09.01.13
The greater good?
Special administrator Matthew Kershaw’s plans to save South London NHS Healthcare NHS trust – by dissolving it – have brought new criticism from campaigners trying to save services at a nearby hospital, Lewisham, which would lose services under the reconfiguration.
Despite its financial solvency, and not being part of the failing trust, Lewisham could be merged with the Queen Elizabeth hospital and see its A&E and maternity units closed.
The plans throw up the question of how much the health landscape must work together to deliver better services overall – how much should be sacrificed for a greater good? The recommendations may seem harsh for Lewisham, brought in to pick up the pieces of somebody else’s mistakes.
But the NHS is going through unprecedented change, and perhaps this attitude is as unsustainable as the failing SLHT. It was never going to be an easy decision to make, and it will not be easy to implement – that does not mean it is the wrong course of action.
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