Phew, voting UKIP would not have been easy to do as I think that we are better off as part of an integrated Europe, though one with immigration and border control, though I am so disillusioned with the people I see on TV who appear to actually think that I believe their own lies I was going to do it if none of our local MPs had bothered to participate in this vote.However, it certain puts Angie Bray in a very bad light. She has participated in the anti-closure campaigns in Ealing over hospital closure and her actions in voting "No" brand her a hypocrite at the very least.To put her hypocricy in perspective I reproduce a letter from her own website:11 JUL 2013Hospitals updateAngie has submitted her comments to the Independent Review Panel which is in the process of reviewing the NHS North West London "Shaping a Healthier Future" plans. The plans include closing the A&E departments at Ealing, Central Middlesex, Hammersmith and Charing Cross hospitals and Angie has been a staunch opponent, calling the proposals reckless and disproportionate.The following statement is what she sent to the panel:Dear Sir/MadamAs the Member of Parliament for Ealing Central and Acton, my constituency would be affected perhaps more than that of any other MP by the NHS' plans to reorganise acute care across London.After the "Shaping a Healthier Future" consultation, NHS North West London (NHS NWL) announced that it would be proceeding with plans to downgrade the A&E departments at Ealing, Central Middlesex, Hammersmith and Charing Cross hospitals, leaving my constituents facing up to what I have described as an emergency-care black hole. In my view, taking out the four A&Es most used by my constituents at once and in one concentrated part of London, is both reckless and disproportionate.The vast majority of my constituents are relieved that this decision has been reviewed. It is baffling that for the last year or so NHS NWL has presented their proposals as a virtual fait accompli, without adequately explaining quite how they will work in practice. It is unreasonable to expect my constituents to support the closure of their local much-cherished A&Es without any certainty that what they are told will be put in place will materialise. NHS NWL say that new "urgent care centres" will cater for everyone's needs, but it seems that there is a lengthy list of conditions and a number of possible problems with which they will not actually deal. It is important to remember that Ealing hospital, for example, has an A&E department which sees at least 100,000 people every year. I appreciate that we need to make long-term improvements to our health service and the way services are delivered, but we need better guarantees that the planned changes will provide an acceptable replacement for what we have at present. Moreover, in the meantime, there is the practical question that everybody is asking: if the A&E departments are closing at four hospitals, what will happen to the queues at the A&Es that are left open?There is also a serious question mark over travel times to the A&Es that will remain open. Clearly, it will take longer to get to the neighbouring A&Es that remain in operation and the transport links from my constituency to St Mary's, Chelsea and Westminster, West Middlesex and Northwick Park hospitals would make accessibility difficult.In the longer term we will need to encourage more people to sign up to local GPs rather than depending on A&Es for all their health care needs, but that requires time and organisation. We cannot just close four A&Es and expect people to cope. Looking forward, we clearly need to make sensible decisions on how we fund health care provision locally, to ensure money is available to meet all the rising costs associated with people living longer, new medicines coming on-stream and new costly treatments, but we have to take people with us as we approach change.People have an emotional attachment to their local hospitals and they need to be persuaded of the case for change. Given that the health reforms have put GPs in charge of local health provision, why are we not waiting to see what decisions they think would be appropriate, rather than pushing these decisions through now? The whole approach has been too rushed.Finally, and importantly, local GPs have hardly been queuing up, in public at least, to support these proposals. The impression my constituents have been left with is that the consultation was little more than an attempt to channel their views towards the preferred option, in what was a box-ticking exercise by NHS North West London.There are too many questions left unanswered, and too much of the information provided in the consultation was too questionable. I am deeply concerned by the plans which, as I have said, are both reckless and disproportionate – a view shared by the vast majority of my constituents. I trust you will take these comments on board when conducting your review.Yours sincerelyAngie Bray MP
Neil F. Weber ● 4176d