CARR ATTENDS HEREFORD HOSPITALS ANNUAL PUBLIC MEETING

6.21.21pm BST (GMT +0100) Wed 6th Aug 2008

Sarah Carr presenting her 'NHS Inquiry' results to Hospital Chief Executive Martin Woodford.

Local health campaigner Sarah Carr attended the packed annual public meeting of Hereford Hospitals NHS Trust on Tuesday 29th July held at Left Bank Village. Mrs Carr took the opportunity to publicly congratulate everyone involved in securing life-saving radiotherapy treatment for cancer patients at Hereford County Hospital. Mrs Carr who had presented the findings of her year long 'NHS Inquiry' to Martin Woodford, the Hospitals Trusts Chief Executive on Friday 25th July asked two questions during the public meeting.

Sarah asked why 46% of people who had returned her comprehensive NHS Inquiry thought health services have got worse in recent years when at the same time 86% of in-patients who had returned the survey rated their stay in Herefordshire NHS hospital as very good or fair. In response Hospitals Chief Executive Martin Woodford acknowledged the problem of perception compared to actual experience. In the meeting Mr Woodford also spoke of Sarah Carr's health survey regarding the need to tackle dissatisfied with the food served during patients' stay in hospital. 42% of patients who responded to Sarah Carr's NHS Inquiry said they had been dissatisfied with the food served.

Following a presentation on hospital site development, Mrs Carr questioned the Hospitals management on whether the Trust had enough space on site in Hereford to fit in new proposed health services as well as existing services and whether they were working with the Edgar Street Grid (ESG) company whose latest plans include a multi-storey car-park adjacent to the hospital on the existing County Bus Station site. The answers included using more of the community hospitals for health services and that they were involved in the ESG consultation development.

After the meeting Mrs Carr commented:

"I am very passionate about Herefordshire having excellent healthcare facilities. I will take every opportunity such as the Annual Public Meeting to question and work with local health service management. I will continue to campaign to get all the investment our local health service needs from central government especially following the erroneous test results that were revealed earlier this year following the suspension of a consultant at the hospital.

"I was very pleased to attend the Hospitals Annual Public Meeting alongside members of the public to hear residents' questions and the progress that has been made in delivering healthcare not least the measures put in place to reduce the incidence of MRSA and CDiff infections in our local hospitals.