Defend the Whittington Hospital Coalition

About

At its inaugural meeting on 17 December 09, the Defend The Whittington Hospital Coalition saw residents, doctors and patients join forces to oppose proposals by NHS executives to close the Whittington Hospital’s A&E department.

The area served by the Whittington includes two football stadiums and two prisons, many schools and several colleges.

Islington is the eighth poorest borough in the country, with the highest suicide rate.

There is no Casualty department in Haringey. These plans would mean that people in Haringey and Islington would have to go to the Royal Free or UCLH in Camden, or to another hospital in the case of an emergency.

In addition to the long distances people would have to go and the risks to lives, this would have the effect of log-jamming provision in the other hospitals, of running down other specialist services, like the intensive care, paediatrics and maternity units at the Whittington, and of reducing medical training there.

This is part of a larger cuts and privatisation plan for hospitals and GP surgeries in London’s NHS. It must be stopped!

Diversity Statement

The Defend the Whittington Hospital Coalition is committed to supporting our public health services for all users in our diverse community. We don’t  represent, support or condone any organisations or individuals who discriminate, or promote discrimination, on the grounds of colour, race, nationality, ethnic or national origin, sex, disability, age, religious belief, sexual orientation or marital status.

Contact us

By email: defendwhittington@googlemail.com

By post: Defend The Whittington Hospital Coalition, Whittington Park Community Centre, Yerbury Road, London,  N19 4RS

You can also join our Facebook group and follow us on Twitter.

Defend the Whittington Hospital Coalition (DWHC) was set up, in Dec 2009, to build a united opposition to the proposals to close the Accident and Emergency Department at the Whittington Hospital and to stop the closure, privatisation and run-down of NHS services in our area. We are opposed to any loss of service in any hospital in North London.

Between December 2009 and April 2010 we mounted a huge campaign to save the Whittington A&E and Maternity Services. This included a 5,000 strong march along Holloway Road and at the end of April we achieved a victory when the Health Secretary agreed to halt the review that put our services under threat. However the General Election was followed by months of uncertainty and we sustained our campaigning efforts thoughout the year. The future of the Whittington Hospital now seems relatively secure (see Islington Gazette, 2-Dec-2010), but we will continue to monitor the situation because things could change at a moment’s notice.

Meanwhile there are numerous other threats to our health service, both nationally and locally, and we aim to report on these via this website. The most significant threat is the Government’s White Paper on Health – “Liberating” the NHS – which many people fear could revert our health systems to the situation of the 1930s.

Elsewhere on this website you will find articles in the national press and in the local press.

If you would like to contribute any information for this website or if you have any comments on it then please send an e-mail to defendwhittington@gmail.com