Actor Dominic West, film director Stephen Frears and X Factor star Alexandra Burke are among a host of celebrities who have joined a campaign to save the Whittington hospital.
More than a dozen stars of stage and screen today spoke out in support of the growing campaign to save the hospital at Archway in north London.
Bafta-winner West, who starred in TV series The Wire, said it was “essential” the Whittington stayed open.
“There is a lot going on at the moment and not nearly enough is being done to stop it,” he said. “We need to come together and do something now before it’s too late, otherwise this will be a disaster. They are trying to balance numbers but playing with lives.”
NHS managers want to sell off part of the Whittington site and cut about 350 jobs. It is the latest hospital in the capital to face cutbacks.
Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt has already announced that the A&E department at Lewisham hospital will be downgraded and the maternity unit replaced with a midwife-led facility.
This is despite objections from thousands of doctors and patients.
Film director Frears also warned that selling off half of the Whittington would be a “mistake”.
The My Beautiful Laundrette director went on: “The money can be saved in other ways but it is not acceptable to close our hospital to cut costs.”
He also revealed his brother was treated at the Whittington after suffering a heart attack.
Singer Burke was also cared for by doctors at the hospital.
Her mother Melissa Bell said: “I absolutely support the campaign to save the Whittington and so does Alex. She was once bitten by our little puppy and she needed an anti-tetanus injection. The staff have always been kind.”
Theatre director Max Stafford-Clark told the Camden New Journal he was “desperately unhappy” about the proposed cuts especially as the hospital was “already under-staffed”.
Singer Annie Lennox said that hospitals were “a necessity” not a choice and singer Ms Dynamite said healthcare should be “the last place to suffer from cuts”. The Mobo-winner’s siblings and cousins were all born at the hospital.
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Other high-profile figures opposing the closure include directors Sir Richard Eyre and Sir Jonathan Miller, a former Whittington medical student; comedian Alexei Sayle; comic writer Charlie Higson; crime fiction writer Martina Cole as well as actors Dexter Fletcher, Juliet Stevenson and Rupert Graves together with his wife Susie.
Their objections come before a rally on March 16 through the streets of north London which thousands are expected to attend.
A spokeswoman said the hospital was holding a discussion meeting on Monday “where the public can make their views heard”.
She added that it was the first in a series of such meetings.
