PETERSFIELD Hospital could face the same fight against closure which is now being waged by supporters of the Chase Hospital at Bordon, warned an East Hampshire district councillor this week.

He stressed that there was Òhealth chaosÓ on the horizon with a shortage of doctors, nurses and funds in Hampshire.

Retired GP Michael Watkinson told a council meeting that unless there were changes in the way the government funded the health service, Petersfield and other hospitals in Hampshire could be threatened with closure.

He received unanimous cross-party support for a motion expressing EHDCÕs serious concern over the proposal by North and Mid Hants Health Authority to close all of the beds at the Chase Hospital in the light of the overwhelming public support for the hospitalÕs retention.

Dr Watkinson urged the council to take the lead in fighting Òwildly inaccurateÓ and outdated funding systems.

He warned: ÒThis is a battle for the whole of the district to fight and this council could take a leading role in calling for more recent and relative statistics to be used in the funding calculations.Ó

Health funding was calculated on census figures which were ten years out of date, Dr Watkinson told councillors, and the funding formula was adding to problems.

Several years ago the North and Mid Hants Authority, of which he was a member, received funding for 87 people out of every 100 in the area. This had now dropped to 83.

ÒThe funding is dropping quickly and if we donÕt change it, it will be down in the 70s in the next few years and that will mean major hospital closures.Ó

So far, said Dr Watkinson, Portsmouth Health Authority, which included Petersfield Hospital, was a Ònet receiverÕÓ of funds because it was perceived to be a poorer area with less health provision.

ÒI now understand that this figure has dropped and I am sounding the warning bell that the day will soon come when the figures will start to drop quite quickly,Ó Dr Watkinson told The Herald.

He added: ÒAs health care improves in an area it gets less funding.Ó

There were added problems for the Petersfield area, he said, with considerable pressure for the district to take more housing which would push the population figures up even further and make the l991 census even more inaccurate.

He is urging East Hampshire District Council to press for a different funding formula using the number of GP registrations rather than projected population figures.