Whittington Saved

Bridget

I just received an email from David Lammy saying the A&E and Maternity Unit has been saved.

Dear all,

I have some good news with regards to the Whittington Hospital:

The Secretary of State for Health, Andy Burnham, has ruled out the closure of the A&E and the Maternity Units, saying "It is inconceivable that Labour would support the closing or downgrading of Whittington A&E or it’s maternity service”.

After many months of campaigning with our friends in Islington and Camden, we finally have confirmation that our local Hospitals A&E and maternity units will not be closed down.

There will be a rally at 12pm outside the Whittington today (in 1 hour), so please come and join us.

Best,

David

HURRAH

Papa

That's fantastic news. However, I did rather question this standpoint from our local MPs when I got my Jeremy Corbyn leaflet through the door. And now Burnham is quoted above. "It is inconceivable that Labour would support the closing or downgrading of Whittington A&E or it’s maternity service”. Well why would it be at risk of closure then? Regardless of whether this decision would come from the local NHS trust, they have after all been the government in charge of the NHS for the past 13 years, ie setting policy and telling local trusts what to do. Political bullshit at its stinkiest

miss annie

Let's see if survives the next,inevitable round of cuts.

andy

<http://www.vanityfair.com/online/oscars/2010/02/in-the-loops-armando-iannucci-i-dont-expect-to-win-the-oscar.html>; *Not long after the invasion of Iraq, when there was speculation over the invasion of Iran, our foreign secretary Jack Straw went on the radio saying, “The invasion of Iran is inconceivable.” And then he went on the same radio show three days later saying, **“When I said ‘inconceivable,’ what I meant was, it’s currently inconceivable.”** And I just thought, In those three days, something’s happened behind the scenes—he’s been taken in! And I thought, I want to know what happened in those three days. So that was the inspiration for the film.* (this is possibly not a helpful post)

Philistine'sMonster

Andy, I said the same thing when the delightful Chekski gave me the news. We know how to ruin a party.

Ian

Did he really say "it’s maternity service" rather than "its maternity service"? The story gets murkier.

sg_mike

I remember the same thing happening when I lived up in St Albans a few years ago. The A&E and maternity wards at the hospital were under threat of closure. Low and behold, during the election campaign the pledge came from the (then) health minister that it wouldn't get closed.

Health minister got shuffled after the election, most of the hospital (not just the A&E) was shut within a year.

Papa

SG Mike. I went to school in St Albans. Went into St Alban's minor injuries, after A&E closed, with what I thought was a damaged ligament in my finger. They x-rayed it and it turned out to be fractured. Because it was a fracture, I now had to be treated at an A&E instead of minor injuries. They sent me to Hemel to get a splint put on my finger, which was exactly the same splint that they would have put on for the ligament in St Albans. When I arrived in Hemel, they'd forgotten to put my x-ray in the envelope. Genius.

sg_mike

@Papa L: Aah, that brings back memories of the incompetence that was the NHS in Herts in the 90s (I guess it might still be the same).

I worked during university holidays at Hemel Hospital, doing portering and ambulance driving cover. No training whatsover. Lost x-rays doesn't even scratch the surface of how bad things were ...