Ravenscourt Park Hospital, which was described as being one of the crown jewels in NHS, is to be closed for the lack of patients. Hammersmith Hospitals NHS Trust acquired the hospital on a lease in 2002.
At that time ministers had predicted that the hospital had a great future in elective surgery. Ravenscourt Park, which had six theatres and 105 beds, was revamped at a cost of £14 million to help to cut waiting lists for operations. But there were no patients to make it work.Only 18,500 operations have been conducted since 2002 at the hospital, an average of about 4,500 a year. The hospital needed to to treat 11,000 to 12,000 patients a year in order to be financially viable. The Patient and Public Involvement Forum at the trust has protested against the closure.
Derek Smith, the trust’s chief executive said, “There will be no loss of services as a result of the transfer, and patients will also be able to choose to be treated for straightforward procedures at other West London hospitals near to where they live.”
Source-Medindia
RAS
