Chase Farm to lose A&E and maternity services

CHASE Farm Hospital will lose its full A&E and maternity services after the plans received the backing of health secretary Andrew Lansley (Con, South Cambridgeshire).

Mr Lansley announced today (Monday September 12) that he was backing the recommendation of the Independent Reconfiguration Panel (IRP) to press ahead with the reforms, which include centralising services at Barnet and North Middlesex Hospitals and turning Chase Farm into an urgent care centre.

The plans had been put on hold as one of Mr Lansley’s first actions when taking office in May last year.

Today, he said: “I know how strongly many local people and their representatives feel about this, and about the future of Chase Farm in particular.

“However, the safety and sustainability of local NHS services have to be the priority for all involved, and, as the IRP advice makes plain, both are at significant risk unless decisions are taken.”

Broxbourne councillor Michael Watson (Lab, Waltham Cross) said: “It was the clear and express wish of the local community that Chase Farm Hospital should not lose any of its frontline services.

“Yet again residents of the south of the borough, such as those that I represent in Waltham Cross, have been let down by the Conservatives. I hope all of the local Tories will condemn this decision, and the Government that made it.”