(Hammersmith)
(Lab):...I hope that the Government and the health
service will learn lessons from this scheme—that is probably the
best gloss I can put on this. It has taken a huge amount of time
and effort, and a huge amount of money wasted by the health
service, to get to where we are today, which is effectively back
to where we were seven years ago. In 2012, it looked as though
the situation was hopeless, and I have to praise Ealing Council, which was then
Labour-controlled. At that stage, Hammersmith and Fulham Council
was under Conservative control, and from 2013 onwards it fully
backed the closure strategy. Ealing Council stood absolutely solid and
firm; it mounted a judicial review, and opposed those proposals
from day one.
When there was a change of political control in 2014, that
council was joined by Hammersmith and Fulham Council, which,
together with surrounding Labour councils, set up the Mansfield
commission under Michael Mansfield. That independent commission
looked at the “Shaping a healthier future” proposals, and when it
reported, it said that those proposals would be a health disaster
for the area. By that stage, the sustainability and
transformation plans had been introduced. In a way, it is
regrettable—although it was the right thing to do—that both
Hammersmith and Ealing Councils refused to participate,
because they knew how damaging “Shaping a healthier future” and
the hospital closures would be for the area...
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