Whittington Hospital

• FOLLOWING recent coverage in your paper, I am writing on behalf of Islington Keep Our NHS Public to express our worries about the closure of children’s A&E at UCLH and the Royal Free, implemented at very short notice, with the Whittington now covering the service formerly provided by the three hospitals, (Nurses quit as decision to close children’s A&E units sparks huge backlash, October 1).

Of course, temporary changes may be needed to help our local NHS cope with the coronavirus emergency. But the bottom line must be safety.

Tom Foot reports that several consultants warned earlier that the changes put this at risk. Now the letter from junior doctors at the Whittington again raises serious safety concerns, including shortage of space and of adequately trained staff, (Children deserve safe medical care, October 16).

There is also the issue of consultation and publicity; or rather, the lack of it. Despite assurances these changes are not backed by all senior doctors.

There has been no consultation with the public and, even more worryingly, until now there seems to have been no publicity aimed at local families.

Understandably roughly a half of children going to A&E are taken there not by ambulance but by their parents, who may well not realise they need to check which hospital to go to.

So some will turn up at UCLH or the Royal Free needing urgent treatment only to find that the paediatric service is closed and they may have to be redirected or transferred elsewhere.

There are broader issues too. With the recent centralising of local NHS management to cover five boroughs, not least to save costs, we see a clear trend away from local consultation and accountability.

As Tom Foot reports, the fear is that closures which we are told are temporarily essential, due to the pandemic, may end up as permanent.

If anything like this is proposed in future, NHS managers must at the very least live up to their promises and organise a proper, meaningful, consultation.

RUTH COHEN
Islington Keep our NHS Public
islingtonkeepournhspublic.org