Triplets born at Lewisham Hospital
On January 26, 2013, outside Lewisham Fire Station on Lewisham High Street, in south east London, these three children -- triplets -- provided one of the most photogenic moments during a march in Lewisham, in south east London, to save Lewisham Hospital from having its A&E Department closed, and other essential services -- including maternity -- cut, in proposals put forward by an NHS Special Administrator, Matthew Kershaw. An estimated 25,000 people turned up to protest, and this huge turnout was not just because, if the plans go ahead, there will be just one A&E for the 750,000 people in three boroughs -- Lewisham, Greenwich and Bexley -- located in a remote part of Woolwich, but also because it is unjust (and, I contend, illegal) to do such damage to Lewisham, a solvent and well-regarded NHS trust, for the debts accrued, through ruinous PFI deals, by a neighbouring trust, the South London Healthcare Trust. One of the SLHT's hospitals is Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Woolwich, where Lewisham residents are supposed to go, if the plans go ahead. In exchange for two new hospitals that cost £210 million, the SLHT has gone bust trying to pay back the £2.5 billion that the contractors and beneficiaries of the PFI deal -- Barclays, Innisfree and Taylor Woodrow -- negotiated as repayment over the lifetime of the deal.
For more information, see: www.savelewishamhospital.com/
For PFI, see: savelondonnhs.org.uk/index.php/pfi-petition-and-links-to-...
Also see my most recent article here: www.andyworthington.co.uk/2013/01/22/save-lewisham-hospit...
And my archive here: www.andyworthington.co.uk/tag/save-lewisham-ae/
Also see my first set of photos from the January 26 protest here: www.flickr.com/photos/andyworthington/sets/72157632616078...
And my photos of the November 24 protest: www.flickr.com/photos/andyworthington/sets/72157632089076...
And the demonstration outside a consultation with Matthew Kershaw and his team in Lewisham in December: www.flickr.com/photos/andyworthington/sets/72157632173200...
Triplets born at Lewisham Hospital
On January 26, 2013, outside Lewisham Fire Station on Lewisham High Street, in south east London, these three children -- triplets -- provided one of the most photogenic moments during a march in Lewisham, in south east London, to save Lewisham Hospital from having its A&E Department closed, and other essential services -- including maternity -- cut, in proposals put forward by an NHS Special Administrator, Matthew Kershaw. An estimated 25,000 people turned up to protest, and this huge turnout was not just because, if the plans go ahead, there will be just one A&E for the 750,000 people in three boroughs -- Lewisham, Greenwich and Bexley -- located in a remote part of Woolwich, but also because it is unjust (and, I contend, illegal) to do such damage to Lewisham, a solvent and well-regarded NHS trust, for the debts accrued, through ruinous PFI deals, by a neighbouring trust, the South London Healthcare Trust. One of the SLHT's hospitals is Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Woolwich, where Lewisham residents are supposed to go, if the plans go ahead. In exchange for two new hospitals that cost £210 million, the SLHT has gone bust trying to pay back the £2.5 billion that the contractors and beneficiaries of the PFI deal -- Barclays, Innisfree and Taylor Woodrow -- negotiated as repayment over the lifetime of the deal.
For more information, see: www.savelewishamhospital.com/
For PFI, see: savelondonnhs.org.uk/index.php/pfi-petition-and-links-to-...
Also see my most recent article here: www.andyworthington.co.uk/2013/01/22/save-lewisham-hospit...
And my archive here: www.andyworthington.co.uk/tag/save-lewisham-ae/
Also see my first set of photos from the January 26 protest here: www.flickr.com/photos/andyworthington/sets/72157632616078...
And my photos of the November 24 protest: www.flickr.com/photos/andyworthington/sets/72157632089076...
And the demonstration outside a consultation with Matthew Kershaw and his team in Lewisham in December: www.flickr.com/photos/andyworthington/sets/72157632173200...