Forum Topic

Closure of Maternity Unit at Ealing Hospital

No More Babies Born In EalingMeeting to launch a Campaign to Save the Maternity Unit at Ealing HospitalTuesday  4th March7.00pmNorthfield Community Centre 71A Northcroft Rd : West Ealing: W13 9SS Underground - Northfield (Piccadilly Line): Bus - E3 • The Maternity Unit at Ealing Hospital is to close.• Children’s services (paediatrics) are to close.• A&E is to be down graded to an urgent care centre.2015 is targeted for the closure of the maternity unit IF capacity can be found at Northwick Park; West Middlesex or Hillingdon Hospital. Theoretically expectant mothers have a choice of any hospital that provides maternity services but in practice not all have availability at the time needed.The maternity department at Ealing was purpose built. It recently upgraded its facilities and now has a total of 11 birthing rooms; three are home-from-home labour suites with one of the three having a pool for water births.  The labour ward has a dedicated operating theatre and recovery room with ease of access to a 15-cot special care baby unit. All this is to go.These closures will mean long journeys to hospitals outside the borough of Ealing. We would welcome to this meeting anyone interested in joining, and helping to plan, a campaign to save the maternity and paediatric department at Ealing Hospital.IF you are unable to attend the meeting but would like us to keep you informed about the campaign please let us know. Thelma Leach (not Eric!)

Eric Alan Leach ● 4426d9 Comments

We are never going to get healthcare in the UK so long as we choose saving 5 minutes of travel time over quality of care. Most clinicians recognise that the number of hospitals we have is no longer needed - the massive shift to day surgery and more specialist care means they just aren't needed and until we deal with that we are effectively just ploughing 60% of the NHS budget into old buildings that are too big for modern needs.What we need is less hospitals offering significantly better care to a higher volume of patients - this drives efficiencies and patient outcomes. We also need a lot more money going into primary care but the frankly pathetic political point scoring means the need for reform is lost on the public and we will continue to see our loved ones suffering from poor care - albeit we can all be thankful that we saved 5 minutes on their journey.For anyone who is actually interested the presentation below is based on work that's been well received internationally by Michael Porter that goes well beyond the "don't make any changes to our local hospital even if it saves money and lives" debate we have in West London. It also shows the road other countries like the Netherlands and Germany are on - and you won't get many people from those countries choosing to be treated on the NHS.http://www.isc.hbs.edu/pdf/2010-0429_Bern_EOT.pdf

Chris Martin ● 4415d

Another easy target I suppose.

Philippa Bond ● 4416d

Bump again!

Eric Alan Leach ● 4419d

Bump

Eric Alan Leach ● 4422d

The clear intention is to remove various facilities from Ealing and move to the PFI built hospitals so that they can sell off Ealing and other hospitals for development and subsidise the investment bankers by the awful PFI payments. PFI is what is killing the NHS. No Marks and Sparks boss will fix that

Peter Chadburn ● 4424d

Does what matter?  Delivering in extremis?  Not having a maternity unit in which to deliver?

Eric Alan Leach ● 4424d

Someone I know well managed to scramble out of QCH lift decades ago to deliver child on a bed. That was at night time after a very rushed drive to the hospital through traffic free streets.Does it matter?

George Knox ● 4425d

Had my first at Queen Charlotte's and second at West London, Hammersmith Broadway (sadly no longer with us).  This was before the main Ealing Hospital opened and long before the Maternity Unit there.Given the rising birthrate in this part of West London, I don't see how we can afford to lose this facility.  I'm also concerned about what will happen to the Domicilary Midwives who deliver at home under the new scheme.Thelma

Eric Alan Leach ● 4425d

Worrying to hear of yet another local hospital facility being threatened. We opted to have our children delivered in Queen Charlotte's as it was then ie some fifty years ago. Good luck with your campaign.

Gerry Tan ● 4425d