Local residents protesting to save Charing Cross Hospital
Hammersmith & Fulham Council and Ealing Council are combining forces to stage a protest march and rally against proposed NHS cuts to local hospital services.
On Saturday (30 September), marches will set off from both Acton Park and Southall Park (see times below). They will meet in Ealing Common for a rally and speeches from local community leaders.
H&F Council’s Leader, Cllr Stephen Cowan, will be speaking at the rally along with Merrill Hammer from local residents’ group Save our Hospitals.
Councils and residents in both boroughs are working together to fight NHS plans to cut critical health services at Charing Cross and Ealing hospitals.
The published proposals for Charing Cross include:
- Demolishing the current Charing Cross Hospital and selling off most of the site
- Replacing the current Charing Cross Hospital with a series of clinics on a site no more than 13% the size of the current hospital
- Re-branding these clinics as a ‘local hospital’
- Replacing the current A&E with an urgent care clinic
- Losing more than 300, and possibly all, the acute care beds.
Click below for the NHS document that sets out their proposals for Charing Cross Hospital:
“If you are concerned about losing your local A&E or cuts to services at Charing Cross Hospital, come and make your voice heard,” says Cllr Cowan.
“If the NHS’s flawed plans go ahead, thousands of residents will lose local access to essential services – including blue-light A&Es, intensive care, maternity and paediatric units,” Cllr Cowan added. “People with some chronic conditions will also have to travel further for regular treatment.”
Join the march
The march from Acton will meet at Acton Park at 11.30am and travel along The Vale and Acton High Street to Ealing Common. The rally will then begin at Ealing Common at 1pm.
The march from Southall will meet at Southall Park at 11am and travel past Ealing Hospital, through Hanwell and along New Broadway to Ealing Common.
Maternity and paediatric services at Ealing have already been closed, while the A&E at Hammersmith Hospital was ended in 2015.
The council has also:
- Commissioned a public inquiry led by Michael Mansfield QC that has provided a strong evidence base for why the proposals are wrong. Read the independent healthcare commission report (pdf).
- Refused to sign the ‘North West London STP’.
- Commissioned a review of the NHS proposals and the STP – Read the Shaping a healthier future report (pdf 4MB).
- Launched a petition – alongside Ealing Council – to help save our local hospitals. Sign the petition today.
Meanwhile, a decision by the Secretary of State to close the blue-light A&Es and other vital services at Ealing is expected early next year. Significant concerns have been raised about the safety and scale of the NHS’s plan, which would leave three London boroughs – with a total population the size of Leeds – without a major hospital.
Under the NHS ‘Shaping a Healthier Future’ proposals, there will be no critical care, acute beds, blue-light ambulances, A&E, maternity units or children’s ward in either hospital. The remaining urgent care centre at Ealing hospital would be led by GPs, not consultants. Charing Cross is facing similar closures later.
And in total, more than 500 beds would be lost across north west London.
