Pressure mounts on Kingston Hospital as closure of Accident and Emergency and Maternity services come under scrutiny

MEMBERS of the Kingston Hospital NHS Trust Board faced pressure today as they were questioned over the plans to close the hospital’s accident and emergency and maternity services.

Tory Councillor, David Cunningham, asked the chairman of the hospital, Christopher Smallwood, to put forward to its board members to answer whether they would actively resist closure of the units if proposals were carried forward.

Mr Smallwood said: “I am not prepared to do that as we are trying to conduct a constructive dialogue in the process going on which is developing these options and it will damage us if we dig our heels in and effectively withdraw from that dialogue.”

With future healthcare services at Kingston Hospital looking unsustainable, Mr Smallwood said that if the plans do go ahead, “it will have a damaging effect on recruitment and is especially worrying for those women thinking of coming to deliver in this hospital.” He also recognised that: “If we go in the wrong direction, there will be general outrage and enormous opposition.”

Chief Executive, Kate Grimes, said that although the plans were still very vague, “there will be a point where it will become clear.” She added that: “if there were any changes made, Kingston Hospital would be in a very good position as it has the biggest maternity unit in south west London, with an exceptionally good reputation.”

Although there was no robust denial of the plans to close the A&E and maternity units within the room, a spokesperson for the Trust said: “Kingston Hospital has provided the local community with excellent maternity and A&E provision for many years and we look forward to continuing to provide an increasingly enhanced service to our community in the future.”

The news to close the units broke earlier this week when Edward Davey, Kingston and Surbiton MP, and Susan Kramer, Richmond Park MP, were told by senior managers within the NHS that a review of hospitals across south west London showed that only three of four hospitals should have either a maternity unit or an A&E and Kingston Hospital was in the list of possible closures.

Speaking outside the public board meeting, parliamentary candidate for Kingston and Surbiton, Helen Whately opposed the action being pursued by the two local MPs: “When the chief executive and the chairman have said there are no conclusions being reached to close the A&E and maternity services and changes to the site are not under consideration, then I am a bit concerned that this might be becoming a electoral pawning for the Liberal Democrats.”

To join the petition visit savekingstonhospital.org.uk.

BBC under attack over marginalising of faith

At the Church of England's headquarters in Victoria, I am being reminded that the backbone of strengthening community cohesion, cooperation and mutual understanding is the correct representation of faith. But what is going to become of society when religion and ethics are instead being presented in a dangerous and distorted way through British television? This is the concern raised by former BBC radio producer, Nigel Holmes.

Mr Holmes, who is also a lay member of the General Synod of the Church of England, will call upon the BBC and broadcasting watchdog Ofcom next month to explain why British television, which once was "exemplary in its coverage of religious and ethical issues, now marginalises the few such programmes which remain."

With hardly any religion on television in peak time, even at festive periods, Mr Holmes accused the BBC of overlooking the Christian significance of Good Friday 2009 and labelled ITV as a "lost cause" in terms of religious broadcasting.

The paper revealed that whilst general output on BBC One and Two had doubled over the last ten years, religious output had declined from 177 hours to 155 hours a year.

This is despite the BBC’s own research showing that 78% of Britons recognise Christianity as the "backbone of their spirituality" and 80% of respondents of a survey conducted by Mothers’ Union, an Anglican organisation, believed that religion is generally not well covered on British television.

So a certain factor has affected this decline, but where should the blame be placed? Mr Holmes proposed that the cuts in religious programmes are to be blamed on those in broadcasting hierarchies, who "are not in tune with a sizeable slice of their potential audience."

The BBC, however, presents in its annual report for 2009 that it is exceeding the required number of hours of religious programming set by Ofcom and has further programmes scheduled for this year, including God don’t live here no more, an investigation into what is known about President Obama’s faith.

Mr Holmes said: "My hope is that the Synod is not percieved to be complaining but rather prompting and enouraging broadcasters to raise their horizons and so make more moving and memorable programmes which more appropriately reflect, celebrate and articulate faith."

With the BBC being the cornerstone of the provision of public service broadcasting for UK audiences, its governing body is to be blamed for being keen on retaining its competitive position, in terms of audience numbers and appreciation of its output, regardless of the content of the programmes. But really, the incurable problem is that culture and religion will always get into a mess whenever they are fused.