A&E and maternity unit closures in west London must be suspended, nurses warn

Nurses today called for the suspension of a controversial programme of downgrading A&E and maternity units in west London amid concerns that patient care is deteriorating.

The Royal College of Nursing said the changes, which began with the closure of the casualty wards at Hammersmith and Central Middlesex hospitals last September, had caused a “predictable and negative impact for patients”.

It said the GP-led Shaping A Healthier Future programme had been introduced “the wrong way round”, as community services were not ready to deal with people no longer being treated in hospitals.

The RCN said patients at the main A&E departments at Northwick Park and Ealing hospitals had repeatedly endured the longest waits in the country in the run-up to Christmas. Its intervention, in a submission to an inquiry set up by four councils, comes as moves to axe the maternity unit at Ealing were delayed for two months.

GPs there are to seek “further reassurance” that capacity exists at neighbouring labour wards before going ahead with the closure.

RCN London regional director Bernell Bussue said: “In practice, little seems to have been done to boost capacity elsewhere in the system to make up for closures. Proper replacement services, transition arrangements, funding and a workforce plan should have been in place before existing units were cut.