Health campaigners have slammed purported plans for a new “super hospital”, claiming the bed provision would be worse than in countries including Mexico, Colombia and Indonesia, and would put lives at risk.
But Epsom and St Helier University Hospitals NHS Trust deny there are any plans to build an 800-bed hospital in Sutton to replace the two hospitals.
From Wednesday: Truth or scare? Political row erupts over alleged St Helier Hospital closure consultation
A row erupted between MPs and the Trust last week over claims that a consultation was being launched over the closure of St Helier Hospital in Carshalton.
Siobhain McDonagh (pictured below), MP for Mitcham and Morden, posted an email from Trust CEO Daniel Elkeles dated April 27 which outlines four options for the Trust’s hospitals. All four involve building or rebuilding on hospital sites in Epsom, Sutton or Carshalton.
But, director of communications at the Trust, Tim Hamilton said there were “no plans for a consultation”.
From April 2015: Secret plans to close Epsom and St Helier and build new "super hospital" overheard on train
Campaigners at Keep Our St Helier Hospital (KOSHH) have feared the Trust intend to close St Helier Hospital since management consultants were overheard discussing plans for a replacement 800-bed hospital on a commuter train in April 2015.
Keep Our St Helier Hospital campaigners picket outside Sutton station
Dave Ash, a founding member of KOSHH, a pressure group formed to save the hospital in Carshalton, believes a reduction in the number of beds provided by the Trust, from about 1,000 to 800, would put lives at risk.
Hospitals in the UK currently average 2.7 beds per 1,000 people. Mr Ash calculates that Epsom and St Helier Hospitals currently provide their approximate catchment of 500,000 people with 2 beds per 1,000 people.
A new 800-bed hospital serving about 500,000 people would have a lower bed-to-person ratio than the national average of the UK, as well as countries including Mexico, Colombia and Indonesia.
Pic credit: Keep Our St Helier Hospital
A spokesman for KOSHH said: “KOSHH campaigners were stunned when Dave Ash calculated that if we lose Epsom and St Helier Hospitals and they are replaced by an 800-bed facility on the old Sutton site, that we would have bed provision only slightly better than India and worse than Indonesia.
“At 0.6 beds per 1,000 people, this is well below the UK average of 2.7 beds per 1,000.
“It is fair to say that to call an 800-bed facility a "super-hospital" is grossly inaccurate.
“With a growing population, there is nothing super about this idea.”
Mr Ash added: “If we are talking about reducing the number of beds to 800, I think people will die."
A spokeswoman for Epsom and St Helier University Hospitals NHS Trust said: “As many local people will know, we are currently looking at the long term future of our hospitals.
“Last year we launched and published our five year strategy, but we have to look further ahead to 2020 and beyond.
“As part of that, we have begun a piece of work to review the fabric of our current buildings, and hundreds of patients, staff and local people have had their say.
“This work is still in its early stages, and so it is too early to talk about options for our buildings – suffice to say, that there are no plans to build an ‘800-bed super hospital’, as claimed by a campaign group.”
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