North-West London NHS last year consulted on proposals to rationalise the delivery of A&E services in the hospitals in its area. One element of this is the closure of A&E at Ealing Hospital, close to where I live. This is unlikely to happen for at least three and probably five years.
Needless to say the majority of the local community are up in arms, assisted by some very cynical sound-bites from local politicians and campaigners who see this as a threat to the very existence of the hospital (which according to the consultation it isn’t). Indeed the local council have taken the whole matter to the courts and failed to get a judicial review of the consultation process. Currently a final decision is awaited from the Secretary of State for Health, Jeremy Hunt; this is expected within days.
Following the refusal of the judicial review there was, last weekend, a rally to continue the voicing of protest. According to the reports this attracted a paltry 100 people — clearly the local rent-a-mob don’t like going out in the rain! At the rally Ealing Council Leader, Julian Bell, vowed to fight on and “chain ourselves to the gates before they roll the bulldozers in”.
Whether you agree with the proposals or not, this is just so pathetic. Not only does this portray Cllr Bell as a bad loser, has he actually thought this thing through?
By the time any bulldozers move in (and they should as the current hospital building is hardly fit for purpose) the proposals to which objections are being raised will have been implemented and the hospital will still be operational. According to, and as I understand, the plans the bulldozers would be clearing only a part of the present Ealing Hospital site to enable the building of a new, modern healthcare facility alongside the existing hospital. Only once the new facility takes over could the present building be closed.
So all Cllr Bell seems to be doing is delaying the implementation of improved healthcare for his constituents.
Is Cllr Bell really this stupid? Or is it me that’s missing something?