To think that Jeremy Hunt is off his rocker to downgrade Lewisham Hospital?

[showtunesgirl]

Lewisham Hospital is NOT a failing hospital and Lewisham is a densely populated part of London.

With the proposed measures, Lewisham Hospital will now be downgraded and will basically lose it's A & E department and the nearest A & E will be miles away in Woolwich.

Also the maternity unit will now solely be midwife led so that if you are unfortunate to need intervention, you will have to be bluelighted to ANOTHER hospital as opposed to now where you are simply taken to the main maternity ward.

Jeremy Hunt had said that there were four criteria that needed to be filled in order for something like this to happen of which Lewisham has not filled at all. Nobody has supported this downgrading at all.

This decision has now set a very dangerous precendence that will be continued up and down the country where it goes to show that in spite of public consultation that said a big fat resounding NO and with no support from doctors, a thriving hospital can be shut just because the Government says so.

[BangOn]

I don't know how many of you have heard of Max Keiser, but he's a former wall street trader, turned harsh critic of neo-liberal economics & has a great Jon Stewart-style show on Russia Today (which is on freeview over here). He actually compares the actions of this government on the NHS etc to attempted genocide. Of course it was a comment designed to provoke a reaction, but there may be a grain of truth to it.

[orangeone]

Latest news on what a total lying b*tard the Health minister is....

//www.standard.co.uk/news/london/nhs-chief-had-critical-concerns-over-cuts-at-lewisham-hospital-8479824.html

[pluCaChange]

BangOn, with regard to downgrading maternity services, that was a proposal which has been around for years. I responded to a consultation a few years ago (i.e. under a Labour government) about that one.

Doesn't make it right, though.