NHS CONSULTATION ON AN 'AMICABLE DIVORCE' OF ST HELIER MUST NOT DERAIL HEALTH INVESTMENT - BURSTOW

12.00.00am BST (GMT +0100) Thu 3rd Jul 2008

Sutton and Cheam MP, Paul Burstow, has welcomed as sensible a decision by the Epsom and St Helier NHS Trust to consult on its governance arrangements including the possibility of a demerger of the two hospitals. But he has warned that any changes to the governance arrangements and in particular an amicable divorce between the two hospitals must not derail investment plans at St Helier.

The Epsom and St Helier Trust was created by a merger in the early 1990s. At the time Paul Burstow led the opposition to the merger.

Commenting Paul Burstow said: "The Trust is right to ask the question about de-merger. As things stand the Epsom and St Helier Trust straddles the London/Surrey border and a result is pulled in two often conflicting directions.

"De-merger could deliver a much more focused Trust delivering acute healthcare for people living in the boroughs of Sutton and Merton. But a lot has changed in the NHS and in the wider world since the merger. Creating two small hospital trusts may make them vulnerable to closure or see them becoming satellite to larger hospitals like St Georges in Tooting.

"What this review must not do is derail much needed investment in St Helier and the local NHS. NHS bosses must guarantee that this review will not distract them from the task of delivering better healthcare to my constituents."

ENDS