Telford & Wrekin Council Watch

Courtesy of

www.shropshirestar.com

GP ‘gagged’ on hospital

Friday 2nd April 2010, 2:12PM BST

Andy InglisA LEADING GP today claimed he had been gagged to prevent him voicing his concerns over the future of Telford’s Princess Royal Hospital.

Dr Andy Inglis has quit the board of Telford’s health body in protest.

He has also resigned as chairman of the primary care trust’s influential professional executive committee.

He claims his position became untenable after being told by PCT chairman Brian Taylor that he could not contact the West Midlands strategic health authority to raise his concerns.

Dr Inglis said various proposals for a review of services were shared at a briefing on Tuesday without GPs being spoken to and with only “selective engagement” of hospital doctors.

He said that if those developing the healthcare proposals did not fully engage with doctors, they risked coming up with plans that would be “shot down”.

Good for Dr Inglis.

I was at the meeting and he was the only member of the PCT who had the guts to stand up and say it as it was. His loss means that there will now be no independent thinking on the board and they will follow like sheep. This battle is far from over.

And there is the problem, as soon as one doesn't agree or happens to speak out when things are wrong, they ousted.

I think it's great that he had the guts to voice his concerns. But I think it's a shame that he was forced to step down. He would have had the full support of the people and would have hopefully encouraged others to speak up. It's people like Dr. Inglis that we need most of all.