Who says we don't need Chase Farm A&E

I wasn't going to be blogging today, but there is something I must share with you. I just had a minor medical procedure performed on me at Barnet General hospital, nothing serious or to worry about. Afterwards the doctor told me that there is a small risk that it may lead to an infection. I asked what I should do. He said "If you get a temperature or any other signs, go to A&E as soon as possible and tell them that you've had the procedure. Normally antibiotics will clear it up straight". I said "Is it best to come here?" He replied "I'd go to Chase Farm if I were you". Great isn't it. The A&E which the doctors recommend is the one the government wants to shut. Have a nice weekend

Chase Farm Closure - If it's underused, why so many transfers

#BBCLONDON #94.9 are currently reporting on the news that Chase Farm hospital have spent £30,000 on cabs transferring patients to other hospitals. One patient was sent on a £130 journey to Shrewsbury.

How can they claim it's underused. They should be expanding it, not closing it. There is clearly a lack of local capacity

More bad news for Barnet - Tories Shaft Chase Farm Hospital

Today is one of those forlorn days where I think to myself "What has the Conservative Party got against the residents of Barnet?". They have just announced that they are shutting Chase Farm hospital - full report on the BBC here - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-14880946 - it is times like this that I think back to my dear old mum who passed away in 2008. I think of the endless hours we used to spend in A&E when she had a stroke and the countless times after that when other issues cropped up. A little selfish part of me is thankful that those wasted hours are, for the moment, a thing of the past.

The closure of Chase Farm will only add to the queues, the misery and the wasted hours of peoples lives.In opposition David Cameron had promised a "bare-knuckle fight" over the closure of local hospital services. At one point, he even promised to protect Chase Farm from what he said was an "unjustified" top-down reorganisation. Well, now we know what Cameron's promises are worth, don't we?

I wonder what our GLA rep, Councillor Brian Coleman will have to say about his bosses decision.

The Chase Farm maternity scandal

Praise where praise is due. Of all the questions asked at the Council meeting this week, the best, most important and the one with the least satisfactory answer came from Tory Hale Councillor, Brian Gordon.

Unfortunately, our local paper paints a rather rosier picture, clearly being taken in by the hype. It seems to me that Barnet PCT are intent on putting even more strain on an already creaking service. If Barnet turned away 63 mothers whilst Chase Farm is still open, heaven only knows what will happen when it is closed. Sixty three women means that more than one a week is being turned away. That means it is routine practice. We've three children. One was born at the now closed Edgware General Hospital. The second was born at Barnet General and the third at the low risk birth unit at Edgware. I cannot imagine how stressful it would be to find yourself having to go elsewhere. This is totally unacceptable. I rather hope that Brian Gordon will not let this matter rest. As he's a Hale Ward councillor, he has first hand experience of what problems it causes when a hospital shuts.

I still harbour serious resentment at the closure of Edgware General. I think that it is shameful that no proper public transport provision has been made for people in the west of the borough wishing to get to Barnet General.