We still have a chance to influence the decisions about hospital services in NW London. The public are being invited to contact the Independent Reconfiguration Panel with any concerns about the plans to close Ealing's A&E - and also those at Charing Cross, Hammersmith and Central Middlesex - which will result in our Hospital being demolished to make way for a polyclinic and lots of private flats.
Do you think you had enough chance to understand the plans? Did you agree with the process? Did you feel that you were left out, or that other groups may have been? Do you think that the plans are safe, if Ealing and Hammersmith & Fulham - 2 Boroughs with a population of over half a million - have no A&E between them? Is it fair, or safe, not to have any maternity services in those Boroughs?
Do you agree with the selling off of land to private property developers and shrinking the size of the Hospital? (This will happen to both Ealing and Charing Cross.) Do you think the process has been fair and honest?
Remember:
• only about 4,550 people responded to the NWL 'consultation', even though they claim 17,022
• closing Ealing will mean we have to go to A&E at West Middlesex or Northwick Park - at least 2 bus journeys for most of us
• Ealing's Maternity will go - no more babies will ever be born in Ealing except those born at home
• we will be left with an 'Urgent' Care Centre instead of an A&E - NHS NWL have provided no proven record of safety for a UCC which is not located next to an A&E Department (as Ealing's is now)
• we are promised all sorts of 'out-of-hospital care' which have so far not been defined - they are fantasies and will rely on the new GP-led commissioning groups to make them work
• it will take more than 3 years to train enough specialist community workers
• we have been deceived about the real nature of the plans, and the fact that it's all really about money - they have to 'save' £1 billion in 3 years
• 3,994 clinical jobs will go from NW London - if you trust their Commissioning Plans
• nearly 1,000 beds will be lost, except for their favoured hospitals like Chelsea & Westminster
This is almost our last chance to save our hospitals from run-down and inevitable closure, and you have this opportunity to make your voice heard - please don't leave it to others, as the IRP will be influenced by the numbers of people contacting them as much as by what they have to say.
E-mail
info@irppanel.org.uk or leave a voice message on 020 7389 8046
Thanks as ever for all your support
Colin Standfield
Chair, Ealing SOS