Karen Buck MP

Westminster North Constituency Tel: 020 8968 7999 Fax: 020 8960 0150 BUCKK@parliament.uk www.karenbuck.org.uk

Mike More Chief Executive Westminster City Council City Hall Victoria Street London Dear Mike, Potential moving of elective surgery from St Marys to Hammersmith Despite regular meetings with the CE and Chair of the Imperial Trust, and more recently, the newly established Clinical Commissioning Groups covering Westminster, I was taken aback to discover that, alongside plans to expand and upgrade the Accident and Emergency services at St Marys, Imperial may also be proposing a major shift of elective services to Charing Cross hospital. I was particularly surprised to hear about such a fundamental change from the Chair of the Independent Reconfiguration Panel, who asked me, at a meeting convened by Hammersmith MP Andy Slaughter if I was happy with the re-location of most elective surgery and up to 200 beds from St Marys to Charing X. Since then, I have been in correspondence with Imperial and the CCGs, and have had this broad direction of travel confirmed, but, as yet, no specifics on which to base an informed discussion, and, more importantly, no indication whatsoever as to plans for any consultation on such a major set of changes. I understand from Mark Ewbank that neither has Westminster City Council received anything formal to indicate such a move. It may be that there is a powerful clinical and financial case for change, and, of course, services do shift between hospitals, and it is often in the patient interest for them to do so. (Renal services being a recent example where surgery has moved from St Marys to Charing X). However, there are important caveats: 1) In this case, the potential shift in provision (as outlined by the IRP) is of such a scale that the whole nature of the hospital changes. This case needs to be set out clearly and publicly. 2) There is no justification for anything other than openness and transparency in the decisionmaking process, given the impact upon Westminster residents. 3) There are important implications for transport and accessibility. 4) There may well be implications for the management and delivery of social care.

I would be very grateful f if you could let me know: Whether Westminster Council has been fully briefed on these proposals? If so, when, and in what form? Will the Council take a view, and if so, when? If no, what is your understanding of the next stage of the process and of the consultation that will be carried out?

Thank you very much and I look forward to hearing from you. Yours sincerely

Karen Buck Cc Healthwatch