Size of hospital meeting venue defended by Mid Staffs NHS chiefs
Administrators at Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust today defended their decision to hold public meetings which can only be attended by up to 300 people.
It comes after hospital campaigners slammed the decision to hold the meetings in smaller venues in Cannock and Stafford next week.
They are calling for further meetings to be arranged so more people can have their say on the future of Stafford and Cannock hospitals.
But the trust special administrators Dr Hugo Mascie-Taylor and Alan Bloom have today suggested these two meetings would be the only ones to be held before the formal period of public consultation starts.
A meeting is due at Cannock Civic Centre Ballroom in Beecroft Road on Tuesday for up to 200 people. Entry will be on a first come, first served, basis. They will also meet up to 300 people at Walton High School in Stafford on Monday.
In a joint statement released on behalf of the pair by Nick Samuels it said: "These are the first two public meetings being held for 500 people.
"They are part of a programme of meetings the TSAs are holding to introduce themselves, explain the process and hear views The TSAs have already met with MPs, local councils, trust staff, trades unions, Support Stafford Hospital and clinical commissioning groups.
"These meetings are not part of the formal public consultation, but in addition to it. The TSAs are working on the formal public consultation plan which will include a series of public meetings at different times of the day in different areas served by the trust."
But Cannock Chase Council leader George Adamson has said he expects more than a few hundred people to turn up and he is calling for extra meetings to be arranged. He said: "This is very short notice for a meeting. If more than 200 people turn up and they are turned away then the administrators will have to hold another meeting."
Meanwhile Support Stafford Hospital campaigner Cheryl Porter has also called on the administrators to meet again with the public in the next few weeks.
She said she was "appalled" that the meetings were open to up to 300 people, considering 50,000 took to the streets of Stafford to protest about the proposed downgrading at the weekend.
Dr Mascie-Taylor and Mr Bloom were tasked with transforming Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation.
