Make your voice heard over hospital future

Yet again we are threatened with the closure of Charles Ward at St Mark’s Hospital.

This ward for older people with dementia is a place of which people of Maidenhead should be very proud. The care and devotion given to the patients is unique. Those who have any association with the ward will bear that out.

With an ageing population and the prospect of one in four of us needing help, albeit with parents, partners or even ourselves, the necessity for such a local unit is paramount.

The proposal to move older people’s mental health to one large unit at Upton Hospital in Slough is favoured by the clinicians but not by service users or carers, who have to use public transport in the main or rely on some kind soul for the occasional lift to visit their loved ones.

This in turn is detrimental to the patients who benefit from frequent visits. For anyone unable to use public transport (and there are many of us older people who cannot) the round trip by taxi, at today’s rate, is £30.

The newly refurbished day/dining room at Charles Ward, funded partly by the King’s Fund with a sizeable sum from Berkshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust (who would be instrumental in the ward’s future) is tranquil and pleasant.

The bedrooms and bathrooms could be brought up to date, which has got to be a cheaper option than what is proposed.

Berkshire East NHS Primary Care Trust and Berkshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust have held public consultations over East Berkshire on the future of our health service.

If you were unable to attend the meeting but still want your voice to be heard, you can pick up a booklet outlining the proposals entitled: Our NHS, Our Future, at the Town Hall, which has a questionnaire enclosed (don’t be put off by the ambiguity of some of the questions, write what you feel) or you can complete it online at

www.rightcarerightplace.nhs.uk

The closing date for completing the questionnaire is April 14, 2008.

Mrs ANNE OTTO
Penyston Road
Maidenhead