Hydrotherapy pool to close
BOSSES at Nuneaton's George Eliot Hospital, faced with an £8 million deficit, have decided to pull the plug on its hydrotherapy pool.
They say the life expectancy of the pool, in the hospital's physiotherapy department, is short and it would cost more than £150,000 to replace it.
The pool, introduced 13 years ago, will be "temporarily" closed from April 1 while health chiefs reassess its long-term future.
Lorene Read, director of operations for the George Eliot Hospital NHS Trust, said: "Two vacancies within the department have given us the opportunity to reassess the efficacy and long-term future of the hydrotherapy pool.
"Whilst we appreciate the pool is a popular source of treatment, there are very few patients for whom an alternative, clinically effective and more cost-effective treatment cannot be found."
The trust says that, although the pool is still in a "reasonable" condition, replacement parts are no longer manufactured.
A breakdown would leave the pool irreparable.
Trust chiefs say the life expectancy of the pool is only five years. Then it would need replacing at a cost of more than £150,000 and would require a far larger operating space than it currently occupies.
Graham Smith, the trust's chief executive, said: "The existence of hydrotherapy pools has diminished in recent years in favour of more cost-effective treatments.
"The hydrotherapy pool within the physiotherapy department is one of a few areas within the trust where potential savings can be made without significantly impacting on patient services."
Trust chiefs are working with a "turnaround team" of financial consultants in an effort to balance the books at George Eliot.
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