Abortion row sparks fears of sell-off at Catholic hospital

A leading hospital could be sold off in a row over abortions and birth control.

St John and St Elizabeth, in St John's Wood - where Cate Blanchett and Kate Moss have given birth - is embroiled in a dispute over services offered by an NHS family doctor surgery on the site.

After months of infighting and resignations at the independent Catholic hospital, a code of ethics was adopted last year barring its doctors from referring patients for abortions or providing contraceptives. However, the new surgery, which opened last month led by Dr Dennis Abadi and serves 9,000 patients, is governed by health service rules and will offer patients referrals for terminations and birth control.

The surgery's work has caused such concern that plans to sell off the whole hospital are being discussed. Westminster council was alerted to the possibility in a private memo. Council leader Sir Simon Milton has written to Lord Charles Guthrie, chairman of St John and St Elizabeth trustees, to say he will resist a sell-off.

He wrote asking for "reassurance that the health services provided there will be safeguarded in their current form". He warned that council planners would oppose the site being redeveloped into expensive flats.

Today Nicolas Bellord, director of the Restituta Group which campaigned against the GP's surgery being allowed on to the site, said: "I have heard plans to sell the hospital being mooted, but it would be very complicated.

"Allowing an NHS surgery to enter the site was a disaster. The hospital is and always has been a Catholic hospital and this simply shouldn't have happened."

Dr Abadi said he was unable to comment while the matter was under discussion. No spokesman was available from the Catholic Church or the hospital.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in