We have put together some facts on the danger facing our local hospital.

What is the threat?

NHS North Central sub-region is considering the future of hospitals in the sub-region of North Central London, which covers the London boroughs of Islington, Camden, Haringey, Barnet, and Enfield.

There are 6 hospitals in the North Central sub-region. Which will be reclassified as either ‘major acute’ or ‘local’.

These are:

• UCLH
• Royal Free
• Whittington
• North Middlesex
• Chase Farm
• Barnet

We know that due to the size of The Whittington it will be classified as a ‘local’ hospital.

Some of the proposals as part of these changes include closing the A&E at The Whittington.

What will the alternative be if there’s no A & E at the Whittington?

 If The Whittington A&E department closes, there will no longer be any A&E department in Islington.  During the day, there will be some urgent care for ‘walk in’ cases at a new clinic, but at night, Islington residents would be expected to travel to UCLH down in Camden, or the Royal Free in Hampstead, both of which are far further away and difficult to get to.

If the Whittington A&E is allowed to close there would be a massive gap in services and lives could be put at risk.

Whose decision is it anyway?

 This decision is in the hands of unelected, bureaucrats who run our local NHS services.

A meeting of the Joint Committee of the 5 Primary Care Trusts (the JCPCT) affected by these proposals will take place on December 10^th. They will consider different proposals and decide which to look into further, with next steps then being taken in January.

Why wasn’t I told about the threat to the Whittington’s A&E sooner?

 The JCPCT paid for consultants hold an event in Mid-November to talk to a representative sample of local residents in order to determine their views on which services should go where. However this wasn’t an open meeting, and most people didn’t even know this was taking place.

The first time that local Labour councillors and Jeremy Corbyn heard about this was when an email from the Trust’s Chief Executive was leaked – and our campaign to Save the Whittington was launched immediately.

How can I support the ‘Save the Whittington A&E’ campaign?

The campaign to save the Whittington needs your help.

You can join the hundreds of people who have signed our online petition to save the Whittington.  Don’t forget to send it to all of your friends and neighbours too:

http://www.savethewhittington.org.uk/petitionYou can join us to have your say at the public meeting on 9 December from 7pm at Archway Methodist Church.
Click here to view a map to the venue

Jeremy Corbyn MP for Islington North has tabled an Early Day Motion in the Houses of Parliament (EDM 87 – WHITTINGTON HOSPTIAL) calling for the Whittington’s A&E to be saved, and he has secured a parliamentary debate on the matter on 2 December.