Plastic surgery services to move from Mount Vernon (From Watford Observer)

Plastic surgery services to move from Mount Vernon

8:11am Thursday 21st September 2006

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PATIENTS from South West Hertfordshire who need major plastic surgery will be treated in Hampstead's Royal Free Hospital rather than Mount Vernon in Northwood from next month.

The trust which runs the service, following the departure of four of its nine consultants, has transferred management of all plastic surgery to bosses at the Royal Free.

Day surgery will continue at Mount Vernon, but the more complex in-patient operations will be performed at the Hampstead hospital, which the trust says has better accommodation and more back-up facilities such as anaesthetists and coronary care.

Former surgeon at Mount Vernon Brian Morgan, who lives in Rickmansworth, said: "I am horrified by the news that the service is closing as I am aware of the wonderful work that goes on there.

"There is much ignorance about what we do and the feeling that we do frivolous cosmetic surgery.

"When the internal market was introduced nobody wanted to buy plastic surgery and I have the feeling that the primary care trusts don't want to purchase or support it because they don't know what we do.

"I was fortunate in being in plastic surgery when there were great and exciting developments but I was glad to retire because of the frustrations developing."

Nick Evans, director of service reconfiguration at the West Herts Hospitals Trust, insisted the move was motivated by patient care rather than saving cash, adding it would probably lose the trust more in income than it saved.

He said: "It is about the quality of service. There will be decent accommodation rather than Second World War pre-fabs."

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