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Is London healthcare in crisis?
The British Medical Association (BMA) has published a report, 'London's NHS on the Brink', detailing "a major financial and organisational crisis" which could lead to the closure of beds and hospitals in the city.
The BBC reported that as much as £5bn could be cut from NHS London's budget by 2017 in claims made by the BMA
The BMA states that whilst the budget cuts are not unique to London, there is a greater burden due to London's higher population and greater proportion of mental health cases. The city is also managing a rising caseload and a number of Private Finance Initiative (PFI) hospital schemes.
The report, written by Dr John Lister, states that there is a "lack of transparency about how the capital plans to respond to the expected freeze".
The BBC report details a number of criticisms made by the BMA which include:
- Cutting the number of people going to hospital A&E departments by a target of 60% and the number going to hospital outpatients by 55%
- Diverting millions of patients to "unproven polysystems" or clinics that have not yet been built
- Cutting up to £1.1bn from London hospital budgets "forcing wide scale cutbacks and closures"
- A 66% reduction in staffing of "non-acute services", including community services for older people and district nurses
- A 33% cut in the length of GP appointment times
Stay up to date on the work of K&C LINk in Kensington & Chelsea health services in K&C LINk Health.
