Protest against plan for hospital

Private firms could take over the management of failing NHS hospitals

Campaigners have marched the streets in protest against plans which could see Cambridgeshire's Hinchingbrooke Hospital become an NHS franchise.

The hospital was criticised by the Audit Commission for failing to manage its debt for the third year running.

The proposals could see it run by a better-performing NHS Trust or by a private company.

Hospital officials said there were a range of options which it was exploring and no decision had yet been made.

The Save Hinchingbrooke Hospital group has condemned the move for focusing on profits and not patients.

'No decision'

Dr Stephen Dunn, the hospital's director of strategy, said: "It is vital that we find a solution which will deliver clinically and financially sustainable services to the people of Huntingdonshire.

"What is important is that we get the best deal for Hinchingbrooke and its patients.

There are a range of options which we are exploring. No decision has been made.

"We are not being ideological about this. Other NHS providers, as well as the independent sector, all have lots to offer which we must consider. We want the best deal."

But Mike Gough, from Save Hinchingbrooke Hospital, said earlier: "It should be patients, not profits.

"The hospital's in the top 40 in the UK - top five for patient satisfaction.

"It's doing well yet the only thing that's a noose around its neck is this historical debt that was caused by the government in the first place.

"The government started this debt off by the changing the way the health service worked, and Hinchingbrooke unfortunately was a victim of it."