Letters to the Editor | 24 September 2005

Our vanishing hospitals

In 1909 my great-grandfather C.H.E. Croydon built and gave the Croydon Cottage Hospital to the people of Felixstowe. It consisted of ten beds and the population at that time was roughly 1,840. We now find that, with a population of nearly 33,000 and ever more need for hospital beds, it faces the possibility of closure (‘Fear in the community’, 17 September).

The Bartlett Hospital, also in Felixstowe, is to close; this has already been decided by the PCT. They say that to have two hospitals in Felixstowe is unsustainable because of the large deficit position they are in. But when the buildings are sold and the money is gone, what will happen when ‘changing for the better’ proves to be a disaster and people’s lives are put at risk? At present, it is impossible to find a private carer, let alone an NHS one. Where are they going to find staff to work for them?
I live in Aldeburgh, where another community hospital has had its beds cut from 32 to 20.