Mr Hunt's office on the KGH situation

 Barry Fleetwood's correspondence with Mr Hunt's office below along with his commentary. 

SAVE KING GEORGE HOSPITAL ACCIDENT &EMERGENCY

Campaigning for your safety and your children’s' safety

Dear Minister

In reply to a question from Lee Scott MP, concerning the future of King George Hospital  A & E Department,you answered “King George will not be closed until there was an absolute certainty  of the safety  of doing so and that Queens would be able to cope”.

Residents are faced with one A & E closing and the alternative Queens – according to the CQC failing, and there has been no improvement over the past 2/3 years.We would therefore like you to quantify “an absolute certainty” i.e does that mean  3 clear inspections by the CQC with no criticsm, 168 hours Consultant  Cover per week,6 months without the 4hour rule being broached etc.

We cordially  invite you to join Mike Gapes MP, Lee Scott MP and Mrs Averil Dongworth –BHRUT Chief Executive on the Platform  for our Public Meeting on Friday 6^th December at Redbridge College, Barley Lane, Redbridge RM6 4 XT, at 7 pm to present your answer. The Meeting is being Chaired by Ilford Recorder reporter Lizzie Dearden.

We look forward to seeing you on the 6^th. If by some unfortunate occurrence you are unable to attend, we would ask to substitute one of your senior Ministers to take your place.

Mr Hunt’s Reply

Our ref: DE00000822696 

 

 
Thank you for your correspondence of 15 November about the future of the A&E department at Barking Havering and Redbridge NHS Trust (BHRT).

I am afraid that the Department is unable to accept your invitation, as it would not be appropriate for a minister to attend.

In 2011, and following an independent review of the proposals for local service change, the then Secretary of State for Health decided that implementation of the proposals by the local NHS under 'Health for North East London' should proceed, but only after improvements at both Queen’s and King George hospitals had been demonstrated.

When making this decision, the Secretary of State for Health instructed NHS London (whose responsibilities for this issue have now passed to NHS England) to give assurances that the local NHS had undertaken the necessary actions before implementing changes.   

The reconfiguration of services is a matter for the local NHS, and it would not therefore be appropriate for a minister to now apply tests or measures that must be met before these changes are made.

For maternity services at King George Hospital, such assurances were given and these changes were successfully implemented in March.

The Department understands from NHS England that the local NHS is planning to implement the agreed changes to emergency services at BHRT in 2015. 

NHS England is expected to give its assurance to the Secretary of State for Health that the local NHS has undertaken the  actions necessary prior to these changes.  This will include, not exclusively but as a minimum, ensuring it is safe and that there is sufficient capacity in the system.

King George hospital is not closing.  A GP-led urgent care will be open 24 hours a day, seven days a week at King George’s and a range of other services are being planned for the site.  Local people will be able to access specialist services at other hospitals when necessary.

I hope this reply is helpful.

Yours sincerely,
 
Charles Podschies
Ministerial Correspondence and Public Enquiries
Department of Health

We have a number of comments to make on the Ministers reply

1.To attend a Public Meeting to defend HIS policies to the electorate and taxpayers seems to us entirely appropriate.

2. His refusal  to attend personally Is understandable, but not to send a representative??

3. One might be minded to consider that he finds his own policies indefensible, certainly the High Court does.

4.”Secretary of State for Health instructed NHS London (whose responsibilities for this issue have now passed to NHS England) to give assurances that the local NHS had undertaken the necessary actions before implementing changes.”

The Minister appears to be abdicating all responsibility for this reconfiguration.somewhat at odds with his assurance in the House in reply to a question from Lee Scott ““I will go back and make absolutely certain that no changes will be made until it is certain that they are clinically safe.” Is the Minister in charge?

5 The point of this letter was for him to quantify what is “absolutely certain” he cannot make such a statement without being able to quantify “certain “ or does he propose to employ guesswork or a fortune-teller ?,

“and it would not therefore be appropriate for a minister to now apply tests or measures that must be met before these changes are made”

He has already applied tests “absolutely certain” but refuses to answer a direct question to support his statement to the House. Unless he is waiting to appoint Russell Grant as a Special Advisor.

6.”For maternity services at King George Hospital, such assurances were given and these changes were successfully implemented in March” This is not an example that is relevant,as A & E is much more complex, and in any case 6 months is not enough time to judge whether the change for Maternity is yet successful.