24/05/07 - More Hospital Cuts Predicted

Will A&E's Close Under Labour?

Both Robert Buckland and Cllr Justin Tomlinson expressed grave concern this week at reports that the 92 of England’s 204 Accident and Emergency departments could be axed – if Labour press ahead with plans to force A&Es to serve an area covering at least 450,000 people.

Currently A&Es typically serve an area of under 250,000 people, but NHS organisations are pressing ahead with plans to close down A&Es, saying that they have been instructed to by the Department of Health. If A&Es are forced to serve 450,000 people, this would mean that the South West will require only 11 A&E departments, rather than the 22 it currently has – a decline of 11. 

Cllr Justin Tomlinson states:
“Access to Accident & Emergency services is a vital component of the quality of NHS services. There is no clinical evidence which would justify shutting down A&E departments simply because they don’t serve a catchment population in excess of 450,000. Yet Whitehall bureaucrats are seeking now to justify closures on these grounds.

Robert Buckland states:
“Such closures are being driven by financial deficits – thanks to Gordon Brown, who has been controlling the NHS purse-strings. These latest Labour cuts to our NHS must be resisted, yet I fear the Gordon Brown – as Prime Minister – is merely going to offer more of the same.”