Thousands marched for the hospital, but the NHS is still looking to make cuts.
Questions aren’t being addressed. But screams for answers about the future of the Whittington are getting louder.
“The people on the platform strike me as being on the horns of a dilemma,” shouted one angry resident at a public meeting held last week to discuss proposed closures of the hospital in Holloway. “They have a point here and a point there – and there’s a hell of a lot of bull in between.”
Judging by the cheer he received, this audience member wasn’t alone in his frustration. Hundreds of residents, crammed into a hall in Haringey, expressed outrage at the evasive responses given by the NHS professionals there to answer questions.
Minutes later, there was another scream. “My husband had a stroke. If it hadn’t been for the Whittington, he’d be much more ill even than he is now. What are you going to do about that?”
Allay fears
But Richard Sumray and Rachel Tyndall, the NHS representatives attempting to allay the public’s fears, could not find anything to counter such raw emotion.
The journey from a decision in an NHS conference room to this packed hall seething with tensions has been long and will rumble on.
Seven options are being considered for the future of the Whittington, with four of these involving the closure of the accident and emergency (A&E) department. If this happened, nearby residents would have to travel to either the Royal Free hospital in Hampstead or University College Hospital near Euston.
MP’s reaction
Speaking after the announcement, Jeremy Corbyn, MP for Islington North, said he feared a shortage of nearby aid. “It is not acceptable to say that a borough the size of Islington would have to rely on casualty departments elsewhere,” he said.
The NHS assures it has done extensive research with the London Ambulance Service (LAS) to prove that centralising services will not cause problems for patients.
However, one man at the public meeting remained unconvinced. “I just hope that if I have the misfortune to have a stroke or a heart attack, it’s in the middle of the night when there’s a chance they’ll be able to get to me to the hospital in half an hour.” he said.
Wasted funds
Residents are also concerned that funds recently poured into the Whittington will be wasted if the proposals go ahead.
Only three years ago, the hospital opened a £30m wing, including a new intensive care unit. And last year, it ploughed £500,000 into a new children’s section at its A&E department.
It’s counterintuitive that a cash-strapped public sector would waste such investment. But there is a bigger problem behind this bureaucratic shuffling. In future years, funding for the NHS will not increase. With an ever-aging population and issues like obesity on the rise, the demand for healthcare will only go up.
“The question is, how do we get a quart out of a pint pot? How do we deliver more healthcare services for the same money?” Ms Tyndall, Chief Executive of NHS Islington, asked the crowd at the meeting.
Health minister Mike O’Brien said in the House of Commons on Tuesday that he didn’t want to see these investments go to waste. “At the moment I am not convinced of the need for the Whittington A&E to close. I would want to see a serious clinical case made for saying that the £32m that the Government have decided to invest in the Whittington should be overridden.”
Key questions
The key question every campaigner dares not ask is: will their efforts make any difference? Or will the NHS just pursue their own cost-cutting agenda regardless of the views they express?
Even though there are uncertainties, Shirley Franklin, the campaign organiser for Defend the Whittington Hospital Coalition (DWHC), isn’t giving up anytime soon. “It’s very important that we keep the campaign reeling,” she said to her team at a planning meeting on Monday at the Whittington Community Centre.
Their strategy has worked so far. The march to the Whittington two weeks ago attracted 5,000 participants wielding banners reading things like ‘Don’t make a casualty of our A&E’. And, according to Shirley this is just the start.
“We’re getting local press and the BMA involved. It’s been a real collaborative effort,” she says.
Long battle
They’re preparing for a long battle, and, considering the funding crisis facing the NHS, one with no clear victory in sight. Nonetheless, spirits remain undimmed.
Emily Thornberry, Labour MP for Islington South and Finsbury, summed up their sentiments on Tuesday in the Commons. “Let me assure the Islington Primary Care Trust that we mean business,” she said. “We do not expect the A&E in the Whittington hospital to close. If [the PCT] thinks otherwise, it will have a fight on its hands.”
Image credit – Arron Merat
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