10 Downing Street visit today

Thanks very much for attending today. Letter to Prime Minister after photos.

Dear Prime Minister

Consultation on the new plan to Close King George A&E/Overload Queens A&E in East London

We write regarding the new plan to close King George A&E available at the savekinggeorgehospital.blogspot.com in a post dated 11^th April 2019.

Key Extracts from closure plan which is more than a year old follow:

Page 7 of the plan shows it was agreed in 2016 with option 2 as the preferred closure option which closes King George A&E and replaces it with urgent care centre in order to develop it as a “centre of excellence” for the elderly.

Page 10 sets out why the Trust believes that the closure plan “would not further public consultation” as it is based upon the original closure plans of October 2011.

Page 11 describes the plan as “radical”

Page 12 states the plan has “already partially commenced”

Page 13 Sets out the radical nature of the plan to “transform the care of the elderly and frail patients” to produce a “home first” model of care. “The new model of care” seeks to identify these patients through “screening mechanisms”

P14 sets out that ED & UCC activity is expected to grow to c365,000 per annum in ten years at both sites.

P17 sets out the aim of “consolidating certain services” onto one site rather than two by providing “emergency care at QH and geriatrics at KGH”

P33 Sets out how NHS managers “have worked with local MPs and the public to evolve the discussion about the future of KGH from one of closure to one of service transformation”

The Department of Health rejected funding for this £49M closure plan in December 2018 as part of a £70M bid.

Points of Difference between signatories and BHRUT

1 - BHRUT claims this £49M plan is not a closure plan. This is hardly surprising, as page 33 describes the ambition of the trust to move the discussion to one of “service transformation”

We invite you to agree with us that this plan is best understood as closing King George A&E.

2 – BHRUT claim they are no longer seeking funding for the £49M closure plan.

In a press release of April 1^st 2019 BHRUT state

“We want to be very clear, the threat of closure of the Accident and Emergency unit arising from decisions in 2011 has been removed. There will continue to be an Accident and Emergency unit at King George Hospital. The local population has changed significantly since 2011 and is forecast to change further, there is a clear need for Accident and Emergency provision at King George Hospital both now and into the future.”

However, two days later at a meeting at Stratford Town East London STP managers present a paper backing the £49M closure plan, with a document suggesting PFI as an alternative funding source for the £49M closure plan.

BHRUT issued another press release to stakeholders on 26^th April to say

Earlier this month we were delighted to be able confirm via a joint statement with our Commissioners and key local authority partners, that there was a firm commitment to ensuring that the Accident and Emergency unit at King George Hospital will remain open. This is fantastic news. The removal of the threat of closure means this much needed resource and provision will continue now and into the future – please share this good news with anyone who hasn’t heard it’s staying open. Nevertheless, we also expressed concern following an unsuccessful bid of £70m for capital investment. Capital investment is of critical importance, for us and for other partners in the local health economy, so despite these disappointing decisions we will continue to push for the investment we all need.

We invite you to agree that BHRUT cannot reconcile being disappointed with not getting £70M which included £49M to close King George A&E with a credible commitment to keeping it open. The final sentence about “the push for the investment” is supportive of the April 3^rd STP statement to continue for funding for the closure plan.

What we request from your office

1 The full closure plan to be published, since key passages have been redacted. Email addresses and telephone numbers can be redacted, but we see no need for other information to be suppressed.

2 A public consultation on the new King George A&E closure plan. The authors of the new closure plan describe it as “radical”. The assumptions within the plan need to be tested with greater detail and a series of public meetings just as the original 2011 closure plan was. For example, the first closure plan saw patients from King George going to three hospitals, whereas the new plan sends all patients being displaced from the King George A&E closure to Queens. The patient numbers provided in the plan look overly optimistic. The BHRUT board meeting of April 2019 had a verbal report of patient attendance of one thousand a day at the two sites. This level of attendance was meant to be achieved in 2028. Council Local Plans need to be closely monitored, for example one site at Goodmayes Tesco was meant to be for c700 units, the figure applied for is c1300.