Save Whittington Hospital A&E

Local campaigners are celebrating after the Labour government buckled under pressure from the public and the Liberal Democrats and stepped in to stop the NHS closing the Whittington Hospital Accident & Emergency - for now at least.

Yesterday, the Labour Health Secretary, Andy Burnham, was forced into a humiliating U-turn after months of campaigning and petitioning against the planned closure.  Just a few weeks ago, the Health Secretary stated that closing accident & emergency units was ‘the right thing to do’.

But Liberal Democrats are still concerned that the minister has only told the NHS to ‘go back to the drawing board’ and that he has not ruled out the option of the A&E being shut or the services being reduced. This is in sharp contrast to Nick Clegg’s clear statement that he would not allow the NHS to close the A&E if Liberal Democrats were in government.

Liberal Democrat national Health Spokesman, Norman Lamb, said:

“Andy Burnham’s sudden U-turn on the Whittington Hospital is welcome but it’s difficult to believe Labour’s commitment.”

Islington Lib Dem councillor, Rhodri Jamieson-Ball, comments:

“After months of campaigning by the public and the Liberal Democrats, the Labour government has miraculously seen the light seven days before polling day and halted the closure of Whittington A&E - for now at least.

“This just goes to show we were right all along when we said it was in the Labour government’s power to save the Whittington.

“I just hope that this isn’t a temporary reprieve for our local hospital.  The Labour minister has not ruled out cuts to services at the hospital after the election.  We heard all these promises before in 2001 when the Bart’s A&E was threatened with the axe.  What happened then?  The A&E was closed down and shifted to the London Hospital instead.”

Islington Liberal Democrats’ campaign to save Whittington Hospital’s accident & emergency unit received a massive boost this week with the backing of national party leader Nick Clegg.

Local Liberal Democrats have been campaigning against the proposal to close Whittington A&E since the plans were leaked to Lynne Featherstone MP last November.

As the general election campaign kicked off in earnest, Nick Clegg pledged he would not allow the NHS to close the Whittington.  The clear line from the Lib Dem leader is in stark contrast to the woolly words offered by a Labour Health Minister, who only said that the case for closure “has not yet been made.”

Nick Clegg, leader of the Lib Dems, said:

“I support the campaign to save Whittington A&E.  Decisions about local services should be taken by locally accountable bodies.

“I would not let North London Central NHS close this A&E.  I oppose any proposal which threatens local services.”

Whittington Liberal Democrat campaigner, councillor Rhodri Jamieson-Ball, said:

“I’m delighted that Nick Clegg has said he would stop the closure of Whittington A&E. It’s a shame that the Labour Government isn’t prepared to do the same.

“Local people have made it clear that they want the Whittington A&E to stay open.  It’s in the Government’s power to save our A&E.  They need to stop the weasel words and vague assurances, follow Nick Clegg’s example and commit to saving the Whittington.”

Interesting fact:

An Opposition Day debate in to Health Services in London was held in the House of Commons on the 9 March.  Labour Minister Mike O’Brien said in the debate: “At the moment I am not convinced of the need for the Whittington A and E to close.”

The Secretary of State for Health, the Government minister in charge of the NHS who is ultimately responsible for any closure of A&E facilities, has still not had any discussions with North London NHS officials about the threat to the Whittington, a parliamentary question has revealed. Liberal Democrat campaigners have accused Secretary of State Andy Burham of negligence, and washing his hands of the threat to services at the Whittington.

A Parliamentary Question was asked to the Secretary of State Andy Burnham, “what recent discussions he has had with officials of North Central London Health Authorities on the provision of accident and emergency departments; and what consultation there has been on the future provision of emergency and intensive care facilities.”

Secretary of State Andy Burnham did not even reply, but left his junior Minister Mike O’Brien MP to respond just that “There have been no specific discussions between the Secretary of State for Health and officials of North Central London Health Authorities on this specific subject.”

Local Liberal Democrat hospital campaigner Cllr Rhodri Jamieson-Ball slammed the Government for their inaction. He said:

“It is disgusting that the Secretary of State hasn’t even spoken to NHS bureaucrats about this threat to our vital local services. Any decision to close services at Whittington Hospital requires sign-off by the Secretary of State for Health, and is ultimately the responsibility of the Government. The Labour Government set the budgets and the strategy, but are washing their hands of the consequences.

“This is negligence from the Labour Government, pure and simple. We need an urgent statement from the Secretary of State about the future of our local hospital.”

“Save our A&E” demanded demonstrators on yesterday’s march of over 5,000 people who turned up in inclement weather to show the local NHS trust that local residents truly care about the services of their local hospital.

The Liberal Democrats were at the front of the protest led by Terry Stacy, Leader of Islington Council, with Bridget Fox and Rhodri Jamieson-Ball, Parliamentary Campaigners for Islington demonstrating their opposition to plans to close the emergency department at their local hospital.

Walking from Highbury Corner to the Whittington Hospital yesterday, Terry Stacy said “Local residents tell us this is a priority - we need an A&E in our borough - time is everything in an emergency.”

Bridget Fox who delivered a petition to save the A&E containing over 2000 signatures to Downing Street this week said, “Yet again Gordon Brown’s Labour Government have let us down. Only a couple of years ago they invested millions of pounds on the new frontage of the hospital, now they’re looking for millions of pounds worth of cuts.”

“Labour’s policy of investment through PFIs is the reason for the need for this cost cutting - it’s outrageous that this has been allowed to happen,” said Rhodri Jamieson-Ball, “Today’s march has shown the local NHS trust how we residents feel - it’s time for them to listen to what they have to say.”

To show your support and opposition to this proposed closure sign the Lib Dem petition at http://www.savethewhittington.com.

This week is a crucial week in our fight to save the Whittington accident & emergency unit.

On Monday we presented our first 2,000 petition signatures to 10 Downing Street.

Now this Saturday we have a rally at Highbury Corner to show how angry our community is that closing the Whittington accident & emergency is even being considered.

It is vital that as many Liberal Democrats turn out on Saturday to show how important Islington’s only hospital is to our community. Please come with your friends, family and neighbours.

While local Labour politicians wash their hands of any responsibility and cry crocodile tears about the possible closure of the accident and emergency, the facts are:

When Gordon Brown was Chancellor he effectively sold off parts of the NHS to private investors through his PFI schemes to keep debt off the nation’s balance sheet.

Whittington Hospital is facing a bill of £158 million for refurbishment work that cost £32 million to carry out thanks to Gordon Brown’s Private Finance Initiative.

Nationally, the NHS faces £ 63billion of debt for PFI hospitals worth £11 billion.

North London Central NHS, which is proposing the changes to services at the Whittington, is funded and managed by the Government’s Department for Health.

We must not let Labour get away with this. So please come to the rally this Saturday at noon at Highbury Corner (by the Magistrates’ Court in Holloway Road). Join us and make your voice heard - together we can fight this.

Local Lib Dems have been working hard to save the Whittington. Parliamentary campaigners Rhodri Jamieson-Ball and Bridget Fox have been collecting signatures from local people opposing the cuts that threaten vital services at the Whittington hospital. They led a group of campaigners to Number 10 Downing Street today to present the petition with the first 2000 signatures to the Government.

Islington North Parliamentary Spokesman, Councillor Rhodri Jamieson Ball said:

“We have collected so many signatures against the proposed cuts to the Whittington already. We wanted to take the petition to Downing Street to tell the Government that there is massive local opposition to their plans to down-grade our vital hospital services.

“You can still sign our petition, but we wanted to tell Gordon Brown to rethink his plans right away. We want to make sure the voices of the 2000 local people who have already signed are heard and taken into account when the Labour government are trying to balance their books.”

The latest news is that the Labour government are considering not only closing the 24 hour Accident and Emergency department, but may also close the maternity wing at the Whittington as well.

Bridget Fox, Parliamentary Campaigner for Islington South, said:

“We’ve had a phenomenal response to our Save the Whittington petition, with many local people coming up to us in the street asking to sign it.

“We will carry on collecting signatures and letting the Government know that people in Islington want their local casualty unit to stay open 24 hours a day. Instead of listening to people, they are now toying with the idea of cutting the excellent maternity unit at the Whittington as well.”

Make sure your voice is heard. Sign the petition here: http://www.savethewhittington.com/

Figures uncovered by the Liberal Democrats have revealed that the Whittington Hospital is facing a £158 million bill for refurbishment works worth only £32 million – paying five times over for new facilities. This burden of long-term debt is a key reason behind the proposals to close down accident and emergency facilities at the hospital.

Under the Private Finance Initiative established by Gordon Brown when he was Chancellor, a 30-year contract with a private consortium was signed for the refurbishment of facilities at Whittington Hospital. The total capital value of these works is £32 million, but the Whittington NHS Trust will be paying millions of pounds every year until 2036 – when it will have paid five times the actual value.

The PFI scheme was used by Gordon Brown to keep massive NHS debts off the Government’s balance sheet, but means that now the NHS is facing a huge debt crisis and will pay many times over the value of new hospitals and refurbishments. Nationally, the health service faces a £63 billion debt for PFI hospitals worth £11 billion.

Local hospital campaigner Cllr Rhodri Jamieson-Ball commented:

“These figures reveal how disastrous Labour’s stewardship of the NHS has been, thanks mainly to Gordon Brown’s financial incompetence. Gordon Brown’s desperate attempt to keep all this debt out of the official figures means that our local hospital is paying five times what the works are actually worth.

“It’s no wonder vital services at the Whittington are being threatened with the axe. Our hospital – and the entire NHS – has been lumbered with a millstone of unsustainable long-term debt. This Government’s main legacy is a mountain of debt, and we’re all going to be paying off Labour’s credit cards for years.”

Lib Dem Shadow Health Secretary, Norman Lamb MP joined Bridget Fox to support the campaign to keep the Whittington hospital’s 24 hour A&E open.

Local campaigners joined Islington South and Finsbury Parliamentary Campaigner Bridget Fox at the hospital to shout the message loud and clear: Save our A&E.”

Norman spoke with local campaigners and hospital users about what losing the service would mean to them. He said:

“It’s clear that the campaign to Save the Whittington A&E has the support of local people. I’ve heard today how people value their local A&E, how easy it is to get to the Whittington on public transport and how badly affected people would be if they had to travel to other hospitals which are further away.

“We have to get Accident and Emergency provision right, otherwise it really can be a case of life or death. It is quite wrong that secretive decisions are being taken by unelected bureaucrats who are not answerable to local people. The Government need to realise that cutting patient care instead of bureaucracy could cost lives, and that is a price we are not willing to pay.”

Bridget Fox added:

“It was great to have the support of Norman Lamb in Islington today. He is the only front bench health spokesman of any party to back our campaign. Liberal Democrats are united in wanting to put patient care first.

“Norman heard first hand from local people who are campaigning hard to save the Whittington. We are passionate about our NHS. Islington is a 24 hour community and we need a 24 hour A&E. Help our fight to save the Whittington by signing the petition at www.savethewhittington.com”

Bridget Fox and Rhodri Jamieson-Ball were joined by campaigners from across Islington and Camden. If the Whittington A&E closes, Islington residents will be sent to the busy casualty unit at the Royal Free, putting pressure on services there.

Campaigners heard a message of support from neighbouring Hornsey & Wood Green MP Lynne Featherstone. Lynne says:

“It’s great that people from all the affected constituencies are coming together to join the campaign to save the Whittington. We need to work together to show the Government that people from a very wide area will lose out should the department close.”

There will be a demonstration on Saturday 27th February to save the Whittington A&E department. The demonstration has been organised by the Defend the Whittington Coalition: http://dwhc.org.uk/

Please join the local Lib Dems councillors at Highbury Fields at 12 on the 27th and show your support for the campaign to save Accident and Emergency services at the Whittington.

Link to Facebook page:

http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=281233117623

Islington’s Liberal Democrat councillors called an emergency debate on the future of A&E services at the Whittington Hospital.