Hospital site anguish (From Stroud News and Journal)

Hospital site anguish

THE trailblazing community group vying for the Standish Hospital site fear their bid may crumble if they do not get a green light from Westminster within days.

Health minister John Hutton is still deciding whether the historic site will go to community group Standish Mutual Care (SMC) or to secret private bidders.

But Dr Karin von Degenberg, who is heading up the SMC bid, said the group had to have an answer by the end of March or risk losing its partners.

"We are desperate to have an answer one way or another," she told the SNJ. "We have said we need to know by the end of March. We have given them everything they have asked for.

"It is very serious indeed. We cannot wait until after the general election - that would really put the kybosh on it because our partners would just disappear."

The group want to run the site as a ground-breaking mutual trust, where different organisations work together under an umbrella of community trustees.

The possibility of the private and mutual bidders running the site together has not been ruled out by the Department of Health, although Dr Degenberg said SMC would not want to "tuck in under the wings" of private bidders.

Stroud MP David Drew, a key figure in the fight to save Standish Hospital and backer of the SMC bid, expressed cautious optimism about the forthcoming decision. "Standish Mutual Care is still very much in the frame," he said.

"I would certainly hope to see a decision this side of the election but we have to be realistic and make sure what we have is the right thin."

A spokesman for John Hutton could not confirm when an announcement might take place but told the SNJ: "NHS Estates has submitted an interim report to Health Minister, John Hutton based on bids received to date.

"The bidders are providing us with further information before we submit another report to John Hutton to allow him to make a final decision."