At Calderdale Council Adults Health and Scrutiny Panel meeting on 28th July,
Cllr Adam Wilkinson doggedly took the lead in questioning NHS chiefs about their confusing proposals for hospital bed cuts in both the 2014-16 Balanced Plan, and in the Strategic Outline Case.

If you don’t want to read a lot of detail about the scrutiny, you can could read the idiots’ guide to the Scrutiny Panel meeting instead.

The Balanced Plan, which the Scrutiny Panel only found out about through reports leaked in local media,  aims to make cuts and generate new income in order to cope with the Trust’s £20m funding shortfall this financial year and a £19m shortfall in 2015-16.

The Strategic Outline Case proposes to cut acute and emergency hospital care from 2016-17, and replace it with an as-yet unspecified system of care in the community. Continue reading →