LIBERAL Democrat leader Nick Clegg has waded into the row over the future of Kingston Hospital.
In an exclusive interview he explained why the hospital's maternity unit is so dear to his heart and defended local MPs for blowing the whistle on NHS bosses' alleged plans to shake up the health system in south west London.
As the number of people signing up to the Save Kingston Hospital page on social networking site Facebook topped 10,000, Conservative politicians continued to down-play the allegations made by the area's MPs that the A&E and maternity units are at risk, and have been accusing them of scaremongering.
"They're wrong," said a defiant Nick Clegg. "Susan and Ed are absolutely right to bring this issue out in the open. Given my family's excellent personal experiences of Kingston, I naturally wanted to hear the detail of the threat when Susan and Ed asked for my help. If four NHS chief executives and a senior clinician involved in such a review told me about an option to close Kingston's A&E and maternity, I'd do exactly the same.
"Given the NHS changed its mind twice of whether it was going to publish, and then decided to keep this secret, I don't think Susan and Ed had any other choice. It would have been irresponsible of local MPs not to tell the public their local hospital was under threat if that's what they had been told by so many senior managers."
Mr Clegg's wife Miriam gave birth to their third son Miguel at Kingston Hospital last year. "Miriam and I were treated so well by everybody at Kingston. We arrived late in the evening when Miriam's contractions started and from the moment we got through the doors of the ward we felt completely looked after.
"Everything went smoothly and all the maternity nurses and midwives were professional, funny and encouraging. We felt completely safe, so much so, I'm afraid, I fell asleep on one of the chairs in the birthing room. And afterwards too, the attention to Miguel's health the moment he was born was second to none. I could see then the maternity ward was incredibly busy with lots of people coming in and out but at ever single moment the staff were dedicated, positive and calm. We simply couldn't have asked for more.
"When I first heard of the proposals my immediate reaction was shock and surprise. Closure of A&E and maternity services would have a devastating effect on the families and local communities that rely on Kingston Hospital."
Mr Clegg slammed the secrecy surrounding the NHS London report, which still has not been published. He said: "Its the culture of secrecy we still sadly see so often in services. It's astonishing that public servants should try to keep the public in the dark, but that's what's happened here.
Susan and Ed tell me they are submitting Freedom of Information requests, which I hope are successful and bring more light to this affair. Then British Medical Association has called for full disclosure – NHS London should listen to them.
"We all know the government has created a huge financial black hold and the deficit has to be tackled, but the way they are going about it is unplanned and chaotic. The Liberal Democrats have been very clear that we will be relentless in tackling the waste and bureaucracy in the NHS to protect front line services like those in Kingston Hospital.
"Over budget and needless IR projects that are costing billions would be scrapped, and we would certainly slash the tens of millions being wasted on expensive management consultants who come up with ideas like this."
