Greg Hands M.P. today welcomed news that NHS North West London is signalling a partial climb down on the closure of the Accident & Emergency unit at Charing Cross Hospital, but is awaiting further information on the proposal.
Hammersmith & Fulham Council is reporting - here - that the NHS is to spend £90 million on rebuilding the hospital, retaining a 24/7 emergency facility with ability to admit patients.
Greg is keeping an open mind until he sees concrete proposals. A formal recommendation is expected to be made by the NHS on 19th February.
Greg Hands M.P. said: “This is a welcome step in the right direction, after a massive local campaign in West London, and from Hammersmith & Fulham Council on the NHS’s initial poorly thought through proposals. I will need to examine this new proposal in more detail, but I would like to see the NHS go further in ensuring that all of my constituents, with their growing population of children and elderly, have the best possible access to accident & emergency facilities. I expect that the Independent Reconfiguration Panel, which is the review body for major hospital changes, will be looking at the proposals, once the NHS has announced its choice on 19th, and I look forward to examining them in more detail then.”