Consultation Report a Sham

I have written to A Picture of Health to complain that none of the 3 "short list" options presented to local residents includes retaining Queen Mary's A & E.

In the full report 23 "long list" options were developed in which 70% proposed keeping Queen Mary's as a fully admitting hospital (13 options) or a medically admitting hospital (3). However, by the time that these 23 options had been mysteriously whittled down to 3, not one of the 16 options to have Queen Mary's as a fully or medically admitting hospital had been retained. The 3 short list options all include Queen Mary's as a borough hospital, the lowest type of hospital.

The final 3 options were selected and articulated by the NHS behind closed doors and has left the public with what amounts to Hobson's choice. None of the 3 options provide for a fully functioning A & E, non-surgical emergencies, emergency and complex surgery, trauma surgery, children's services - inpatients, assessment and treatment, doctor-led maternity unit with intensive care for babies, or midwife-led birthing unit.

In the questionnaire the residents of the Boroughs of Bexley and Bromley are permitted to select "none of these [3] options", having been told in the consultation report that to leave things as they are "is not an option"!

The consultation report is a sham, asking for residents to respond to closed questions relating to limited options preselected by NHS bureaucrats.