“Well said Tonywhite1943. We all know that complete closure of West Cornwall Hospital has been on the cards for some time. Yet we are constantly fobbed off with stories like "Oh, we wouldn't be putting in a new scanner if we meant to close the place." Etc., etc.

The other issue is, of course, the huge expansion in housing in and around Penzance as planned by Cornwall Council. The infrastructure isn't there as we all know (and neither are the jobs) but that won't stop these unsustainable schemes going ahead. Local health services will be overwhelmed.

When all is said and done what it boils down to is money. At the moment it suits those in charge (the 'Coalition') to have everyone drive to Truro (and beyond) for treatment. The stress caused to patients doesn't come into the equation. At some stage in the near future WCH will, in my humble opinion, be flogged off to some private heath care company and then we will all have a choice: be treated locally and pay, or join the trek to Truro.”

“As we announced at the beginning of February the Friends of WCH have donated £250,000 to refurbish Medical Ward 2. That work is currently underway with the ward due to reopen in April. It is not therefore in a state to accommodate patients at the current time. We will reopen Medical Ward 1 to new admissions as soon as it is clear of Norovirus.”

“Local services for local people! I hear the reason the med ward ihas been closed is because the contractor upgrading it was instructed not to wait for floor to cure and as a result damp got in and it was going to cost a fortune to put right.”

“Interesting comment from the RCHT, and obviously clinically correct. But I seem to recall that West Cornwall Hospital has another ward in "moth balls" that was refurbished at great expense last year. Why couldn't they simply open up this ward whilst they sterilized the Medical Ward 1 area. I presume Medical Ward 2 would have had to be cleaned but that's a small cost to bear to be able to treat patients closer to their homes. And probably rather less cost than transporting patients to Truro by ambulance and taxi.”

“"We have been vigilant in our care of patients with symptoms of sickness and diarrhoea and although we have seen sporadic cases over recent weeks, we have been able to avoid any widespread restrictions on admissions to our wards. Where the ward layout allows we will isolate single bay areas but it may be necessary to close a ward to new admissions until any affected individuals have been symptom free for at least 48-72 hours."”

“Over the next ten years Cornwall Council wants to build nearly 3000 more homes in West Cornwall. Thats around more 6,600 people to be accomodated. In the summer it can take over an hour and a half to travel from the west coast of the county to Trelisk and yet the RCHT seem hell bent on concentrating services in Truro. This despite increasing evidence that survival rates for strokes and heart attack patients are heavily dependent on the speed at which they can access hospital services.

So with an increasingly ageing population, and with a growing younger population they are planning to make emergency services more remote.

Despite protestations to the contrary its clear that for purely financial reasons this process is likely to continue. I'm always impressed when I hear politicianms banging on about our "wonderful" health service. If they said a "health service that employs many wonderful people" I'd agree with them. If they're talking about this finance driven bunch of self serving administrative incompetents I'd tend to take issue.

Call me a cynic, but I find this story hard to swallow. How long does it take to carry out a full sterilisation clean down of a ward to get it back in service? Its only when you ask "How much does it cost?" that it seems to become difficult.”