The hydrotherapy pool at Cannock Hospital has re-opened after closing in October last year. This is great news for users of the pool who were left without access to the facility for a year. However, the hospital appear to be assuming that the reason for closing it has been forgotten. According to the press release reported in the media, it closed for health and safety reasons because it required repairs. The actual reason for the closure, as detailed in the hospitals own report was that the staff responsible for the pool and other facilities were moved upstairs to another floor as part of a “reconfiguration exercise” , isolating the pool and making it difficult and expensive to supervise. The repairs carried out are general maintenance and cleaning which should have been budgeted for anyway.
I’m glad it’s re-opened, but it was ridiculous to close a well-used and high-value investment in local healthcare because the hospital wanted to move the staff to another area. The Department was built for purpose and the pool was part of the design. It’s common sense, the pool cannot be moved so the staff and facilities have to be near the pool!
