Public inquiry wanted into relocation of cancer service
CANCER campaigners in Exeter are calling for a public inquiry over the centralisation of specialist services in Plymouth.
A patient support group has said it would welcome transparency over proposals to move surgery for upper gastro-intestinal cancer services from Exeter and Cornwall to Plymouth.
It comes as Hannah Foster, the Conservative parliamentary hopeful for Exeter, accused the Devon Primary Care Trust (PCT) of a "definitive failure" over the consultation process on the issue.
Now, Lindsay Hirst, chairman of the Exeter, Mid and East Devon Oesophageal Cancer Patient and Carers' Support Group, has added her voice to the demands for a full public inquiry — although on the grounds of transparency, rather than legality.
She said: "We're very unhappy about the move. We would certainly embrace a public inquiry if it came to fruition."
Mrs Foster said: "These institutions work for the people and are paid for by the tax payer. They have a responsibility to be open and transparent, and I think they have failed badly."
Rebecca Harriott, interim chief executive at NHS Devon, said the process had been "thorough and transparent". She also cited an independent review conducted in September 2008, which recommended the single centre.
Comments
by jeff Coates, Pinn Lane Exeter
Tuesday, October 27 2009, 8:29AM
“It is good news that Hannah Foster is continuing to back the campaign to keep these cancer services in Exeter.
Devon PCT never provided any evidence that the move would do anything other than threaten the continuation of the first rate care already provided by the unit at Exeter RD&E hospital.
Their "consultation" was never more than an exercise in "going through the motions" and it was clear to anyone who attended the sessions that the move to Plymouth was a "done deal". It was also a revelation how many bureaucratic functionaries are employed by the NHS in these wasteful exercises of reorganization.”