A letter from Defend the Whittington Coalition

We are writing as the Defend the

Whittington Hospital Coalition to strongly protest against any proposals to

shut down the Whittington Hospital’s Accident and Emergency Department.

DWHC is a local, non-political group

of residents from Islington, Haringey and Camden boroughs, alarmed by the

consequences of any such closure that will force us to travel further afield

for emergency care.

Axing the A&E would mean

incredibly difficult journeys either to a hospital in the centre of London, or

to a hospital that is quite a distance from any major tube or bus route, and is

surrounded by congested roads for most of the day. Losing the Whittington’s

A&E is tantamount to a death sentence for some, and creates a hellish

journey for most others.

We are urging all sections of the community – the

elderly, families, individuals, students, schools, places of worship,

businesses and community groups, everyone who uses or is a potential user of

A&E services – that’s everyone!-  to

join our non-political, independent campaign to save the Whittington’s A&E.

We are at pains to understand why the

NHS is about to put forward proposals for changes in services at the

Whittington Hospital which include the closure of its vital A&E there.

Access to health services, particularly emergency ones, is an important human

right in the UK. Islington is the 8th most deprived borough in

England, and expecting Islington and indeed Haringey residents to travel so

much further to one of two hospitals in Camden is to penalize the poorest

inhabitants of Islington, which has one of the highest rates of child poverty

in London. It is a dereliction of duty of care for the NHS to continue with

these proposals.

It is not only the poor that rely on

the Whittington A&E however. 80,000 people from all walks of life go there

each year, many traveling from Haringey which has no A&E hospital of its

own.

It is also an issue of depriving

Islington of an important service that would inevitably lead to other closures,

as when A&E closes there is an unstoppable cascade which leads to other

health services also closing. And that in turn leads to less money being spent

on patients and funding being withdrawn.

Fighting for Whittington’s A&E is

a deep serious issue that cuts right through our social differences. Even local

political parties have put aside their differences in support of this campaign.

This is a matter of social justice and equality. We would like as many groups

and individuals as possible join our campaign to show how passionately people

feel on this issue – there is real strength in numbers!  Either visit our website at http://dwhc.wordpress.com/about/ ,

email us at defendwhittington@googlemail.com

or telephone us on 020 7263 7817.

We also call on

NHS London to listen to the people of Islington, Camden and Haringey, and not

to put forward any options that propose the closure of Whittington Hospital’s

Accident and Emergency Department.

 

Yours sincerely,

 Defend the Whittington Hospital

Coalition.

Defend the

Whittington Hospital Coalition will be orgniasing the protest on 27 February.