Chris Grayling

There have been a number of developments on the hospital front, which Chris is afraid make things look still bleaker for Epsom.

The Better Healthcare Closer to Home Review has now been published, and recommends that there is no new critical care hospital, but that there should be a smaller network of local care hospitals in Merton and Sutton, and an acute hospital to serve that area - though not as sophisticated as the one previously envisaged. The Review assumes that Epsom will become a community hospital serving Surrey, and does not retain its acute services. You can find the document at

http://www.betterhealthcare.org.uk/
uploads/224-BHCH-Review-Report-
16.03.2007.pdf

There is a strong chance that the proposed acute hospital for Sutton and Merton will not survive the broader NHS Review currently taking place in London, and it is now generally assumed in the NHS that St Helier will eventually just become a satellite site for St George's.

In addition, Surrey MPs have just met the Surrey Primary Care Trust, and were told that they are pressing ahead with a strategy that also involves major hospital cutbacks in Surrey. The assumption is that either Guildford or St Peters' will lose their A&E Department. It is clear that they are not considering seriously the possibility of keeping acute services at Epsom.

So either way, things are now looking pretty bleak.

There are two ways of saving the situation. The first is that if Gordon Brown becomes Prime Minister this summer, he may decide to introduce a moratorium on hospital changes. So it is well worth while keeping up the protests in the hope of staving off change until a possible change of strategy later this year.

Alternatively, Adrian White is still pursuing the option of a charitable buyout of Epsom which would leave the hospital under the control of medical practitioners and the local community. However there is a long way to go before this could become a reality - and it is far from certain that all the current services could be retained whatever the outcome.

Chris's aim is to keep the campaign going in the hope that we can secure a change of strategy. The next planned protest will be on Saturday May 5th, with a rally and a group of people marching from St Helier to Epsom.

More details will be available on this site nearer the time.