The chief executive of the Countess of Chester Hospital has provided hope a long-running row can be resolved involving an in-house charity.
Chester Childbirth Appeal runs a cafe and shop in the maternity unit with profits used to fund numerous hospital initiatives.
But Mr Chambers, who faces the tough task of trying to balance the books, wanted to take the Comfort Zone shop and cafe back within the hospital’s own catering department.
The charity refused to go without a fight and the matter remains in the hands of solicitors more than a year after the row erupted.
Providing hope there may be a way forward, the chief executive said: “We need to talk about what the rental contribution will be and all that sort of stuff and all that is in train.”
Talking about the background behind the proposed eviction of the charity, he explained: “If we were looking to get the best value out of all of our estate we felt that every part should be considered and looked at.”
He added: “There was a figure quoted that a retail facility that was doing what that was doing should be making a net profit of £100,000. We were saying if we ran it, that’s what we felt the net contribution could be.
“There would be a more professional way perhaps that it could have been done that could potentially have created bigger revenue streams.”
Aside from funding extra facilities for the women and children’s department, parents and patients have expressed appreciation for the kindness of the staff who work in Comfort Zone shop and cafe.
Mr Chambers said: “We focus here on the experience and we would do nothing that would detract from the experience. We just felt you could get the same experience and generate another contribution.”
He described the situation as ‘sensitive’ because it was a charity with which the hospital had a long-standing relationship. “We don’t want to damage that relationship,” he added.
Former midwife-tutor Pat Daniels MBE, who founded the charity in 1991, did not wish to comment as the matter was ‘in the hands of solicitors’.
