A NEW state-of-the-art X-ray machine suite at Lydney Hospital will be officially opened today (Wednesday) – but it will be weeks before it is used for patients.
Last week, Deborah Lee, chief executive of the Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust – which provides the specialist staff to carry out the procedure, said it would be June before a radiologist was available.
Chairman of the Friends of Lydney Hospital, Mr Tony Midgley, questioned Ms Lee about long-term staffing of the Lydney X-ray unit when she addressed a meeting of the Forest Health Forum at the West Dean Centre in Bream.
The Friends group raised £120,000 of the £200,000 cost for the new suite which will give the Forest the best community X-ray facilities in Gloucestershire.
Mr Midgley said: “We are commissioning a brand new X-ray suite, a huge investment, and its very important for the Forest to have this type of equipment available.
“There is nervousness about the availability of skilled staff to actually manage that suite.
He said it would be “hugely embarrassing” if the suite was commissioned but the staff to run it were not available.
Ms Lee said Gloucestershire was affected by the national shortage of radiologists but she was confident the staff would be available to run the Lydney unit.
“We are going to be well placed to get this off the ground in June in a way we’d like it to happen.
“We have a challenge because radiology is one of the most constrained specialities nationally in terms of recruitment.”
She said Gloucestershire Hospitals has vacancies for 10 radiologists.
“The sustainability is the concern and it will be fine but the first time somebody goes sick or there is a maternity leave, its very fragile – but that’s radiology, not just Lydney.”
The X-ray unit at Lyndey closed at Christmas to allow the preparation of the new suite with patients being diverted to the Dilke Hospital in Cinderford.
Friends treasurer Mr Brian James said there had been enough time to sort out the issues – and in the meantime members of the volunteer group had been taking the brunt of questions from local people.
He said the unit at Lydney had been shut “without any information given to us as Friends” and there had been problems dealing with the workload at the Dilke.
He added: “We as the Friends are supposed to be the answer to all the problems of people in Lydney and they bump into you in Tesco and think we can get the answer.
“We realise there have been problems and it gets rather frustrating when we hear the bad side when we know that over the horizon there will be a new machine.
“You’ve had a fair time to know its coming and we thought you’d get it staffed as quickly as possible.”
Ms Lee – who also thanked the Friends for their “phenomenal” fund-raising said “no amount of time will magic up 10 radiologists.
“There is a hierarchy of need and clinical priority and making sure our theatres, our intensive care units, our A&E departments have 24/7 radiographers will take precedent on occasion over putting staff out into any of our community hospitals.”
Chairman of the Forest Health Forum, Mr Albert Weager, said as part of the trust’s Sustainability and Transformation Plan it was hoped there would a new community hospital for the Forest but there was concern that there would be fewer beds than at present.
Ms Lee said the STP – which will be published in July – was an opportunity to look at the way services are provided.
“That isn’t saying we will have fewer beds or more beds because we haven’t worked that out but I do think we could get more people home who would ultimately have better independence than if they go into community hospital or stay with the acute hospital for too long.”