Steve Barclay MP has raised concerns over the continued removal of health services from Fenland, accusing local health bosses of shifting essential diagnostic services away from Wisbech without proper consultation.
He states that he now has “evidence that local health bosses are removing further health services from Fenland,” and highlights the relocation of GP plain film x-rays to Kings Lynn as a prime example of this.
According to Barclay, health authorities have justified the move as a positive change, describing the requirement for patients to travel from Wisbech to Kings Lynn as a “success” and “a patient benefit.”
However, he strongly disputes this claim, stating, “Yet this is not the view of constituents impacted.” He points to a specific case where a patient needing a knee x-ray in Wisbech was told she would have to travel to Kings Lynn instead.
While some x-ray services will still be available at North Cambs Hospital for outpatient clinics and the minor injuries unit, many patients will now be forced to travel.
Barclay argues this decision undermines the £2.1 million investment in the Community Diagnostic Centre in Wisbech.
He further criticises the lack of transparency, revealing that health bosses claim to have “undertaken an impact assessment of the redirection of this service and are confident that patients will benefit,” but notes that “the impact assessment does not appear to have been published.”
According to MP Steve Barclay, health authorities have justified the move as a positive change, describing the requirement for patients to travel from Wisbech to Kings Lynn as a “success” and “a patient benefit.” PHOTO: Terry Harris
This is not the first time he has raised concerns over healthcare provision in Fenland. Referring to an earlier issue, he states, “Following my earlier blog showing the MRI scanner was moved from Wisbech to Ely Community Diagnostic Centre and not returned as promised, we now discover that x-rays have been moved from Wisbech to Kings Lynn.”
Barclay has also uncovered a new planning application for another Community Diagnostic Centre in Peterborough, raising concerns that Fenland patients will once again be expected to travel, rather than receiving services locally.
MP Steve Barclay exposes £2m Wisbech diagnostic centre ‘scandal’
“NHS bosses have failed to explain why they only expect Fenland patients to travel to Kings Lynn, Ely, and Peterborough and not patients from those areas to Fenland,” he states.
He argues that these changes contradict NHS data, which shows that cancer incidence rates are significantly higher in Wisbech (688 cases per 100,000 people annually) compared to South Cambridgeshire (536) and Ely South (505).
Furthermore, he highlights that screening attendance in Fenland is already lower than in East Cambridgeshire, making access to local diagnostic services even more critical.
“For most screening metrics except breast cancer, there are lower screening rates in Fenland than East Cambridgeshire,” he warns.
