REGARDING Sham Fears Over Health Plan Justified (News Shopper, May 21).
We wish to assure readers our A Picture of Health public consultation, which included proposals for Queen Mary's Hospital, Sidcup, was no "sham". No decision has been taken yet on the changes to services proposed.
The urgent care centre at Queen Mary's was opened last autumn, before proposals for our consultation were fully developed.
The combined A&E and urgent care centre at Queen Mary's were among the highest for performance in London last year, seeing more than 98 per cent of patients within the government-set four-hour target.
In fact, the urgent care centre at Queen Mary's generally sees patients within one hour, which is driving down waiting times.
All the options put forward for Queen Mary's would see the continuation - and further development - of the centre, while establishing new urgent care centres in neighbouring boroughs.
We asked the London Ambulance Service for its figures for May 21. It took 41 patients to Queen Mary's by ambulance.
However, only two were "blue light" emergencies. The London Ambulance Service daily average over the past year at Queen Mary's is 41, of which two to three were "blue light".
A Picture of Health is not proposing to close Queen Mary's as an important facility.
Our proposals foresee a bright future for Queen Mary's, albeit different to how it is now.
HELEN CAMERON, programme director, A Picture of Health
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