Double vision of the hard decisions to come

BMA

As was noted many years before the NHS was born, ‘All change is not growth, as all movement is not forward’. Last week we saw further expressions of anger at changes to local NHS services, which, to those most affected, do not look like forward movement.

In South London, thousands of people marched in protest at plans to downgrade Lewisham Hospital’s emergency and maternity services — part of the recommended response to financial difficulties at the neighbouring SLHT (South London Healthcare NHS Trust). Health secretary Jeremy Hunt has now ‘accepted the broad recommendations’ of special administrator Matthew Kershaw’s report, on condition that Lewisham retains a small A and E service.

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NHS