THE Friarage Hospital, Northallerton, has occupied much of my time in recent days as staffing challenges facing the hospital in critical care and anaesthetics became clear.
I had urgently organised a meeting of doctors, nurses and GPs at the Friarage last week. It was an excellent meeting and I am grateful to the staff for giving up their evening to talk to me openly about the situation.
I was struck by the medics’ passion for the Friarage which mirrors the love of the hospital I have heard expressed by patients over the years. They all like working at the Friarage and want to continue doing so.
The doctors stressed the importance of having a full roster of anaesthetists at the Friarage. Without this, they would lose the capability to look after very sick patients not only in A&E, but also be restricted in the critical care and acute surgery they could carry out elsewhere. This would considerably reduce the range of services and is clearly an unacceptable outcome for me and all of you.
A major contribution to the staffing problem is a decision by the medical body responsible for training doctors. It recently decreed that the Friarage was no longer accredited to train anaesthetists because of the low volume and type of patients. This is a clinical judgment but it removed a large source of doctors we can recruit from.
I’ve outlined in strong words to the Trust the expectations that I and all of you have of them.
The Trust has said it cannot find the half a dozen doctors we need. But it is hard to believe that there is nobody anywhere in the world (qualified to British standards) who wants to work at the Friarage. I have asked them to redouble their recruitment efforts and leave no stone unturned - I am not convinced they have.
The Trust must outline a positive vision for the Friarage and back it up with tangible actions. As doctors perceive there to be a lack of direction for the hospital they obviously don’t apply – the Trust should fix this.
I also asked the Trust to look much harder deploying anaesthetists from James Cook at the Friarage. There are a lot more doctors up there and we should benefit from some. For too long there has been a one way street with resources heading to Middlesbrough.
Lastly, I emphasised the Friarage must be represented across the Trust’s management so decisions are not all Middlesbrough-centric. Rural hospitals are different and need Trusts to be flexible and innovative in how they staff them.
I am passionate about the Friarage and let no-one be in doubt about my commitment to keeping a broad range of quality services at the hospital. I raised this issue in Parliament this week with the Health Minister and will continue to fight in Westminster and locally.
The hospital may be small but it serves a rural population spread over 1,000 square miles. Supporting the Friarage remains a key priority and I will do everything in my power to ensure this special hospital and its dedicated staff have a bright future.