"Doing nothing is not an option" according to lead GP on Orpington health project

WITH the future of Orpington Hospital hanging in the balance the health project has been a contentious issue, but lead clinician Ruchira Paranjape says its about much more than just the building.

The Orpington Health Project formed in August after South London Healthcare NHS Trust’s [SLHT] decision to withdraw the current set of services from the hospital in April.

Dr Ruchira Paranjape, a GP in Knolls Rise, Orpington, is the clinical lead on the project and has been looking at the health needs of the area.

For her the project is not just about making the service more cost effective, but improving outcomes for patients across the area.

She said: “We need to talk about money but that’s not all there is. We need to keep patient focused.

“That’s my role, to ensure we understand the health care needs of the population and fashion services according to that need.

“This is an opportunity to look at something which has to change and make sure we get what we need from it.”

With only 60 per cent of the hospital currently in use the site has come under fire for not being cost effective, and with costs of £3 million each year it runs at more than twice the NHS average.

Public meetings have shown local residents are keen to save the hospital by increasing services, such as extra dermatology, radiotherapy and inviting GP practices in to the building, but Dr Paranjape is clear this is not an easy option.

She said: “I don’t know whether the hospital is going to close, the decision has not been made. But we would find it difficult to fill the building, we would have to think very innovatively about it.

“I think something else not to do with the NHS would have to happen to make it cost effective. People have asked about asking private groups in but at the minute they’re not knocking on the door.”

Public engagement, in the form of two general meetings and a series of one-to-one surgeries, have revealed the depth of feeling surrounding the hospital, particularly the hydrotherapy pool which campaigners raised £350,000 for in 2003.

But for Dr Paranjape one of the battles has been convincing people treatment outside the hospital often has better results.

She said: “People are very attached to the hospital. When people think of health care they think of hospital but actually for the best outcomes most work should be done outside hospital.

“People naturally look to hospital to fix them and when there’s a suggestion problems could be fixed in the community they generally need extra reassurance to guarantee their quality.

“We need to move with the times and take into account how things change over time. It should be about what gives the best clinical outcomes for most people.

“There are very few services at Orpington Hospital which need to be delivered in a hospital setting.”

There are currently 21 options on the table, some of which involve closing the hospital.

Others include bringing more services to the site to make it more cost effective, selling off part of the site and putting services in a smaller building, and getting rid of the current building to make way for something more modern.

Dr Paranjape said: “What is clear is doing nothing is not an option. We can’t continue as we are.

“We need to look at the whole picture and make us fit for purpose in the future.”

A consultation on the preferred options is expected to go out for consultation later this month.