TENBURY Hospital could be used to provide more GP based services in a move that could also help secure the future of the hospital in Burford.

An idea to make more use of community hospitals has come from health chiefs and is being backed by Tenbury MP Harriett Baldwin.

It could also help to secure the future for community hospitals that some people have feared could be at risk through changes to the health service.

Tenbury Community Hospital has been extensively improved including a £1.4 investment in the improvement of wards in recent years much of which was raised by local campaigners.

This included bringing the wards up to modern standards and meeting the latest standards for the separation of male and female patients.

But there has also been concerns about the future of local community hospitals. More than three years ago minor surgery was stopped in Tenbury because it was considered that there were insufficient operations carried out.

This has resulted in patients, who would have been treated in Tenbury, having to travel to Kidderminster or Worcester to have minor operations and other procedures.

It has been made even more difficult especially for people in Tenbury without public transport because of a cut back in local bus services. This is a gap that the Tenbury Transport Trust has been trying to fill. However the trust is restricted because it has limited resources and has also issued a plea for more volunteer drivers.

Now Mrs Baldwin has backed local GPs calling for better use of local community hospitals.

Tenbury Hospital is one of three community hospitals in her constituency and she says her constituents are keen to ensure that they are used more to offer more services closer to home.

The MP welcomed a statement by the South Worcestershire Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) supporting more services being delivered through community hospitals.

CCGs are among the changes to the NHS introduced by the Government and have a key role in commissioning a range of services.

“I welcome this intervention by the CCG who represent the GPs who now play a vital role as ‘personal shoppers’ to secure the best care for their patients,” said Mrs Baldwin.

“The NHS locally is investing in an important new radiotherapy unit in Worcester, expanding maternity services and working hard to reduce the pressures on Accident and Emergency departments.

“I have three very valuable community hospitals in my constituency and all the feedback passed on to me suggests that local people want them used more.

“This will mean that patients are getting treatment much closer to home making it more convenient and also reducing the pressure on the county’s transport network and on Accident and Emergency departments.

“Tenbury Hospital plays a vital role in their local community and I will continue to press for more services to be delivered through each of these locations.

“I have always spoken up for these important local resources and I think the health economy chiefs must find ways to work together to use each of these hospitals more, not less.”