Eight out of 10 in west London opposed to hospital changes

Health secretary Jeremy Hunt was urged to drop plans to close an A&E in Ilford
PA
Ross Lydall @RossLydall2 October 2017

Council leaders today expressed fears over the impact of proposed changes to the NHS across London.

They called for plans to downgrade or axe A&E departments to be reconsidered and said efforts to keep people out of hospital in the long term were being “broken” by short-term demands to cut costs.

A poll commissioned by Ealing, Hammersmith and Fulham councils found more than 80 per cent of west London residents were opposed to changes at Ealing and Charing Cross hospitals.

However there was a similar level of support for improving access to GPs, which the changes seek to achieve. Campaigners also fear that Charing Cross’s A&E will be downgraded after 2021, although hospital bosses insist it is “expanding, not closing”.

The BMG Research poll of 1,500 residents found fewer than one in five felt they had been consulted on the changes and 85 per cent opposed downgrading hospitals to “local” status.

It came as the leaders of five north London boroughs wrote to the head of NHS England, Simon Stevens, to express “increasing concern” that a sustainability and transformation plan, which seeks to reduce the need for hospital care, was being derailed by budget cuts.

Havering council leader Roger Ramsey has called on Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt to drop plans to close the A&E at King George Hospital in Ilford. The leaders of Camden, Islington, Haringey, Barnet and Enfield complained about the focus on “rationing” services and “minimal investment in prevention”.

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