00:00Hello I'm Dr Bill Dewsbury the Medical Director here at the Royal Surrey NHS
00:05Foundation Trust and we run the Hazelmere Community Hospital. I'd like to
00:10take the opportunity to give you a quick update on what is happening at the
00:13hospital and our plans for the future. Firstly and most importantly I want to
00:18reassure everyone that Hazelmere Hospital is a vital part of our future
00:21and is here to stay. There are no plans whatsoever to close the hospital and our
00:25focus is on developing and expanding the right services to best meet the health
00:29needs of the local population. As many of you will know we unfortunately had to
00:34take the decision to temporarily stop inpatient services in May. This was a
00:39decision based on safety and operational factors. This only affected 16 beds
00:44within the hospital and all other services are running as usual including
00:48our outpatients department, therapies, our maternity hub and the minor injuries unit.
00:53In fact over the summer we are investing around a million pounds to upgrade the
00:57minor injuries unit to an urgent treatment centre. So that is a really exciting
01:02development for the population of Hazelmere. In terms of inpatient services
01:06we're now working with staff, patients and members of the local community to put a
01:11plan together. We're looking at all the different ways that we can provide the
01:15best and most appropriate care for Hazelmere residents of all ages. It is
01:20important that we do this together and take our time to get it right so no
01:24decisions have yet been made. I'd like to thank everyone close to
01:28Hazelmere Hospital for their ongoing support in this process.
01:31I look forward to continuing to work in partnership with the local community
01:35and will keep you updated on all developments. Thank you.
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