In March 2023, members from SWFT met with Shipston’s Senior Citizens Action Network (SCAN) to discuss what stage the Ellen Badger Hospital development is currently at and to answer any questions the members had. The following questions were asked and the below answers given.
Do you have the funds available now to build the development?
Please be reassured that, despite increasing construction costs, we do have the funds to build this development.
The League of Friends transferred a donation they received of £635,000 to enable the Trust to buy the land next to the hospital site. The purchase of this land has facilitated the development plans.
The construction work is being funded by Trust capital money and £2.3million of national funding, which we obtained following a successful bid.
What is the Community Infrastructure Levy allocated by Stratford District Council being spent on?
Stratford District Council has allocated £1.4million through the Community Infrastructure Levy Funds to support the implementation of a GP surgery and health and wellbeing facilities in Shipston. £900,000 will go towards the health and wellbeing element of the project.
Will we get a General Practice?
Shipston Medical Centre are a private business separate to the Trust. We wanted to do this project together and we are both still very committed to doing this as a joint venture.
In the development we are building, we are protecting some space for the Practice to operate from while they weigh up their options. If they decide they do not want this space we will look to offer this out to other services to support the health and wellbeing of Shipston residents.
When we need services like x-rays and are due COVID-19 vaccines we have to go to Stratford. Will these services be available in the new hospital?
There is a national directive to invest in central diagnostic centres (CCDs) across the country. We have three in Coventry and Warwickshire (one in Stratford, one in Nuneaton and one in Coventry). However, as part of the development we will be providing the infrastructure to enable mobile diagnostics to take place on the Ellen Badger Hospital site. This facility will be a response to what the Shipston community needs. For example it was highlighted to the Trust that a breast scanner no longer comes to Shipston and therefore this is a service that could be provided using the mobile diagnostic space.
Vaccine programmes are run through General Practice. Previously, our Trust offered Stratford Hospital to be a vaccine hub for free. This was to ensure people could get their vaccines as soon as possible. However, the vaccine campaign is not something we lead and therefore we are unable to confirm if vaccines will be administered in Shipston going forward.
Will you provide a list of what services will and won’t be available at Ellen Badger Hospital?
A review is currently taking place about which services are required to meet the local community’s health needs. The findings of this review are scheduled to be published by June 2023. Following this, the Trust will provide a comprehensive list of the services that will and those that will not be provided at the new Ellen Badger Hospital.
Have you sold all the equipment from the former hospital?
The Trust has made an archive list of all the equipment that was in the former hospital. We haven’t sold any of these items.
Are we likely to get something like a minor injuries unit?
Currently a review of urgent care, which is looking at how we manage emergency demand, is taking place across the whole of south Warwickshire. However, there is no plan at this current time to put a minor injuries unit back at Ellen Badger Hospital.
Following closure during the pandemic, the minor injuries unit at Stratford Hospital is back open on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays between 9am-5pm. Due to staffing challenges and operational pressures, the service is not available any other days at this current time, but the operating hours will be reviewed regularly and will be extended dependant on staffing levels.
Will you have enough staff to run the planned service?
In general, there are on-going challenges with recruitment in the NHS and these are not always to do with funding but around a reduction in applications.
To enable the demolition work to take place, a number of staff were temporarily redeployed to other Trust sites. These staff will move back once the new hospital is built.
In addition, the clinics which we plan to run from Ellen Badger Hospital are already taking place in other places. Therefore, we have the teams already available to safely facilitate these services.
We are in the process of reviewing how we effectively use resources to ensure the right care is provided in the right place, at the right time.
