orwell Ahead’s raison d'être is to highlight Ipswich's shocking loss of local government authority and how it is having a detrimental effect to our town. Ipswich citizens are acutely aware that something is terribly amiss with Ipswich but cannot fathom what. It was the catastrophic Local Government Act 1972. The County Borough of Ipswich was forced into a tripartite county council with East Suffolk and West Suffolk authorities. Urban Ipswich was “Suffolkated”. Overnight Ipswich and Ipswich citizens went from total authority, control and sovereignty over our assets, services and direction; to the last 47 years of having almost no voice or clout on Suffolk County Council cabinets. Suffolk County Council’s all-powerful cabinet has been like an occupying force: based here, controlling here, but rarely by anyone elected here.
Here too, we have the former “Borough General Hospital”, built up by and for the people of Ipswich since the 1880s. Historically its stakeholders would have been 100% from Ipswich County Borough Council and/or Ipswich Hospital NHS, all with the hospital and Ipswich’s best interest at heart. Today, the shared ESNEFT board has five from nine governor stakeholders who are Essex focused. Suffolk County Council’s portfolio holder is from Nayland, near Colchester, and with respect probably does not lose sleep about the closure of Ipswich's historical assets. Ipswich Borough Council has no power at all over its former hospital but has a token SINGLE representative from nine. The decision itself will be taken by an ESNEFT (NHS) board of managers - an unelected quango - with virtually no accountability to Ipswich citizens or its lost authority.
No wonder Ipswich is failing.
www.orwellahead.co.uk/why-ipswich-fails