Was Whittington’s A&E saved by the ballot box?

Published: 7 May 2010

• THE saving of Whittington Hospital’s A&E department – and, hopefully, as a result, the removal of the threat to the maternity wing – is certainly good news in an otherwise bleak forecast for this country. 

I didn’t intend voting in either the national or local elections but this news motivated me to cast my vote yesterday. While the political parties concentrated mainly on national issues I now believe local issues were what people took to heart and voted on accordingly. 

The health secretary is shrewd enough to understand this. Some cynics may call this a ploy to get votes but the main object was to save the A&E and it has been saved. It is possible that without an election there might have been no A&E, and eventually no Whittington Hospital. 

We have entered a phase of history where blind loyalty to a particular party is going or has gone. Though it may sound cynical, we now demand something in return for our vote. 

Finally, we mustn’t forget the work of the Whittington Coalition, the thousands who marched, and the weekly papers which have devoted huge amounts of space in agitation. And I’m sure we must also thank health secretary Andy Burnham.

Wilson John Haire
Lulot Gardens, N19

• AM I the only person to look at the announcement from the health secretary regarding Whittington Hospital A&E with a slightly jaundiced eye? 

Either the Labour Party has cynically played with the electorate in creating a situation whereby a hospital is threatened with closure and then “saved” by the local MPs just before an election, or the power brokers within the Labour Party are completely out of touch with the electorate’s needs – until woken up by an impending electoral suicide – in which case I fear for the hospital once the election is over.

It is good however to see the Tribune has no qualms about its own role in local democracy and has said a firm Boo! to election convention and firmly nailed the New Labour colours to its mast. I admire your willingness to ignore the accepted norms of purdah and to so clearly show where your political allegiances lie. Here’s a glass raised to honesty.

Arthur Graves
Lib Dem candidate, Junction ward N19

• LAST week I called it wrong. I said there would be a reprieve for the Whittington.  The great campaign to save our services at the Whittington pulled off a terrific coup in getting Andy Burnham to order a full stop to any closure plans. 

This is a marvellous result for all of us and we must thank all those, including the Tribune, who campaigned, marched and lobbied. But hospitals up and down the country have had their A&E and maternity units closed down.

There is nothing to say that saving the Whittington will stop the axe falling elsewhere. Savings presumably will still have to be made and with the current set-up of NHS management that probably means cuts in services somewhere.

Yes, we’ve won a big battle but the fight may not be over.

Richard Rosser
Highbury New Park, N5