MP urges NHS bosses to retain emergency care at St Helier Hospital

By Tara O’Connor, Local Democracy Correspondent

The MP for Mitcham and Morden has said an overhaul of emergency care in South London would have a ‘devastating’ impact on patients.

Consultation is currently under way into the future of St Helier and Epsom Hospitals, and the NHS has stated its preferred option is for a new dedicated emergency hospital in Sutton.

The other two options are to have the emergency unit at Epsom or St Helier hospitals.

All three options involve moving acute services from two sites to one.

But MP Siobhain McDonagh thinks that the proposals would see other hospitals in the area facing more pressure.

In Parliament on Thursday she said: “From now until April fool’s day, of all days, my constituents are once again being consulted on the future of St Helier Hospital.”

The MP said that while she welcomed the £500 million investment in the NHS in South London, ‘the devil is in the detail’.

She thinks that people in Merton would actually travel to St George’s Hospital in Tooting or Croydon University Hospital rather than a new hospital in Sutton.

“If St Helier is downgraded, my constituents will turn to either St George’s, where the A&E is already in the bottom quartile for space standards, or Croydon University Hospital, where bed occupancy is already at 99 per cent.

“How can it possibly be a sensible idea to force even more people to rely on such overstretched services? The impact would be devastating.”

In her first address of the new parliament, Ms McDonagh called on the government to step in.

She added: “I challenge every foundation that this programme has been built upon, and I appeal to ministers to step in before another penny of taxpayers’ money is wasted on this bogus consultation.

“It is time for the madness to end. Leave these vital services where they are most needed: at Saint Helier hospital on its current site.”

But Improving Healthcare Together, which combines Merton, Sutton and Surrey Downs CCGs, says that a new 21st century hospital facility would bring together six services for the most unwell patients, as well as births in hospital.

And it states that all three options would see 85 per cent of services remaining at Epsom and St Helier hospitals.

When the consultation launched, Dr Ruth Charlton, joint medical director for Epsom St Helier NHS Trust, said: “We need to bring together our specialist doctors and healthcare staff, so we can meet national standards for emergency care, around the clock at evening and weekends.

“I want my most unwell patients to be able to get a fast diagnosis and start treatment more quickly to speed-up their recovery.

“These proposals set out how bigger teams of expert hospital staff at a specialist emergency care hospital could do this.”

The consultation will close on April 1 and can be found here.