ANN FRANKLYN, 22 years a nurse and midwife at Ealing Hospital, carrying heavy bags, stopped at the occupation at 6.30pm on Friday evening. ‘Today was my last day,’ she said. ‘I want to come back.’
The West London Council of Action is calling on workers to stop work and shops to close their doors in Southall and other areas for two hours on Wednesday 1st July from 12 noon to 2pm, to join the march and occupation of Ealing Hospital to save the maternity unit.
That date is when the hospital management plans to close Ealing Maternity. Last Wednesday, 24th June, the West London Council of Action organised a march of more than 200 local residents, including John McDonnell, MP, which marched into the hospital at 1pm and occupied the front of the maternity unit.
The occupation of Ealing Hospital has been maintained 24-hours a day since then, with more and more people joining every hour. Since 1pm on Wednesday 24th June, Ealing Hospital has been occupied!
Wednesday 24th June was the date when the hospital’s maternity unit barred arranged deliveries, with this Wednesday, 1st July, the date when the maternity is set to close its doors to all pregnant women. More than 3,000 babies are born at Ealing Hospital every year. The so-called Clinical Commissioning Group announced the closure of Ealing maternity last month just after the general election, in a remote sports hall in the borough, with no buses passing nearby.
At that meeting they presented projections and ‘pie charts’ claiming that mothers prefer to have their babies elsewhere, whereas GPs in Southall have stated categorically that for months and years they have been put under inordinate pressure to send their expectant mothers to other maternity units.
When the BBC reporter at that meeting asked: ‘Is it true that after you have closed Ealing Maternity Unit you will close the A&E department,’ they brazenly replied: ‘No.’ However, under ‘Shaping a Healthier Future’, the name the west London NHS bosses use to describe their hospital closure programme, the A&Es at Hammersmith Hospital and Central Middlesex Hospital closed simultaneously on 10th September last year. Ealing Hospital Maternity is to close the day after tomorrow.
This is to be followed by Paediatrics and Orthopaedics, with blue-light ambulances barred from bringing patients to A&E. The privately-run ‘Urgent Care Centre’, through which you have to pass before you are allowed to reach A&E, is to be rapidly expanded, with consultant-led A&E care removed from the hospital and the A&E closed soon, with the simultaneous closure and demolition of Charing Cross Hospital.
They intend to demolish Ealing Hospital and hand the land over to property developers – the demolition is already underway. Ealing Hospital workers, patients and residents have expressed their concerns and readiness for action in the past few days. Dalvinder Atwal said: ‘As a member of the Indian Workers Association we feel that our community needs this hospital and we must keep it open.
‘We do not accept any excuses that the government hasn’t got the money for it. ‘It must be saved.’
Roda Guland, a local mother, said: ‘They are selling land to the developers. They are planning to get rid of the whole hospital, shutting one thing after another – so we have to stop them here and now.
‘And what about the other hospitals which are already absolutely overwhelmed – imagine the whole of Ealing borough coming to them!’
Amran Haid, a local grandmother, said: ‘My daughter is expecting soon and she wants to have her baby here. And my nieces are all expecting to have their babies soon and they all want to have them here. They’ve been told to book into other hospitals many miles away, which is not convenient.
‘Families need to be nearby when babies are born. The building of this hospital was not a mistake. It was built because it was needed.’
Dilmohan Bhasin, a regular occupier, informed News Line that he is a member of Healthwatch, which is a government-funded statutory organisation monitored by Ealing Council. He said: ‘The closure of the Ealing Hospital Maternity Unit is disgusting. A heavily pregnant woman is unable to travel to other areas and families having to go to far-distant places for visiting hours, with transport not well connected or patient-friendly, will be dreadful for them. I support the planned action of stopping work and closing shops for two hours next Wednesday to show the necessary solidarity.’
Unison member Malkiat Bilku, reporting from the occupation, said on Friday: ‘A pregnant woman came to maternity holding her stomach, unable to walk. ‘She said she was going into labour and wanted to go in, but she was told she could not go in and should go to Northwick Park Hospital in Harrow. Her husband went again and said she can’t walk, they must allow her in, but they said no. So she went out walking very slowly. We do hope she and her baby are alright and safe.’
Harjinder Singh, regular occupier, lorry driver and Southall resident with two young sons born at Ealing Hospital, said: ‘In Southall, Ealing, Hanwell, Acton, workers must stop work on Wednesday 1st July and join the march and occupation to save our hospital. We know that if they close maternity we will lose the whole hospital. They will close department by department. Traffic is increasing day by day. Those who live in the borough will never get to other hospitals in time – heart attack and stroke patients won’t have any chance to live and mothers in labour will be at enormous risk. This march is very important for the community to save this hospital.’
Gate Gourmet sacked worker and daily occupier, Chanan Rattu, said: ‘I had a bad accident two years ago when I was hit by a car in Northolt. I lost consciousness and my memory for several hours, but an ambulance brought me here and I was treated very well. There is still pain in my body and I am still coming here for treatment. Ealing is a life-saver for so many people. If they close this hospital many people, doctors, nurses and all the other workers will lose their jobs. This must not be allowed.’
Southall shopworker Carol Connor said at the Southall Broadway campaign stall on Saturday: ‘I’m going to stop work from 12-2pm next Wednesday to join the march and I’m coming to join the occupation before then as well. All seven of my grandkids were born at Ealing Hospital and I know if they close maternity they will close the whole hospital. Look at all the people here. Where will they go?’
Fowsia Farah (in picture with her four girls) said: ‘All my four girls were born at Ealing Hospital. The service I had there on each occasion was fantastic. I am joining the occupation on Sunday and the march on Wednesday.’
Southall mother Uzma Aslam said: ‘My four children were born at Ealing. I love Ealing Hospital – I love the staff, all the people – and the midwives are really nice. I’m joining the occupation for one hour on Monday and the march on Wednesday.’
Local campaigner Zahida Abbas Noori, a GMB union member for 17 years and a former Labour Council member, said at the occupation: ‘I am a patient at Ealing Hospital at present and I can assure you that all the beds in my ward are occupied. This hospital is full and it is fully needed by the people of Ealing and Southall because it is very convenient.
‘I have been a campaigner on community issues, especially the NHS, for many years and it is the government’s responsibility to provide quality frontline service to the people. In this case it clearly failing to do so. I remember before the previous election in 2010, David Cameron came here and made a promise, before disappearing through the back to avoid the demonstrators at the front, that he would not close Ealing Hospital.
‘Both my children were born here – my daughter was born here in 2003. Because of complications, I was referred to Queen Charlotte’s in Hammersmith where I was meant to be having my baby. But on the day, I was in severe pain and the ambulance brought me here and my baby was born within 15 minutes. The following day the surgeon told me that had there been any delay both myself and my baby would have died. This was my experience, but many thousands of mothers have gone through similar experiences.
‘I urge all the shopkeepers and community and faith organisations to close their doors for two hours on Wednesday and join the march and occupation to show solidarity, because this is such a serious issue for the whole community of Southall. And likewise all workers and trade unions must do the same.’
