Not so urgent and not much care: patents shown the door at Queen Mary's
Queen Mary’s Hospital is turning away ambulances arriving with injured patients, claiming it can’t cope.
This is the reality of medical care at the Sidcup hospital, six months after it ‘temporarily’ closed its A&E department.
Queen Mary’s, which is Chislehurst’s nearest hospital, still has a 24/7 Urgent Care Centre to treat “urgent but less serious cases”. But a lack of clarity about of the level of care offered at the hospital is causing confusion in the NHS ambulance service. One driver said: “I took a patient there recently but was turned away at the door. They didn’t want to know. The hospital is a shadow if its former self.”
Most ambulance drivers are now taking patients directly to Princess Royal in Farnborough, regardless of the injury or condition.
A spokesperson for South London NHS said: “Emergency ambulances do not take patients to Queen Mary’s. The Urgent Care Centre is for patients who do not require an ambulance.”
The decision to close the A&E at Queen Mary’s Hospital was taken by NHS London at the end of 2010 in a controversial programme called ‘A Picture of Health’.
Only the Health Secretary Andrew Lansley could overrule the decision. But in February he confirmed that he had no intention of saving Queen Mary’s Hospital despite a Conservative Party pre-Election pledge to “stop the forced close of A&E wards”.
Following the closure of the A&E, a specialist unit treating around 400 patients with Multiple Sclerosis at Queen Mary’s also potentially faces the axe.
ChislehurstNews comment: The closure of the A&E department and the confusing messages about Queen Mary’s Urgent Care Centre reveals that patient care has been put second to the so-called reform of NHS services in the area.
This has led to the perverse situation where we are told that if we are injured or poorly, live near Queen Mary’s Hospital and require urgent medical attention, then if we drive ourselves then we may be seen by a doctor. But if we call an ambulance to take us there we won’t.
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QUEEN MARY’S HOSPITAL TURNING AWAY PATIENTS
Not so urgent and not much care: patents shown the door at Queen Mary's
Queen Mary’s Hospital is turning away ambulances arriving with injured patients, claiming it can’t cope.
This is the reality of medical care at the Sidcup hospital, six months after it ‘temporarily’ closed its A&E department.
Queen Mary’s, which is Chislehurst’s nearest hospital, still has a 24/7 Urgent Care Centre to treat “urgent but less serious cases”. But a lack of clarity about of the level of care offered at the hospital is causing confusion in the NHS ambulance service. One driver said: “I took a patient there recently but was turned away at the door. They didn’t want to know. The hospital is a shadow if its former self.”
Most ambulance drivers are now taking patients directly to Princess Royal in Farnborough, regardless of the injury or condition.
A spokesperson for South London NHS said: “Emergency ambulances do not take patients to Queen Mary’s. The Urgent Care Centre is for patients who do not require an ambulance.”
The decision to close the A&E at Queen Mary’s Hospital was taken by NHS London at the end of 2010 in a controversial programme called ‘A Picture of Health’.
Only the Health Secretary Andrew Lansley could overrule the decision. But in February he confirmed that he had no intention of saving Queen Mary’s Hospital despite a Conservative Party pre-Election pledge to “stop the forced close of A&E wards”.
Following the closure of the A&E, a specialist unit treating around 400 patients with Multiple Sclerosis at Queen Mary’s also potentially faces the axe.
ChislehurstNews comment: The closure of the A&E department and the confusing messages about Queen Mary’s Urgent Care Centre reveals that patient care has been put second to the so-called reform of NHS services in the area.
This has led to the perverse situation where we are told that if we are injured or poorly, live near Queen Mary’s Hospital and require urgent medical attention, then if we drive ourselves then we may be seen by a doctor. But if we call an ambulance to take us there we won’t.
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