SE23 Forum

Thank you again for signing the petition to save Lewisham Hospital’s A&E and maternity department, which I presented to No. 10 just before Christmas. Over 35,000 people have now signed the petition, and together we are sending a loud and clear message that we strongly oppose the plans for closure.

Despite this, we learnt this week that the Special Administrator appointed to the South London Healthcare Trust has formally recommended to Government that both A&E and maternity services at Lewisham should close. He proposes to replace them with an urgent care centre and a midwife-led birthing unit.

Many people – including me - feel badly let down by the so-called consultation process that has taken place. It is sheer madness to be shutting down services at a solvent, successful hospital in order to deal with financial problems elsewhere. I am also extremely concerned about the inadequate services that will be left for South East London - just this week the two closest maternity units, at Queen Elizabeth, Woolwich and Kings, had to turn away pregnant women in labour as they were at capacity.

But this is not a done deal, and together we must keep up the fight.

The Health Secretary is currently considering these proposals, and will be announcing his decision on 1st February. Along with my parliamentary colleagues Dame Joan Ruddock and Jim Dowd, I will be doing all that I can to convince the Health Secretary of the case against these proposals. But we need your help.

Between now and 1st February, please do all that you can to help the campaign. If you have 5 minutes or 5 days, there are lots of ways you can get involved. At the bottom of this email, there are specific contacts and things you can do to help – for example, leafleting, making placards or being a steward at campaign events.

If you can only spare a little time, please do the following:

1. Protest against the proposals. The Save Lewisham Hospital Campaign have organised a second peaceful demonstration on Saturday 26th January. Assemble at Lewisham Roundabout (by the station) at 12, before we march past the hospital to Mountsfield Park for a rally, music and giant petition. I will be speaking at the rally.

2. Let the Secretary of State know what you think by sending your views directly to him. Email Jeremy Hunt on mb-sofs@dh.gsi.gov.uk or write to him at Rt Hon Jeremy Hunt MP, Secretary of State for Health, Department for Health, Richmond House, 79 Whitehall, London SW1A 2NS

3. Forward this email on to your friends. Spread the word about the campaign! This does not only affect the people of Lewisham, and Mr Hunt needs to know that people across South East London are not prepared to accept these recommendations and have their services and their safety compromised.

The campaign to Save Lewisham Hospital is far from over. We must be prepared to step up and make our voices heard. I hope we can count upon your support.

Best wishes
Heidi Alexander MP
Labour MP for Lewisham East

Senior medics at Lewisham, furious at it being "penalised" for another trust's failings, point out that SLHT's expected deficit of £75m over the next three years could be cut to just £1.1m by implementing all of administrator Matthew Kershaw's radical blueprint apart from his insistence that their hospital lose its emergency and childbirth departments.

"It's fiscal nonsense and financial madness to do this. How can you tell the taxpayer that it's sensible to spend £195m to get £19.5m savings a year?" said Dr John Miell, a consultant endocrinologist at Lewisham. "It's completely unfair and ridiculous to penalise a successful, high-performing, viable NHS trust to bail out a PFI-burdened and debt-laden neighbour."

Lewisham hospital is in danger. Right now, Jeremy Hunt, the health secretary, is considering closing vital hospital services, which could leave 750,000 people with just one casualty department between them. [1]

Lewisham Hospital is a well-performing hospital, and the casualty department has just had an expensive refurbishment. Patients, doctors and even some of Lewisham's health chiefs are all opposed to the closure. [2]

Jeremy Hunt could give in to the political pressure to close these NHS services. But together, we can make this a test for Hunt. He's been working hard to present himself as the voice of patients. If thousands of us email him to oppose the plans, he'll be under huge pressure to prove he listens to patients and keep services open.

Could you send a quick email now telling Jeremy Hunt not to close vital NHS services in South London? It only takes two minutes:
https://secure.38degrees.org.uk/nhs-lewisham

Already the people of Lewisham and the surrounding area have taken to the streets in their thousands to save their A&E, intensive care and maternity units. We could ramp up the pressure on Jeremy Hunt if thousands of us email him directly. We can make him think twice about overruling patients, doctors and local health chiefs.

We all rely on NHS services to be there to help us when we're most in need. If these hospital services close, patients will have to travel further and queue longer. Other nearby hospitals are already stretched - just recently ambulances have been diverted to Lewisham hospital to pick up the slack. [3]

Click here to send a quick email now:
https://secure.38degrees.org.uk/nhs-lewisham

Last week we had a brilliant NHS breakthrough. Monitor, the NHS competition watchdog, listened to public pressure not to let private healthcare companies avoid corporation tax. [4]

This happened after tens of thousands of 38 Degrees members emailed them to object to the proposed tax breaks. Now we can do the same with Jeremy Hunt. Please write your email here:
https://secure.38degrees.org.uk/nhs-lewisham


Thanks for being involved,

James, Ian, Becky and the 38 Degrees team


PS: Campaigners from 'Save Lewisham A&E' have organised a march to save these vital hospital services on Saturday 26th January. [5] We'll be meeting outside the The Anglican Parish Church of Saint Stephen and Saint Mark, Lewisham High Street, London, SE13 5AJ at 11.30am. Are you free to come along too?

Please pop the office team an email so we have enough placards for everyone: ccgsupport@38degrees.org.uk


NOTES
[1] Guardian: Lewisham hospital's fury at £195m bill for A&E closure http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2013/jan/13...ll-closure
[2] London 24: Lewisham A&E closure proposals 'unsafe, rushed and unjust' http://www.london24.com/news/health/lewi..._1_1785896
Pulse: Lewisham A&E set to close despite CCG opposition http://www.pulsetoday.co.uk/news/commiss...P03GCc02tw
[3] Evening Standard: Hospitals set to handle thousands of extra births 'cannot cope now' http://www.standard.co.uk/news/education...44002.html
[4] 38 Degrees Blog: Update: Breakthrough http://blog.38degrees.org.uk/2013/01/16/...akthrough/
[5] Save Lewisham Hospital: Demonstration - 26th January http://www.savelewishamhospital.com/demo...h-january/

On 1st April 2009 a brand new health organisation came into existence in South London. South London Healthcare NHS Trust is the product of the merger of three smaller hospital trusts - Queen Mary's Sidcup NHS Trust (QMS), Queen Elizabeth Hospital NHS Trust (QEH) and Bromley Hospitals NHS Trust (BHT) - to create a single hospital on several sites...

The merger has taken place after much thinking within the local health community about how we might create the best organisation for delivering top quality health services to local residents in the early part of the 21st century