Boris to raise residents' concerns over Ealing Hospital

THE Mayor of London has pledged to support residents’ concerns against controversial plans to downgrade Ealing Hospital.

The U-turn came just a week after Boris Johnson accused local politicians of ‘jumping on the bandwagon’ to criticise changes to hospital care in north-west London.

Following the meeting at City Hall on Tuesday attended by Labour and Conservative politicians in Ealing, the Mayor said he would write to NHS North West London raising concerns about proposals to close four out of nine A&E departments in the area.

Mr Johnson met Labour’s Dr Onkar Sahota, London assembly member for Ealing and Hillingdon, Ealing Council’s Labour leader Julian Bell, Ealing Labour MPs Virendra Sharma and Steve Pound and Ealing Conservative Group leader Councillor David Millican.

A letter was also delivered from Angie Bray, Conservative MP for Ealing Central and Acton, who could not attend, urging Mr Johnson to get involved even though it ‘does not come within your official remit’.

Dr Sahota said north-west London is the worst affected area in London.

“It is like a testing ground and we are the guinea pigs,” he said. “Boris admitted during the meeting that he would be confused where to go in an emergency, as the urgent care centres will carry on dealing with only minor injuries and will be separate from the main A&Es. People would have to travel further in an emergency.”

The mayor acknowledged the growing population in north-west London and the much higher prevalence of diseases such as diabetes, TB and heart diseases which are more common among black, Asian and other ethnic minorities who make up a significant proportion of patients served by Ealing Hospital.

Speaking after the meeting, Mr Bell said he was reassured that the mayor had taken local concerns seriously.

“The plans are reckless. If they go ahead, 700,000 people who live in Ealing, Brent and Hammersmith boroughs would be without local A&E. Many GPs and hospital consultants are against the proposals and the independent review by Dr Tim Rideout found significant flaws in both the clinical and business cases.”