‘Hasty’ hospital closure plan criticised by ICB-commissioned report

In a public consultation launched early last year, Mid and South Essex Integrated Care Board suggested shutting St Peter’s Hospital in Maldon, which has been plagued by estates problems and staff shortages.

The proposals, which included permanently moving stroke recovery beds and a midwife-led birthing unit from the site, faced objections due to concerns over travel times and the lack of a replacement facility. 

Now, a consultation working group set up by the ICB to review its plans has said it accepted the hospital should be decommissioned due to its condition, but that this should not take place for another five years. 

It said the approach taken was “not fully thought-out” and needed “an additional layer of critical thinking”, in a report published late last month.

The working group was led by former Thurrock mayor James Halden.

The report said: “The original consultation was far too hasty in suggesting that St Peters close with utterly inadequate plans as to how services would be managed after being separated into unspecific and likely unstable temporary arrangements.”

It said a new ambulatory hub should be built to house the full current suite of services, which equates to 300 outpatient appointments a day.

The report added: “The lack of financial planning for a new hub by the ICB during the consultation was a grave error. Not only did it give the impression the offer to save all services within Maldon was an afterthought, it also opened the whole project up to risks due to not having a clear enough plan and vision.”

It said the 14,000 maternity outpatient appointments a year “must be protected in the current and the rebuilt St Peters”, instead of the permanent relocation proposed. It said this issue caused the “greatest consternation” with elements of thinking seemingly “rushed by the ICB”. 

ICB CEO Tom Abell said in a statement: “We have a duty to ensure the health services across Mid and South Essex are designed to meet both current and future needs, and we will continue working with our communities to find solutions that are in the best interests of the people we serve.

“We acknowledge the feedback from the consultation working group and thank them for their hard work in developing these recommendations. We are committed to learning from this experience so we can improve in the future.” 

The ICB has not yet decided a date for the hospital’s closure.