'Plain Bonkers' Hospital Cuts Condemned at Meeting

---

Accident and Emergency unit closures discussed at Ealing Town Hall event

Several hundred people attended a meeting at Victoria Hall in Ealing Town Hall on 15 February to discuss the future of the NHS in the local area. This follows the closure of A&E wards at Central Middlesex and Hammersmith Hospitals, and the closure of the maternity and children’s A&E services at Ealing Hospital. The number of people wanting to attend the meeting exceeded the 450 capacity of the hall and some were turned away before proceedings started.

The meeting was chaired by Councillor Hitesh Tailor, cabinet member for health and adult service. Speakers included Ealing Council leader, Councillor Julian Bell, Hammersmith and Fulham leader, Councillor Stephen Cowan, London Assembly Member and local GP, Dr Onkar Sahota, Health Watch as well as representatives from the NHS and from the Save Our NHS campaign. NHS chiefs declined the offer to attend the meeting.

Councillor Jon Ball, Liberal Democrat spokesperson for Ealing Central and Acton, described the plans as 'plain bonkers' saying, “NHS Chiefs deny they will close Ealing Hospital but a hospital without an A&E, that performs no surgery and with no overnight beds, is not a hospital. Ealing deserves a real hospital not a glorified polyclinic.”

The audience heard that even with a national hospitals crisis, North West London hospitals had the highest waiting times for extreme emergencies. Staff had been urged to send patients home early to make more room.

Julian Bell, leader of Ealing Council, which organised the meeting, and Steve Cowan from Hammersmith and Fulham Council, stated that they were refusing to support plans to cut even more beds and the A&Es in Ealing and Charing Cross Hospital. Mr Bell said that it would be the equivalent of a city the size of Leeds being left with no A&E.

Eve Turner, Secretary of Ealing Save Our NHS, was cheered when she called on people to get involved in campaigning and to support a national demonstration on 4 March.

Afterwards Eve Turner said: “It’s beyond belief that even as they are sending people home early from overcrowded hospitals, the local health bosses are still defending their plans to cut hundreds of beds along with over 7,750 NHS staff, and reduce A&E capacity by 64,000. But they have money for private spin doctors and management consultants – they paid one firm over £30 million to advise them on cuts. People are getting angrier all the time and I don’t blame them.”

The meeting took place following the publication of plans by the NHS to make £500million savings by removing blue-light ambulances, critical care and potentially all surgery from Ealing Hospital by 2022.  Plans to downgrade Charing Cross to ‘local’ hospital status would follow.

Lib Dem Councillor Gary Malcolm addresses the meeting

Ealing Council has opposed the NHS ‘Shaping a Healthier Future’ programme of hospital changes since it was first announced in June 2012.

The NHS will shortly begin a consultation on the proposed changes to local health services, including those provided in hospitals as well as planned improvements to primary care. The aim of the NHS changes is to have more people treated and cared for at home.

February 16, 2017