Quote Originally Posted by Elwood Blues View Post
I haven't been well today, but was going to post this link from Tuesday which I found earlier

https://www.itv.com/news/border/2021...isle-statement

Specifically it say the following (which is mentioned in that twitter link of yours from Dave West the Deputy Editor of the Health Service Journal who says it was leaked to him. Hardly, since it was in the public domain on the website of one of the major news providers in the country a full two days before he 'revealed' it to the world!!)



'When contacted by ITV Border about the questioning of the statement, a Department for Health and Social Care spokesperson said:


“We have always been clear that the scale and size of each new hospital will vary depending on what is required for each local area.

“In some cases, that will be whole new hospitals on a new site, and in other cases, a new hospital on an existing site with dedicated facilities for particular conditions, such as cancer.”

The Government defines a new hospital in three ways. These are a whole new hospital site which meets a single service or "consolidation of services", a new clinical building or new wing on a current site (Dave West adds here the phrase 'provided it contains a whole clinical service such as maternity or childrens services' ) or a major refurbishment or alteration of "all but the building frame or main structure" which will extend the life of that building.'

The bit in bold is what covers the Cancer Unit in question. It does provide a whole clinical service and as I pointed out in my first post in this thread it is down in the Newcastle on Tyne Hospitals website in the Hospital section. I add that link again here

https://www.newcastle-hospitals.nhs.uk/hospitals/

I am sure there will be different views on the Department of Health and Social Care Departments definition of a hospital ( and it would be interesting to know how long this definition has existed) but it is abundantly clear that this Medical Centre is not simply a ward at at existing hospital as you said initially
Hope you are feeling better.

Still doesn’t change my mind. The worst government at the worst time.