CUTS to physiotherapy services in the district could put the future of Halstead Hospital services at risk, it is claimed.
Professor Chris Green, chairman of the Friends of Braintree Community Hospital, said plans to drastically reduce the number of patients sent to clinics could have “knock-on consequences” in Braintree and at Halstead Hospital.
Mid Essex Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG), which pays for primary care services in Halstead, Braintree, Maldon and Chelmsford, is one of the most poorly funded in the country, has debt of £25m and needs to save £15.7m this year alone.
One of three options considered is to stop doctors routinely sending patients to physiotherapy services, prompting a warning from physiotherapists that clinics run by healthcare company Provide at Halstead Hospital might not survive without enough patients.
But Mr Green said the effects of the cuts could be more far-reaching.
He said: “Clearly, people who have short-term pain may turn up at A&E. That means all you are doing is transferring the burden of costs somewhere else.
“That’s of concern. But what’s more significant is that more hospital services are provided by Provide.”
As part of a ‘blended tariff’ contract- which means the company gets paid per patient visit- Provide carries out X-rays, endoscopies and other services at both hospitals.
Mr Green said: “If they get less money it may be that the other services that they provide at the hospital are unsustainable.
“That’s a big issue. It has knock-on consequences.”
Mr Green said the Friends of Braintree Community Hospital had raised the concerns in its submission to the CCG’s consultation, to be discussed at a board meeting next Thursday.
Jackie Pell, chairman of the League of Friends of Halstead Hospital, said: “I am in communication with Provide about various things at the moment and they have not given me any indication that they are going to do that.
“It would be wrong of us to judge the outcome until we actually know.
“But if that was the case then we would fight.”
A spokesman for Provide said: “Provide has formally responded to Mid Essex CCG’s consultation and many members of staff have also given their individual views.
“At this stage we are awaiting the CCG board’s decision which is expected at the end of January.”
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