Richard Langton-Hewer
The need for a hospital in South Bristol has been debated for 60 and more years. In 1946 a South Bristol was virtually promised. The proposal was contained within the report of the City Medical Officer for that year. The plan \"fell\" following the advent of the NHS in 1948. The precise reasons for the failure to make further progress are not obvious. To this day people in South Bristol talk of the plan with nostalgia and not a little sadness and even anger.
During the last 50 years the matter has been discussed in a rather low-key manner but no firm proposals have been put forward. Personal experience attending of meetings of the medical staff at the BRI showed me that the proposal has never had any real support within that hospital. Many would say that lack of leadership from Avon Health and others has been a further factor.
Recently, the idea of a South Bristol Hospital has been resurrected by the Bristol South and West PCT in conjunction with others. The proposal is enthusiastically supported by local MPs and a petition has been presented to the SHA signed by many thousands of local residents.
Why a community hospital in South Bristol?
There are 2 hospitals in North Bristol and one in the centre of Bristol. There are no major hospitals in the south of the City. Four major reasons for building a community hospital are given below:
To provide local services for the South Bristol population. This would have the major advantage of reducing travel requirements in and out of the City centre with a reduction in car usage.
To capitalise on the developments that already exist or have been agreed for example the Walk In Centre and the planned DTC.
To relieve pressure on the BRI and related City-centre hospitals.
To act as an, at least partial, replacement for the Bristol General Hospital which is now recognised as being unsuitable for modern purposes. In reality, this means providing intermediate care and sub-acute care in the locality where people/patients live.
What are the perceived snags/disadvantages of a South Bristol hospital?
The most obvious problem concerns money. Are funds available for such a capital investment? (Presumably this may be on a public/private partnership basis. What are the revenue implications of such a development and can they be afforded? Apart from money a number of other possible problems arise:
Staffing medical and nursing.
It seems likely that much of the medical input could be provided by local general practitioners. However a number of hospital-based doctors are likely to be required and the possibility of some sort of rotational scheme might need to be considered. As far as nursing is concerned the effect could be positive. It might well be easier to recruit nurses from the local population who would otherwise be deterred from travelling in daily to city centre hospitals.
Training
There may be difficulties with the training of medical students and others. However on the positive side, a thriving community hospital would be a credit to Bristol and could be an important part of undergraduate training.
Finally, many regard the need for a South Bristol community hospital as being obvious. There is much local support for the development. Once agreement in principle has been achieved it will be necessary to identify a suitable site and to undertake the detailed planning. It looks as if we are now approaching the situation that existed in 1946!
RLH