More than 30 campaigners gathered outside Westminster Hall on Tuesday (May 3) ahead of a debate about changes at Ealing Hospital .
From 1.30pm, Ealing Central and Acton MP Rupa Huq, Ealing Southall MP Virendra Sharma and Hammersmith MP Andy Slaughter criticised changes at Ealing Hospital and called for reconsideration.
RECAP:Ealing Hospital debate at Westminster Hall as it happened
The debate came after a petition, launched by Save Ealing Hospital Community Action Group (SEHCAG), had called for a debate on changes led by Shaping a Healthier Future (SaHF).
Under SaHF Ealing Hospital saw its maternity unit close in July last year and will see the closure of its children's ward , also known as the Charlie Chaplin ward, in June.
'Local difficulty to a national scandal'
Ms Huq said at the debate: "For me, Ealing Hospital is personal. I do remember that hospital going up with so much hope attached to it and the suspicion is it’s on it’s way out.
"Ealing Hospital has gone beyond a local difficulty to a national scandal.
"We were told we were fear mongering every time we would march from Ealing Hospital, but on the other side of the election, these closures came to pass."
"The evidence here is that Ealing needs an A&E service, it needs Maternity and it needs a children’s ward."
Mr Sharma added that the closures under SaHF were a "betrayal of every Ealing resident" and said people in the borough were being put "at risk".
But their comments were refuted by Parliamentary under secretary of state for Public Health at the Department of Health, Jane Ellison MP, who has promised a sustainability plan next month.
'Most children will be seen where they are now'
She said: "GP offices now offer weekend services, with Ealing services now providing many more, and there’s more community services.
"I don’t recognise the way MP Sharma describes plans which are risking lives. We want to provide better services, but delivered in a different way.
"Women from Ealing have a choice between 6 sites for delivery across north west London.
"Prior to these changes, we had 60 hours of cover at the hospital, lower than anywhere else.
"The number of community midwives has increased. Most children will be seen where they are seen now."
'Residents of Ealing are not happy'
After the debate, Mr Sharma said he will await new financial information from Ealing Clinical Commissioning Group this month before he considers his next move.
He added: "I don't think the people's point of view is properly listened to.
"But we still managed to communicate that the local residents of Ealing are not happy."
The petition, titled "SAVE OUR NHS STOP PRIVATISATION SAVE EALING HOSPITAL Publicly Funded & Provided" gathered 100,229 signatures.
