Save the Whittington Hospital!

Residents of Islington, Haringey and Camden are enraged and alarmed at the prospect of losing the Whittington Hospital.  Everyone, but everyone has a story to tell about how the Whittington helped them, whether it was a heart attack, diabetes getting out of control, a child splitting it’s head open, or where you were born, the Whittington was there.  The Hospital is a source of an immense sense of security to everyone who thinks of it as ‘their’ hospital, and those same people feel deeply threatened and upset at the possibility they might lose it. 

Local feeling about the hospital was in no doubt on Saturday 27th February when around 5,000 people turned out to march up the Holloway Road and demonstrate against the closure.  The feeling as we walked up the Holloway Road from Highbury was uplifting, with many of the cars passing the demonstration beeping their horns in support.  Interestingly, the nearer we got to the hospital, the more beeps we got from cars coming the other way.  David Lammy, Emily Thornberry, Jeremy Corbyn, Union representatives, campaign organisers and many more all spoke eloquently and passionately about the vital importance of the Hospital to the area.

The question is, with all local political parties appearing to oppose closure, how come it is still being suggested?  Well the answer is, that NHS Bureaucrats have decided, behind closed doors, that according to the theory that we have too many hospitals, they need to close some of them.

But why doesn’t anyone have any control over these Bureaucrats? The answer to this, is that under the Liberal Democrats laissez-faire attitude, for the last eight years, all of the ‘arms length’ organisations overseen by the Council (eg HFI, the PCT, CEA, all the myriad subcontractors, etc tc) have been lulled into an attitude that they don’t need to worry about consultation or accountability.  For example, when the Lib Dems first got into power they put the bullying leader of the Council onto the PCT Board, as vice-chair, leaving the PCT with the impression that they are in direct communication with the Council and its views.

Unfortunately, in 2006, when the Lib Dem Leader of the Council lost his seat (to us), he didn’t lose his seat on the PCT Board, and he has remained there until very recently, which may help to explain why the increasing power of Labour in the Council has failed to bring about any kind of culture-change at the PCT.

The Lib Dems love this cosy little arrangement whereby they can sit in the Town Hall and preside over wonderful statistics about how well the Borough is performing, without actually having to be accountable for the delivery of services.  Since Labour increased the number of seats we hold on the Council by over 100% in 2006, we have been struggling to force the Lib Dems to give us control of the Scrutiny Committees, which we should by rights be given, since we have as many seats as they do.  Last year we were able to place Independent Lib Dem and whistle-blower Andrew Cornwell in the Chair of Overview, and I was asked to Chair the Health Scrutiny Committee. 

During this year, I have been endeavouring to use the powers of the committee to call to account the PCT regarding their fudged plans for selling off Finsbury Health centre, and I have also required that all the Trusts providing healthcare services to residents in Islington appear at the committee to report on their progress during the last year. When the Trusts have appeared, it has given us the chance to put some awkward questions to them, providing the first step in restoring accountability, which will lead to service improvements that residents, not the bureaucrats, want.

It may seem like all parties oppose the closure of the Whittington. But if you want to vote for a party that has the strength and the determination to see accountability, fairness and quality of services restored, the only party to vote for is Labour.