The Evening Standard reports that a leading Professor has slammed the effective closures of our hospitals by the Council and NHS bosses, warning of the danger to patients in need of emergency care and the degradation of the facilities that survive the cuts.
Professor Simon Shorvon told the Standard that the removal of all A&E departments in Hammersmith & Fulham, which was agreed between the Council and NHS bosses in a secret deal revealed with much PR at the time, would lead to greater time in taking casualties to emergency care. That is stating the obvious, you might think as ambulances try to weave their way through traffic to Middlesex through our clogged up streets, but is flat denied by the NHS while ruling councillors tend to look at the floor and shuffle their feet. You can see what local campaigners think in the video above, taken at a recent rally on King Street, Hammersmith.
Our Council has defended its deal with NHS chiefs, essentially saying it was the best on offer, but its claim to have "saved" Charing Cross Hospital has been met with widespread ridicule. Professor Shorvon has described the long term degradation of even the surviving services, in the shrunken "community hospital" that is left.
Meanwhile Ealing Council and local campaigners are set to use the 40th birthday of Charing Cross Hospital as a rallying point in their effort to genuinely save the hospitals of the borough. Taking place at the hospital today, the event will mark the opening of ‘ new’ Charing Cross Hospital.
First opened in Villiers Street in Charing Cross, off the Strand in 1821, by Dr. Ben Golding as the first hospital for the poor who flocked to London for work in the new factories. It was London’s first teaching hospital and Medical School for doctors, professional nursing and medical staff and was moved to its present site on 22 May 1973. Community campaigners will hope this is one of many celebrations to come.
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