Hospital chaplain's 'gynaecology trip like Ikea' comment sparks row

The Reverend David Southall's 'Ikea' comment triggered anger on twitter

A hospital chaplain has been criticised for likening a trip to a gynaecology unit to going to Ikea.

Campaigners angry about the relocation of gynaecology services from Redditch to Worcester tweeted: "260 women making a 36 mile round trip over the next 6 months. That's 9360 miles travelled".

Reverend David Southall replied: "I would have thought patient safety trumped distance travelled. People go to Ikea for less".

He said the comment was "banter".

Emergency gynaecology services were temporarily moved from the Alexandra Hospital to the Worcestershire Royal after there were not enough doctors to fully staff the unit in Redditch. The arrangement has been extended by six months.

Neal Stote, from protest group Save the Alex, which is campaigning to keep services at the hospital, said: "The tweet may seem like a minor thing but it just shows the hospital trust does not understand the depth of feeling about services.

"It adds insult to injury".

Save the Alex posted a 'shopping list' on its Facebook site

Mr Southall said he was "trying to point out that people travel long distances."

"We are a very mobile population. To travel alone in a car when you're poorly is obviously not ideal. As for the Ikea comment - it was just a bit of banter," he said.

Twitter user Mike Bond called it "a shockingly stupid comparison" and said "the people who drive to Ikea by choice HAVE CARS. Some ill people don't."

Nichola Farnes said the comment was "offensive and unhelpful".

But Mr Southall has claimed he has been "cartooned" by his detractors.

"Save the Alex posted a picture of a list on Facebook which had an Ikea shopping list of 'tea lights, meatballs and ectopic pregnancy'.

"That is not what I was saying. I am just saying patient safety comes first".