There has been of late a timely warning from one of Britain’s foremost orthopaedic consultants on BBC Radio’s File on Four.

Prof Tim Briggs has called for a halt to new contracts while the impact of ‘bold experiments’ like Bedfordshire's MSK contract with Circle Healthcare is assessed thoroughly.

Professor Briggs, who is the President of the British Orthopaedic Society, suggests that you simply cannot functionally separate trauma provision from elective musculoskeletal services.

This warning comes on top of the just released minutes of the local Health and Adult Social Care Select Committee where it was established that the trust have serious concerns that no impact assessment has been carried outbefore any award of a tender was made.

Indeed the trust themselves say that there could be ‘significant risks’ around less direct income for trusts, trusts could have no elective activity, which would compromise trauma services'.

This is clear evidence that this contract threatens A&E services in Worthing hospital. They also said that risks had not been tested with the current provider or shared with the public.

This episode is rapidly turning into an embarrassment, with an untested and potentially damaging privatisation that nobody in our town or country voted for being shoe-horned into Sussex so that private companies can make money from our health needs. It needs to stop now.

Dr Carl Walker,
National Health Action Party candidate for East Worthing and Shoreham