HEALTH chiefs have pushed back the date for the removal of the 24-year A&E at Chase Farm Hospital to Autumn 2013. Last September it was announced that, as part of the Barnet, Enfield and Haringey Clinical Strategy, emergency services at the hospital in The Ridgeway, Enfield, would be disbanded in September 2012. While the maternity ward would be removed in the middle of 2013. Now both are not set to be removed until at least September 2013 because, according to health bosses, the two departments should be disbanded at the same time.
As part of the plans, which residents and health campaigners have opposed for many years, maternity and emergency patients would be expected to travel to Barnet Hospital or to the North Middlesex University Hospital in Edmonton, instead of Chase Farm, for treatment. But hospital bosses have pledged to improve the provision of primary healthcare across Enfield and increase capacity at Barnet and the North Mid before any frontline services at Chase Farm are removed. According to health campaigners, however, the announcement should be taken “with a pinch of salt.” Kate Wilkinson, from the group Save Chase Farm, told the Advertiser: “So many dates have been set in the past. Residents expect improvements to healthcare before any dates can be taken seriously. “Our group has yet to see any evidence that any money has, to date, been ring-fenced for implementing those improvements to both primary and secondary care, which would be needed before any services are taken away from Chase Farm.”
The health secretary Andrew Lansley announced in September that Chase Farm would lose its A&E and maternity wards, disappointing many residents, local politicians and health campaigners, who had campaigned for the services to stay. In December the leader of Enfield Council, Doug Taylor, announced that the council would not be launching a judicial review of Mr Lansley’s decision to downgrade Chase Farm, saying there “was no chance of success.” Instead, he said that if primary care in Enfield had not been improved by the time services at Chase Farm were removed then a legal challenge would be launched. “At the end of the day, legally they have to put certain things in place and honour certain commitments that have previously been made before they can move anything,” added Mrs Wilkinson. “So far, that has not happened.
Very clear legal expectations have been set up.” A spokeswoman for NHS North Central London said: “The lessons from south London around the clinical difficulty of moving emergency and maternity services at different times are being taken into account and further clinical advice is being sought. “However the developing thinking is that the emergency and maternity service moves may need to be aligned with a potential common timetable, for these service changes to be completed in autumn 2013.
By that time, a range of further developments will be in place within primary care and all the clinical changes will be fully implemented.” Dr Douglas Russell, medical director of primary care for NHS NCL, added: “A draft primary care strategy will be considered for approval by the joint boards of the local primary care trusts later this month and is an integral part of the overall BEH clinical changes.”
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