Dismayed at resignation of our chairman

10:19am Wednesday 16th July 2008

On behalf of the Senior Medical and Dental Staff of Royal Cornwall Hospital we wish to express both our dismay at the resignation of our Chairman Peter Davies and our total support of his actions in defending the services we offer to the population of Cornwall.

The current issue revolves around the provision of upper gastro intestinal cancer surgery but potentially threatens the whole infrastructure of medical care in Cornwall.

The move towards centralisation has been based on policies now overtaken by Lord D'arzi's recent report, which calls for enhanced local care informed and planned in partnership with patient and professions.

We would question the data used to inform the decision and would emphasise that There are 3 major hospitals in the southwest each serving a population of about 500,000 whilst delivering quality local services to their population over a large geographical area with poor transport infrastructure.

Plymouth, Exeter and Truro should be considered equivalent large DGH's.

Political ambitions of, and PCT support for Plymouth, should be irrelevant in the decision making process.

A population argument for centralising services in reality works for urban populations not our rural situation.

On this basis Exeter plans to retain it s service.

Professor D'Arzi's report states that where good local services exist they should be supported and nurtured. It also does not support the de-stabilisation of local delivery; rather it supports the concepts of networks to support local delivery.

Removal of upper GI cancers from Cornwall would start a destabilising process in the local health community. It is not as simple as the treatment of a single condition, should oesophageal surgery be removed then there will be no routine surgery in Cornwall that opens a patient's chest, part of the skill set required in dealing with major trauma and other emergency work.

The current service delivers results that compare favourably with national 2 and 5 year survival figures. These results have been checked and verified by the Association of Upper GI surgeons.

The publication of selected, non-representative short term results recently could appear to be a dishonest and deplorable tactic to fit another agenda, which we trust the overview and scrutiny committee will see past.

It is vital for the local health community that upper GI cancers along with other vital services are retained in Cornwall for the good of the population.

As a medical body we would welcome working with the PCT, patients, the SHA and elected representatives to take forward Lord D'Arzi's agenda for the people of Cornwall.

This is an opportunity to work together in the best interests of the county to deliver the strategic 4 year plan that the PCT has been charged with assembling following lord D'arzi's report, meanwhile any disinvestment in Cornwall should be stopped pending delivery of that joint plan.

John Hyslop Anne Dingwall Chairman of the Medical Staff Committee RCHT, Chairman of Local Negotiating Committee RCHT

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