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Be warned, loss of hospital A&E unit will hit everyone
• THE proposed service changes by NHS London for North Central Sector of the capital (Camden, Islington, Haringey, Barnet and Enfield) are being implemented without active involvement of the public or the professionals involved in delivering the services.
As a group of front-line doctors working in hospitals and the community, we are gravely concerned about the implications of these changes. These include transferring the majority of care, currently delivered in hospital, to the community and the consequent downgrading of many acute hospitals.
These plans are supposed to be submitted to NHS London by the end of this year. This will involve loss of key services, including emergency surgery, paediatrics and maternity services, with the resultant loss of full A and E services in many hospitals.
In our area, hospitals with A&E services under threat include the Whittington, Homerton and University College Hospital. In north-west London, plans have already been proposed which will affect Ealing, Hillingdon, West Middlesex and Chelsea and Westminster hospitals.
This has already happened in south-east London – at Queen Mary’s, in Sidcup, which has recently lost 24-hour emergency care.
Similar plans are being drawn up to be implemented across London after the next general election.
As clinicians, we spend our lives striving to improve patient care so we embrace change when it benefits patients. We are worried about the pace of change as community services are in no position to take on this massive role and loss of emergency services will affect all readers.
There has been no meaningful involvement of the public or professionals by NHS London in developing these plans and we believe we all should have a voice in these important proposals.
Members of Islington
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