Hospital services in south east London, including those at the Queen Elizabeth in Woolwich, are to be reorganised
A mixed picture of preferences is emerging as more responses to plans to reorganise hospital services in south east London are revealed. LINDA PIPER reports.
THE Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH) trust board says it has reservations about all three options put forward by the A Picture of Health consultations.
In its formal response, the trust board says it has doubts whether the Woolwich hospital could cope with the extra patients flowing from all three options.
It is also worried the NHS will not make enough cash available to pay for necessary changes
at the four hospitals - QEH, Queen Mary's Hospital, Sidcup, Lewisham Hospital and Princess Royal University Hospital, Farnborough - as so far it has proposed only £10m.
Its board has opted for a variation of option one, with maternity and paediatrics moving quickly to QEH and the Princess Royal and Lewisham remaining a full A&E hospital.
The board wants to keep day surgery at QEH and the other three hospitals.
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It says plans to turn QEH's 28-bed day surgery unit into a 20-bed acute ward are not feasible.
And it backs the idea of developing Queen Mary's for planned surgery, but wants more information about similar proposals for Lewisham.
Eltham MP Clive Efford with the responses to his own consultation with his constituents
The board also agrees with proposals to concentrate doctor-led maternity, neonatal and children's inpatient services at two hospitals.
LEWISHAM Council has disputed why Lewisham is included in the A Picture of Health proposals, declaring it is part of inner London and looks to Guy's, King's College and St Thomas's hospitals, not those in Bromley, Woolwich and Sidcup.
It has criticised the consultation process, saying the criteria used to create them is "seriously flawed" and it failed to explain the options to the public.
Lewisham says is it "absolutely opposed" to options one and three which would reduce services at Lewisham Hospital.
It says maternity, A&E and the children's hospital should remain at Lewisham and it has fears about the capacity of hospitals to cope if services at Lewisham were removed.
It says the plans do not address health inequalities in the borough and would increase the need to travel.
Lewisham's Islamic Centre has sent a 600-name petition opposing any reduction in services at Lewisham Hospital.
BEXLEY and District National Childbirth Trust (NCT) has voiced its opposition to the A Picture of Health proposals.
While it has welcomed proposals for new midwife-led birthing units at The Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH) and Queen Mary's Sidcup, it is worried about losing the doctor-led maternity units at Sidcup and at Lewisham Hospital, forcing women to travel further.
The NCT says there are considerable concerns about the capacity of QEH to cope with extra births when it was forced to close its delivery suite 15 times last year because it was full.
It says plans to concentrate neo-natal care to QEH and the Princess Royal University Hospital in Farnborough, could also lead to a reduction in available cots.
TWO MPs from opposing parties are agreed on one thing - the A&E department at Queen Mary's Hospital, Sidcup, should not close.
Eltham's Labour MP Clive Efford says if one of the four hospitals involved in the A Picture of Health proposals has to lose its A&E, it should be the Princess Royal University Hospital in Farnborough.
Mr Efford says if cash follows the patient, closing A&E in Sidcup would risk losing patients and cash out of London and into Darenth Valley Hospital in Dartford.
He says Bromley patients are more likely to go to Sidcup than into Kent and Queen Mary's is closer to the major road network.
Mr Efford has fears about the ability of Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Woolwich to cope with the extra patients and is also worried two maternity units would not be enough.
He has done his own consultation, sending 15,000 questionnaires to constituents and receiving more than 1,000 replies.
These back a planned new 40-bed facility in Eltham with diagnostic services and a 24-hour urgent care centre.
Meanwhile Tory MP for Bexleyheath and Crayford, David Evennett, has asked health minister Alan Johnson to stop plans to strip Queen Mary's of its emergency facilities, including A&E and maternity.
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