Wexham Park hospital chief grilled by council

The acting chief executive of Heatherwood and Wexham Park Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust has warned it could take time before significant improvements are seen at the two sites.

Grant Macdonald appeared before Buckinghamshire County Council's health and adult social care scrutiny committee on Tuesday.

He responded to questions from members about the trust after it was judged as being 'inadequate' following a Care Quality Commission (CQC) inspection earlier this year.

He also spoke about a potential merger with Frimley Park Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, which could be finalised by August 1.

Presenting a slide show to the committee, Mr Macdonald outlined key areas of improvement already underway, which included raising standards in patient safety and changing the existing culture among staff.

He said: "I think some of the problems are long standing, some of the solutions will take longer.

"There are some short term fixes but the foundations need to be sured up quite a lot which will take longer."

Mr Macdonald also confirmed the trust has plans to increase the amount of car parking space at Wexham, admitting it had been a 'significant problem for some time'.

The chief executive was joined at the meeting by director of clinical integration of the Frimley park acquisition project team, Edward Palfrey.

Mr Palfrey said he had not been put off by the CQC report and expected the merger to go ahead.

"I think in a strange way if you're really at the bottom there is only one way to go and that is the way Frimley has looked at it," he added.

He also dismissed fears a potential merger would mean the closure of crucial services at the two hospitals in Slough and Ascot, meaning patients would have to travel to Surrey, where the trust is based, to receive care.

"We have got no plans to move any of the of the acute services because Wexham is a large DGH [district general hospital] that is serving a large population needing care," he said.

The meeting took place at the County Hall in Aylesbury.

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