Public Meeting Tonight at Town Hall to 'Defend' Charing Cross
Council invites residents to hear about 'continuing plans to downgrade services'
Hammersmith & Fulham Council is holding a public meeting tonight, Wednesday 28 February to defend Charing Cross Hospital against what it says are continuing plans to downgrade services.
All residents of the borough are invited to the event beginning at 7.30pm at Hammersmith Town Hall to hear the latest on the planned cuts and to support the campaign to save Charing Cross Hospital.
The council says that in 2013, the Shaping a Healthier Future (SaHF) plan was signed off by the Secretary of State. It is gradually being implemented across north west London. It includes a plan to:
- Demolish the current Charing Cross Hospital and sell off most of the site
- Replace the current Charing Cross Hospital with a series of clinics on a site no more than 13% the size of the current hospital
- Rebrand these clinics as a ‘local hospital’
- Replace the current A&E with an urgent care clinic
- Lose more than 300, and possibly all, of the acute care beds.
"The plan to bulldoze Charing Cross Hospital and replace it with a small clinic remains," said Cllr Stephen Cowan, Leader of Hammersmith & Fulham Council, who will be speaking at the event."We believe we can win the fight to save the hospital, but we still need residents' support.
"Make no mistake - we view this as the closure of Charing Cross Hospital as it is now. Health chiefs argue that by rebranding what would be a series of clinics as a ‘local hospital’ they’re simply 'transforming' it.
"This is the basis of their bizarre claim that there have never been any plans to close Charing Cross Hospital."
In 2014, H&F Council took the lead in organising a public inquiry into the SaHF plans. The Independent Healthcare Commission for North West London (as the inquiry was called) concluded that SaHF did not properly calculate the level of demand for the hospital and raised a series of other concerns.
It said SaHF should be halted immediately. You can read their full report here.
Everyone is welcome at the meeting, at Hammersmith Town Hall in King Street.
Residents can also download a Save Charing Cross Hospital poster and sign the petition.
February 28, 2018
