This is a guest post on behalf of Chelsea Children’s Hospital
The Chelsea Children’s Hospital at Chelsea and Westminster is one of the country’s leading children’s hospitals. It treats more than 80,000 children each year with services including a dedicated Children’s A&E, surgery and inpatient wards.
These services and the dedication and skill of its staff – the people on the reception desk, the porters, nurses, doctors and all the other members of the team – has made the hospital a vital and much loved part of the London community.
Families from across the south, west and north of the capital rely on its services. Around 6,000 mums choose to have their children at Chelsea and Westminster each year alone. They rely on the expert support of the midwives, obstetricians and anaesthetists to help bring their loved ones safely into the world and start them out in life healthy and happy.
However the future of Chelsea and Westminster is uncertain. The NHS is currently reviewing how it provides healthcare in North West London through the Shaping a healthier future public consultation which includes an option to change the status of Chelsea and Westminster from a major hospital to a local hospital.
This change would have a direct impact on the hospital as it would mean it would no longer have a full A&E service and it would also lead to the closure of the Maternity Unit and many services for children.
The public consultation ends on 8 October and a decision is expected in early 2013.
Chelsea and Westminster is campaigning hard to retain its status as a major hospital with a full A&E department, Maternity Unit and children’s services. It is calling on supporters to join the ‘Safe in our hands’ campaign by completing an online postcard and signing an online petition set up by elected patients, members of the public and staff.
Staff have been getting behind the campaign too by highlighting the great work at the hospital – for example, a 12 hour Tweetathon from the Maternity Unit was held to share a day in the life of the midwives and mums and newborn babies in the unit. The public response was overwhelming with supporters sharing their photos and stories of the unit.
The future of Chelsea and Westminster lies in gaining your support. Please help the hospital to continue providing its life-saving services by:
Completing a ‘Safe in our hands’ online postcard at www.chelwest.nhs.uk/safeinourhands/support-the-campaign/your-vote-counts
Signing the online petition at http://you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/keep-a-e-at-chelsea-westminster-hospital
You can follow the hospital’s campaign on its Twitter page @chelwestFT and please like their Facebook page at www.chelwest.nhs.uk/facebook.
