CHEERS went up outside the High Court when Justice Silber ruled yesterday that Jeremy Hunt’s decision to cut the Accident & Emergency and Maternity Unit services at Lewisham Hospital was unlawful and was quashed.
‘Say Hey Ho! Jeremy Hunt has got to go!’ was the chant when the campaigners welcomed the news.
The judge said Health Secretary Hunt and the administrator he appointed to South London Healthcare had acted outside their powers when it was announced Lewisham Hospital services would be downgraded, and that decision had breached the provisions of the National Health Services Act 2006.
But he gave Hunt permission to appeal against the decision.
The challenge was brought by Save Lewisham Hospital Campaign and the London Borough of Lewisham, who argued that Lewisham Hospital was suffering because neighbouring South London Healthcare Trust was £65m in deficit, losing more than £1m every week.
Rosa Curling, a lawyer acting for the campaigners, said it was a ‘victory’. ‘This judgment should serve as a warning to the government that, if they try to do this, local communities will fight back to ensure their healthcare services remain in place.’
Hunt’s department expressed disappointed saying: ‘This judgment applies to one aspect of a package of changes which we believe are in the best long-term interests of patients and the public across south-east London.
‘We expect to continue other elements of that package of changes, including the dissolution of the South London Healthcare NHS Trust, planned for October.’
Outside the High Court, Polly Wicks said: ‘I got involved with the whole campaign to save the NHS because of what was happening at Lewisham Hospital.
‘Originally it was because my local hospital was threatened with closure, but I realised that this was part of a national initiative by the government to actually destroy the National Health Service (NHS).’
A speaker on the megaphone outside the High Court said: ‘This is a historic victory for us and all of those campaigners who have been fighting so hard to protect their National Health Service from the clutches of private companies.’
• At the beleaguered Stafford Hospital, Trust Special Administrators (TSAR) have said that the trust that ran the hospital should be dissolved and propose that Stafford Hospital lose its maternity unit but keep its accident and emergency department, which will continue to open as it does at present from 08:00 to 22:00.
In April, up to 50,000 people took part in a march from Stafford’s town centre to the hospital, protesting at plans to downgrade Stafford’s services.
