Saturday, February 09, 2008

Bexley, Bromley, Greenwich & Lewisham United Against Hospital Cuts

hI've set up a new Facebook group for all those concerned at proposed reductions in hospital facilities in Lewisham, Bexley, Bromley and Greenwich, as outlined in the consultation 'A Picture of Health', which is currently landing on doormats throughout the four boroughs. You can join it here. There is another group, Stop Health Cuts in Lewisham, which I'm supporting, but thought it was important we also made clear that this isn't about playing off one borough against another, but making sure all four boroughs have the excellent, locally-provided services we all deserve.

Of course Facebook groups by themselves aren't going to achieve a great deal, but I think they are a useful way of bringing together concerned individuals and, if need be, mobilising people into action if the Primary Care Trusts do try to plough ahead with some of the more controversial proposals, such as closing the maternity, A&E and paediatric departments of one or two of the hospitals.

I'm not convinced that the arguments made for increasing expertise on one or two sites outweighs the drawbacks of having to travel much further to receive treatment or visit relatives in hospital. I also see no evidence of any research carried out by the PCTs to assess the carbon cost of their proposals.

2 comments:

Answer: said...

Errr....The fourth hospital is in Woolwich, not Greenwich!

John Hemming-Clark
Constituency Candidate, London Assembly Elections 1st May 2008, Bexley & Bromley

Anonymous said...

er, which was in the borough of Greenwich last time I looked. I could have also mentioned Sidcup, Catford, Woolwich and gone into great details about the precise geographical location of each hospital, but to be honest I thought the group name was long enough already.

BTW, according to ukpollingreport, the Labour candidate for Bexley & Bromley is Alex Heslop, and I e-mailed him to invite him to join the group and to add him as an officer, along with the candidates from Green, Conservative and Lib Dem. If this is wrong, you may wish to correct the data on ukpollingreport. You would also of course be most welcome to join the Facebook group and I will happily add you as an officer. I have also invited several Lewisham Labour Party members to join the group, but none have as yet taken me up on the offer. I am genuinely keen to make it cross-party and cross-borough.