Liberal Democrats at last night’s Social Care and Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee succeeded in widening the scrutiny of healthcare services across the borough.

The move came during a debate on Walsall Healthcare NHS Trust’s Improvement Plan which was centred entirely on services provided by Walsall’s Manor Hospital.

In welcoming the report on improvement objectives for 2015/16 at the Manor Liberal Democrat councillor Ian Shires (Willenhall North) pointed out that health services delivered through the Manor Hospital accounted for around 70% of the borough’s population, the other 30% use the services of other hospitals outside the borough.

“In the area I represent, Willenhall, many residents go to New Cross Hospital in Wolverhampton as a matter of choice” said Ian “There are residents in Darlaston who may be using services from Sandwell General and over in the East of the borough residents may be going to Good Hope Hospital in Sutton for treatment. This scrutiny panel is supposed to hold all providers to account, how can we do that when we only get detailed information from Walsall’s Manor Hospital?”

Ian pointed out that information from hospitals outside the borough was of paramount importance not just from the point of view of Social Care and Health Scrutiny but also for the council’s six Area Partnerships when they come to development their Area Plans. These have a direct impact on local residents. “In Willenhall for instance” said Ian. “the information we get about health issues has massive gaps in it as it does not reflect the fact that many Willenhall residents use out of borough hospitals.”

A report will go to the September meeting of the committee from the Walsall Clinical Commissioning Group highlighting out of borough services to enable a complete picture of health care across the borough.