The Deputy CEO at York Teaching Hospital Foundation Trust (YTHFT) has announced that there are no plans to close or run down Bridlington and District Hospital.
CEO, Mike Proctor made this announcement at a public meeting organised by Driffield-based ERYLINk service on October 23 at the Bridlington Spa.
Those who attended the meeting were happy to hear this news as the Bridlington and District Hospital has already benefitted from the acquisition of Scarborough and North East Yorkshire Healthcare Trust (SNEY) with £750,000 being spent on the refurbishment of the operating theatres to allow elective surgery to take place at Bridlington.
Other benefits include the introduction of clinics staffed by York Consultants and the introduction of mobile services.
Patient areas in the hospital have also been improved with new beds and lockers, a specialist chair to allow wheelchair users to receive dental care and improved signage as well as a new appointment booking system.
Structural repairs have been undertaken to improve the environment and reduce heating bills with repairs to the roof being finished in recent weeks.
Mr Proctor said that following years of neglect, Bridlington and Scarborough Hospitals are getting the attention they deserve but it is not affordable to undertake all of the improvements wanted immediately so they would continue on a rolling programme.
Some planned improvements at Bridlington have had to be delayed as more pressing work is needed at Scarborough Hospital, including the replacement of the pre-NHS Nightingale wards.
Mr Proctor asked that residents be patient, Bridlington has not been forgotten but work at Scarborough has been higher prioritised due to extreme need.
Following the update, delegates were given the opportunity to ask their own questions, which were answered by Mike Proctor, Liz Booth (Director of Operations at Scarborough) and Wendy Scott (Community Services Manager at York).
A number of issues were raised which the panel was unable to answer and they agreed to investigate them and feed their response through ERYLINk. If you have a question you’d like to ask Mr Proctor regarding Bridlington Hospital please contact Julia Bugg at ERYLINk on 01377 232135 or via email at julia.bugg@hwrcc.org.uk.
Mr Proctor was thanked by a member of the public for ‘Putting Bridlington back on the map’ through his hard work. The delegate added that he felt that York Hospital’s acquisition had been very positive. This comment reflected the feeling of the meeting and Mr Proctor, Ms Booth and Ms Scott were thanked for their honest and transparent responses.