The daily picket of Chase Farm Hospital to stop its closure kicked off last Monday with an extremely lively mass picket.
From the moment the North East London Council of Action set up the picket at 7.00am, passing motorists beeped their horns in support and the they didn’t stop until it finished at 2.00pm.
Support for occupying the hospital was solid: doctors, nurses, local residents, school youth and student nurses all said that they support the policy of occupying maternity, the A&E and Paediatrics departments to stop their closure.<br />
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Hospital worker and local resident, Stuart told News Line: ‘It is a great service here at Chase.<br />
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‘I fail to see how Barnet hospital will cope with the increased influx of patients if Chase Farm closes.<br />
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‘They will try and close other district general hospitals.<br />
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‘The case has not been proven that these large “centres of excellence” provide the same quality of care to the patients.<br />
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‘They are built at the expense of district general hospitals being shut.<br />
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‘They can not get away with this! If you look at what happened two nights ago, the sheer demand for the A&E service at Chase Farm outweighed the demand.<br />
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‘The four-hour wait government limit was breached and if they close Chase then Barnet simply can not pick up the slack.<br />
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‘This year the Olympics are coming and you have a big demand on London.<br />
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‘I support the daily picket of Chase Farm Hospital, it brings awareness to the local population and I have to say that it helps the moral of the staff.<br />
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‘The constant honking of horns shows that you have support for what you are doing.’<br />
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Bill Rogers, Secretary of the North East London Council of Action said: ‘We started our picket nice and early and we immediately got a great response from passing motorists and passers by.<br />
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‘The Council of Action has responded to the threats of cuts and closures at Chase Farm by stepping up its monthly pickets to a daily picket.<br />
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‘We are now gearing up to occupy the hospital.’<br />
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Sabrina Farrell an expectant mum said: ‘I use the maternity service at Chase Farm, obviously to make sure my baby is ok.<br />
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‘So far so good! My sister’s child was born New Year’s Eve at Chase Farm and that was magical.<br />
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‘Occupying needs to be done because no one is listening to our cries of help.<br />
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‘If they close their will be a lot of problems and a lot of unnecessary deaths, that is what I feel.<br />
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‘The other hospitals can not handle the amount of extra patients that they would have to treat so action has to be taken.<br />
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‘The people need to take action!<br />
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‘My baby is due on Valentine’s Day and I feel very strongly that this maternity department needs to be defended.<br />
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Leon Johnson who joined in the picket said: ‘I was carrying the lead banner on the march to defend Chase Farm Hospital last month.<br />
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‘My mum used to work here at Chase Farm back in the eighties and she lived on site in the nurses’ residence.<br />
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‘I just had a blood test at Chase and I have one every three months.<br />
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‘I have joined the picket because I am on this cause.<br />
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‘Since the eighties they have been shutting down the nurses’ residence and we have to defend the people who look after us in our times of need and stop the evictions.<br />
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‘We have to stop them evicting nurses and stop them shutting down the nurses’ residence and if it means occupying the nurses’ residence then that is what we will have to do.’<br />
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Linda Walter, studying nursing at Middlesex University was at Chase Farm Hospital doing a training day, she said: ‘We are learning CPR. If someone has had a cardiac arrest then CPR can buy them crucial time.<br />
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‘They want to shut the A&E at Chase and that means that patients that are suffering from a cardiac arrest will have to travel to Barnet or North Middlesex and that is really bad.<br />
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‘It will take longer for the ambulance to get there and if we were performing CPR in the back of the ambulance their life would be at risk, how quickly you get to the hospital is the difference between life and death.’<br />
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Kay Empson who is an NVQ assessor said: ‘It is really sad that they are threatening to close down this hospital because the nearest hospitals are not near.<br />
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‘I think that occupying the departments to stop the closure is worth while doing.<br />
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‘If they knock Chase Farm Hospital down they are probably going to build private housing.’<br />
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A pregnant woman, Anita Whyte said: ‘I use the maternity at Chase and this will be my third here at this hospital.<br />
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‘I have had no problem what so ever this is a fantastic service, I chose to come back for my third.<br />
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‘I definitely agree with keeping not only maternity but the whole hospital running and I am totally up for organising the occupation to stop the closure.’<br />
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Farrah Wakil, a junior doctor said: ‘I work in Enfield as a junior doctor and I am due to start work at Chase Farm A&E from February to August.<br />
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‘So I was anxious when I heard of the threatened closure.<br />
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‘I have already moved to Enfield and sorted out my accommodation in preparation for the job which entails late shifts which means that you need to be close by and accessible.’<br />
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Jasmine Chung, a student studying Geography at South Bank University in South London said: ‘I am using the services at Chase and I live locally and I was born here at Chase Farm.<br />
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‘We must definitely save the hospital, I have been coming here for years.<br />
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‘I know the building and the staff.<br />
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‘I do not agree with what the government are doing and I support the daily picket.<br />
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‘You can see people supporting the picket. Every time I drive past I give a little honk of the horn.’<br />
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Dick Chitolie, who had created his own placard for the picket, said: ‘I am the flying picket and I am a foot soldier for the cause.<br />
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‘I have joined the picket because I want more people to be aware of the Chase Farm battle.<br />
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‘It is not just about holding back greedy land-grabbers and their dishonest politicians.<br />
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‘It is about keeping our inheritance and jobs for life.<br />
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‘The NHS is our inheritance, they must renovate Chase Farm Hospital not close down departments.’<br />
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Emine Karadag said: ‘I am an expectant mum and I have also had a child at Chase Farm Hospital before, I was well looked after.<br />
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‘This time round there has been a lot of staff shortages and we had to have group appointments instead of individual appointments.<br />
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‘They are trying to cut the service and force its closure.<br />
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‘I support the occupation of maternity to stop the closure.<br />
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‘Why do we want the NHS privatised, we are happy with the service we have got here.’
