09.01.13
Lewisham hospital could lose A&E under SLHT plans
Plans to dissolve South London NHS Trust (SLHT) have incited anger at nearby Lewisham hospital, which could lose specialist units if special administrator Matthew Kershaw’s recommendations are implemented.
SLHT is the first trust to be placed into the NHS’s ‘unsustainable providers’ regime, and health secretary Jeremy Hunt has until February 1 to endorse or reject the plans.
Kershaw has suggested that Lewisham hospital should merge with SLHT’s Queen Elizabeth hospital, and lose its A&E and maternity units, despite being financial viable itself.
The proposals would cost £1.1bn to implement over the next 36 years, and would see the DH write off the trust’s debt since 2009 – £207m. The PFI debts from Queen Elizabeth hospital and Princess Royal University hospital would also be written off.
Dr John O'Donoghue, a consultant physician at Lewisham hospital, told the BBC: “If services at a successful and well-run hospital like Lewisham are closed due to problems at a neighbouring trust then no hospital in London, or the country, is safe. These plans are a travesty.”
More than 25,000 people have signed a petition against the plans, according to the Save Lewisham Hospital campaign.
Hunt said: “I do understand the concerns of MPs and indeed the people living in the areas affected by these proposals, especially the people of Lewisham. They have the right to expect the highest quality of NHS care and I have a duty to ensure that they receive it.”
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