Two+out+of+three+options+would+axe+Whittington+Hospital+A&E

** nlnews@archant.co.uk 11 December 2009
 * Two out of three options would axe Whittington Hospital A&E

TWO out of three planned options for the future of The Whittington Hospital will see its busy A&E department axed, health chiefs have admitted.

The hospital, in Magdala Avenue, Archway, has the only A&E department in Islington and the neighbouring borough of Haringey. But by 2013, health chiefs say it will either: - Only provide medical assessments and no emergency services - Only provide medical assessments but with minimal emergency services - Stay the same but with specialist heart, stroke and trauma services moved to other hospitals

The shocking news was revealed at an emergency public meeting called by Islington North MP Jeremy Corbyn on Wednesday - where more than 200 angry objectors vowed to mount a massive campaign to save the A&E, which is used by 80,000 people a year.

Rachel Tyndall, head of the North West London NHS, told the packed hall at Archway Methodist Church, in Archway Close, that she had to save money. She said: "We have to change the way services are provided. We have to keep up with technological advances. And we have to keep up with the money we have got to spend. No political party is going to be able to put more money into the NHS as they have in the past. That puts more pressure on us to make sure we get the best value out taxpayers' money."

The Whittington 's services are under threat because health bosses are downgrading it to a "local" hospital in a massive reorganisation of healthcare in the boroughs of Islington, Camden, Haringey, Enfield and Barnet.

If the A&E department closes, people would still be able to use a new "Urgent Care Centre" - but it will only open during the "waking hours" of 6am and midnight and will only treat relatively straight-forward cases such as bone fractures.

Ambulances would be forced to take seriously ill patients to "major acute" or "specialist" hospitals such as University College Hospital (UCH) - three miles away in Euston.

Ms Tyndall said that as a local hospital, the Whittington would be "like the workhorse of the NHS in Islington". But she admitted that the Whittington 's staff could end up "demoralised".

She said: "I don't know what the answer is going to be. There is a real concern that [downgrading] demoralises staff at the Whittington . They think they are undervalued which is not what this is all about. It may impact on recruitment."

Campaigners called on Ms Tyndall to "see sense".

Archway community campaigner Jan Pollock, a diabetic, said a daytime Urgent Care Centre would be no good, adding: "This year I've been in A&E twice and I've been brilliantly looked after. My emergencies strangely happened at night. I'm obviously not quite right."

Martin Klute, chairman of Islington Council's health and wellbeing review committee, said the entire quality of the Whittington would suffer if its A&E went. He said: "The quality of staff at The Whittington is driven by having an A&E department. If you lose A&E we lose the best staff. That's an accepted fact. Even with the compromise solution we'll lose some of our best staff. How does that contribute to an improvement of our health services?"

Angela Sinclair, of Islington Pensioners Forum, added: "In the last few years £30million has been spent on the Whittington being refurbished - who makes these extraordinary decisions?"

Labour MPs from the three neighbouring boroughs of Islington, Camden and Haringey have united to save the A&E department.

Emily Thornberry, MP for Islington South and Finsbury, said: "We know in our heart of hearts that if the A&E is cut back it's the beginning of the end for The Whittington . And if we already have 130,000 people a year going to UCH, where are the 80,000 that use the Whittington going to go - and what effect is that going to have on UCH?"

Ms Tyndall vowed to provide written answers to every question she was bombarded with during the two-hour meeting - and to address a follow-up meeting in mid-January.

A full consultation on the options - which only came to light after an internal letter from Ms Tyndall was leaked - will start in autumn 2010.

Closing the meeting, Mr Corbyn said: "This is a microcosm of the strength of feeling that exists all over north London. We've got main roads and railways and two major football stadiums in Islington and Haringey. We need to keep the A&E facilities.