A&E saved daughter who had five minutes’ life left

Published: 19 February 2010

• I WISH to add my protest at the impending closure of the accident and emergency unit at Whittington Hospital.

I do so as a father of a daughter who has been rushed to the A&E three times with very severe asthma. If it had not been for the proximity of that A&E on one occasion some years ago she would have died – they told us she had five minutes’ life left. Last Christmas Eve she was rushed there again and thank God the A&E was so close.

To be taken to the Royal Free or University College Hospital A&E would have been too long for her. I am pleading that this A&E is not closed... there are those living in Muswell Hill and Crouch End who need that A&E and its nearness. Please can policy-makers change their minds and keep Whittington A&E.

CLLR ROGER ROBINSON
Camden Council 

• IN 1983, Margaret Thatcher famously declared: “The National Health Service is safe in our hands.” At the time this may have been true. No Labour politician has been able to say the same since they came to power; at least not without appearing either mendacious or ignorant or both.

Why is this? Very simply because the UK has signed up to the Washington Consensus, GATT and World Trade Organisation objectives of hiving off our public services to private providers via outside tendering. This is known as Liberalisation, Reform and Globalisation. These principles are now enshrined in our law under the Lisbon Treaty, which forces public services to be open to private tender. Does this matter? I believe it does and the possibility of losing our A&E at the Whittington demonstrates why it matters.  

The North West London Commissioning Partnership proclaims: “We will enable the PCTs [primary care trusts] to improve significantly the World Class Commissioning competencies related to acute commissioning to improve healthcare for patients in North West London.” Our health services will be driven by the needs of “commissioning” or “outsourcing” rather than providing the health services we, the people, need, desire and pay for.

In the long run our public services are all going to be organised to suit the needs of private providers. Inevitably, policy will be increasingly shaped by private companies and corporations rather than by us, the users. I don’t know how long this process will take to complete but anyone who tells you otherwise is either lying through their teeth or naive in the extreme.

Finally, let me thank staff at the Whittington A&E who looked after me so well a little while back. I urge all the thousands of others who have been looked after to do what they can to defend their services and their hospital.

RICHARD ROSSER
Highbury New Park, N5 

• THE campaign to save  Whittington Hospital A&E is gearing up. From the outset, Islington Trades Union Council (ITUC) has been active in the campaign. ITUC was formed to support trade unionists in the workplace and the wider interests of people living in our communities.  

Indeed, I chaired the inaugural meeting of Defend the Whittington Hospital Coalition (DWHC), which is organising the march along Holloway Road followed by a rally at the Whittington in Archway on Saturday, February 27. As part of the build-up to the march, a speaker from DWHC will address our annual meeting at 7pm on Tuesday in Committee Room 1 at Islington town hall in Upper Street.  

ITUC has already decided to co-ordinate a collective trade union response of opposition to any closure of Whittington A&E. Please come to our meeting and participate in the debate on how we contribute to the coalition’s aim of saving Whittington A&E, for the benefit of its workers and the health and safety of people in our community.

GARY HEATHER
President
Mick Gilgunn
Secretary, Islington Trades Union Council

• NORTH Central London NHS is facing a £560million black hole in its budget, putting Whittington A&E at risk of closure. One of the reasons NHS finances are in such a bad state is the Private Finance Initiative cooked up by Gordon Brown back when he was Chancellor. Under this scheme, the Whittington is facing a £1,258 million bill for refurbishment works worth only £32 million. The NHS as a whole faces a £63billion debt for privately financed hospitals worth £11billion.

Mr Brown’s legacy is a mountain of debt and a record of terrible financial decisions – and now potentially closing accident and emergency units.

CLLR RHODRI JAMIESON-BALL
Lib Dem, Mildmay ward