THE future for Hereford County Hospital is “a symptom and not the cure” for the county’s cash-strapped and hard-pressed health economy, according to the outgoing chairman of Herefordshire Primary Care Trust (PCT).

Joanna Newton steps down from her role with the handover of the PCT’s responsibilities to the new clinical commissioning group (CCG) complete.

The GP-led CCG took over the commissioning of health and care services this month.

In her last interview, the outgoing chairman urged the CCG to maintain a focus on the totality of health services, not just acute hospital care, and specifically on defusing the “demographic time bomb”

threatening the county’s health economy as a whole.

Issues around closing the gap between health and social care have long been recognised in Herefordshire and were a top priority for the PCT.

Working with clinicians, the voluntary sector, the hospital and the council, the PCT sought solutions to support older people at all stages of care.

The 2012 Health and Social Care Act – which created CCGs and made changes to the way health services were organised – interrupted this work when it was already hard hit by the economic downturn and the squeeze on public sector budget.

Joanna doesn’t want to see what had been achieved wasted with the CCG forced to focus on acute services.

“Current issues at Wye Valley Trust are only a symptom of a wider demographic timebomb. I would urge the new system to remember that the solution is in resolving community and social care to relieve the pressure on acute services,”

said Joanna.

Herefordshire’s rural nature has been put to government as a case for the fresh review of health funding strategies. Essentially, rurality means it costs more to deliver services.

Herefordshire also has an elderly population higher than the national average with 30 per cent of health service costs are spent on those between 65 and 85.

At present, funding for the NHS takes limited account of rurality or ageing populations – unlike the NHS in Wales and Scotland – leaving Herefordshire alone between at least £8m- £10million short of what is needed. Similar challenges face social care, where the gap in government funding is £7m-£8m with the council facing a 25 per cent cut.