NHS reforms could mean reprieve for Finsbury Health Centre
Published: 23 July, 2010
by TOM FOOT
FINSBURY Health Centre has won a stay of execution after shell-shocked health bosses admitted they are for the chop instead.
Islington Primary Care Trust chairwoman Paula Khan told a board meeting yesterday (Thursday) the future of the Grade-I listed building in Pine Street was unlikely to be resolved during a “time of turbulence” and “deep cuts”.
The coalition government is proposing to abolish all PCTs and shift the balance of power from managers to family doctors.
In a meeting laced with gallows humour, Ms Khan told campaigners the future of the health centre was “uncertain” and it was now time to “focus on maintaining services”.
She said: “There is an elephant in the room. GPs will make the decisions in the future, not our staff. You will be talking to them. We are not going to proceed. We have no money. The way forward is extremely difficult. The organisation is going to cease to exist.”
She added: “What will happen is you will refer this to the appropriate body. We will talk to GPs, explain to them the situation and give them the papers. They they can decide at some point in the future.”
Campaigners have fought for two years to stop the closure of the centre – and convince the PCT to restore the building.
Ms Khan said the NHS was in “turmoil” and it was not even clear who will own Finsbury Health Centre when the PCT is abolished as planned.
The board rejected the findings of a detailed report by health chief Councillor Martin Klute that called for the building to be refurbished, adding: “The building is going to cost a lot for a major refurbishment and the money isn’t available.”
Ms Khan said north London’s capital works budget had been “dramatically reduced”, meaning refurbishment of Berthold Lubetkin’s modernist masterpiece was not viable. The estimated cost is somewhere between £5million and £10m.
Barb Jacobson, chairwoman of the Finsbury Health Centre, said: “I am disappointed that they didn’t listen to the arguments in the report properly – they are using the turmoil as an excuse not to do anything. We will be looking at other avenues for challenging this.
“We hope the Health and Wellbeing board will stand by its recommendation to refurbish – and carry on.”
Management costs at NHS Islington are being cut by 51 per cent and chief executive Helen Petterson said she had already begun briefing staff about their futures.
The meeting heard that millions of pounds of funding was being transferred from Islington’s coffers to plug a massive “overspend” in Enfield.