BREAKING NEWS: QEH rebuild now delayed again to 2033 + 9,000 signatures + Healthwatch Norfolk Survey
QEH rebuild delayed until 2033
Tonight at the Annual QEH Members Meeting we heard that the QEH rebuild has been delayed again until 2033. This news came after I requested in the Q&A session reassurance that the rebuild will not be delayed. The CEO Professor Lesley Dwyer stated the hospital will be “open by the mid 2030s.” The trust must provide engineer reports to give reassurance that the struts and fail-safes that were originally planned until 2030 are safe for this further revised timetable slip. We also heard there were over 92,000 A&E attendances last year. This is why a full consultant-led A&E is vital at both the current and rebuilt QEH.
9,000 signatures! THANK YOU. Now let’s get beyond 10,000
A huge thank you to every one of you who has signed and shared our petition to Save QEH Services.
We have now reached an incredible milestone:
9,000 SIGNATURES!
That is 9,000 people adding their voices to the call to protect the services our community depends upon at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital.
But we’re not stopping here.
Our next target is 10,000 — and beyond.
We are only 1,000 signatures away. If everyone who has already signed persuades just one friend, relative, neighbour or colleague to add their name, we will smash through that target.
Please keep sharing the petition and encouraging others to sign.
Our hospital. Our community. Our future.
IMPORTANT: Healthwatch Norfolk wants to hear from you
There is another important opportunity to make your voice heard.
Healthwatch Norfolk is currently running a survey on the future of healthcare in Norfolk and Waveney, and we strongly encourage everyone who cares about the future of the QEH to complete it.
Healthwatch Norfolk is our county's independent health and social care champion. Its role is to listen to patients, carers and communities and make sure their experiences and views are heard by NHS leaders and other decision-makers.
Ironically, Healthwatch itself faces an uncertain future. The Government's Health Bill proposes abolishing Healthwatch England and local Healthwatch organisations in their current form, with local functions transferred to Integrated Care Boards and local authorities. Healthwatch Norfolk has itself raised concerns about the potential loss of an independent patient voice.
That makes it even more important that we use this opportunity to make our voices heard.
I would, however, urge you to read every question and every available answer carefully before responding.
I am concerned that the NHS trust provided the questions to Healthwatch, and about the framing of parts of the questionnaire. In particular, some questions about priorities place clinical safety prominently among the available choices while respondents are limited in how many priorities they can select. Clinical safety is, of course, vitally important, but people should consider all the consequences of how services are organised, including distance, accessibility and travelling times.
Question 19 deserves particular attention. It asks respondents to consider their willingness to travel for specialist services if those services were provided at fewer locations.
Think carefully about what that could mean for you, your family and communities across West Norfolk and the surrounding area.
For many people, travelling to another acute hospital can mean a journey of an hour or more, depending on where they live, traffic and transport. For people without a car, older residents, people with disabilities and families trying to visit a seriously ill relative, the practical consequences can be substantial.
We recognise that some specialist services are already provided regionally and that clinical safety and specialist expertise are essential. But we do not believe that “safety” and “local access” should automatically be treated as competing objectives.
For time-critical emergencies, rapid access to appropriate assessment and treatment matters. The familiar concept of the “golden hour” reflects the broader principle that delays can matter greatly in serious emergencies, although the precise relationship between time and outcomes differs according to the condition.
Our campaign's position remains clear:
West Norfolk needs a full-service, consultant-led A&E at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, supported by the acute services necessary for it to function safely and effectively.
I also want to make one distinction clear. Healthwatch Norfolk states that this questionnaire is not a consultation on proposals to change services and that, if major changes are subsequently proposed, there would be further opportunities for the public to have their say. The survey responses will nevertheless be analysed and published as an independent assessment of public views about the future of healthcare in Norfolk and Waveney.
The QEH has separately said that work is underway to explore potential options for future services, but that no conclusions have been reached and any significant service-change proposals would require clinical evidence, NHS governance, engagement and consultation.
So please complete the survey, and make sure your answers genuinely reflect what you want for the future of healthcare in West Norfolk.
Complete the Healthwatch Norfolk survey here SURVEY
And please keep sharing our petition.
9,000 signatures and counting.
Let’s get beyond 10,000.
NO DOWNGRADE.
SAVE A&E, MATERNITY, ICU AND GENERAL SURGERY AT QEH.
Our hospital. Our community. Our future.
Regards
Cllr Rob Colwell
Gaywood North & Central, Norfolk County Council
Gaywood North Bank, King’s Lynn & West Norfolk Borough Council