Patient power

At one of his first public meeting engagements as interim chief executive of the trust that runs Newark Hospital, Mr Eric Morton, said he envisaged more people being treated there in the future, not less. He described the hospital an asset.

The recent experience of a Balderton couple shows he has some way to go before everyone at Sherwood Forest Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust buys into that vision.

Mrs Elaine Keeling needed a monitor fitting for a slight heart murmur.

She wanted the procedure carried out at Newark but her GP was not sure if it could be done there.

She stuck to her guns and rang the trust herself, only to be told she would have to go to King’s Mill.

Not satisfied with that Mrs Keeling said she would rather be treated at Lincoln or Grantham, which would have meant Sherwood Forest losing patient funding to another trust.

After that she was offered three possible appointments for Newark, all of which were sooner than the King’s Mill date.

Her husband, Mr Graham Keeling, believes the Newark option was offered only when Sherwood Forest thought the money would go elsewhere.

“It would appear funding is put before the patient,” he said.

How many more cases like that of the Keelings have there been?

How many more patients have gone to King’s Mill or elsewhere for routine appointments when they could have been seen on their doorstep?

There is a case for more services to be available at Newark, but in the first place Mr Morton needs to work quickly to ensure, whenever possible, Newark Hospital is the first option offered to patients in this area.

And, just like the Keelings, patients should do all they can to be treated at their hospital.