“WRITING ON THE WALL” FOR NHS EMERGENCIES

18-09-2006

Unions are warning that accident and emergency units at two Birmingham hospitals could be scaled down or closed altogether as the NHS funding crisis deepens.

Ann Leedham-Smith from the Royal College of Nursing in the West Midlands told The Stirrer “you don't need a crystal ball” to see a threat to the casualty unit at Good Hope Hospital in Sutton Coldfield.

She also warned that A&Eat City Hospital could be transferred lock, stock and stethoscope to Sandwell General, leaving west and north Birmingham without any emergency cover.

Readers may remember that when the General Hospital was closed in Steelhouse Lane, patients were re-assured that it wasn't a problem because

City - in Dudley Road - was only ten minutes drive away.

We wonder what kind of excuse they'll use now.

Hundreds of posts have already been cut at City and Sandwell, where the trust has a £10million deficit.

Leedham-Smith said: “Look at what happened when they downgraded A&E at Kidderminster and transferred services to Worcester. Now Worcester can't cope.”

Her gloomy prognosis was shared by a Unison official who told us: “What the Trusts are aboutis creating centres of excellence, so in the Heart of England Trust, you might have oncology at Good Hope say, with A&E at Heartlands.

“I'm not sure if Good Hope would lose it's casualty altogether, but it might well be downgraded.”