Ten little fingers born in the NHS

Ten little fingers, ten little toes,

Two little ears and one little nose
Two little eyes that shine so bright
And one little mouth to kiss mother goodnight.

Children’s nursery rhyme.

A chilly but sunny afternoon at the beginning of March. Four happy children play in a back garden, shouting and laughing. It's tea time so the children come inside for a spot of toast and cake. One little girl leans on a door frame to take off her shoes. At the same time the door is slammed shut on to the middle finger of her right hand.

She shrieks, I run, open the door and see that the top joint of my beautiful perfect five year old girl has been amputated. Before I know what I am doing I shout to my friend to get us to A&E and hold the top joint onto the finger. My little girl screams and screams, we rush into a neighbour's car and within 10 minutes we are at Lewisham Hopsital's Children’s Emergency Department.

That was three weeks ago and those 10 minutes felt like an eternity. Beatrice fainted five times in the car and I was powerless to stop the horrible pain I knew she was in. I wanted to cry and scream myself but I knew I had to be strong. The soaring relief to arrive at the hospital was immense. We were seen immediately, Beatrice was given pain relief at which point she fell into a deep sleep and I was given reassurance by the fabulous nurses and doctors. We were transferred to St. Thomas' Hospital that evening, Beatrice had surgery the next morning and we were home again within 24 hours of the terrible injury taking place. Thank you Lewisham Hospital. If you hadn't been there it would have been an hour or more before Beatrice had pain relief and the care she needed to prevent her losing her finger. Long may you stay open for business.

Toby Tall, Toby Tall,

Where are you?

Here I am, here I am,

How do you do?

Children’s nursery rhyme.

I've said it before and I'll say it again, Lewisham Hospital is a successful, solvent healthcare provider. It's the kind of hospital that David Cameron promised to champion during the election campaign when he grandly pontificated: 'The NHS is safe in my hands'.

And yet, this fantastic hospital, full of caring doctors, nurses and sensible managers is scheduled for down-grade to bail out South London Healthcare Trust in a neighbouring London borough. As wrong as it is that the people of Woolwich are being penalised for the mismanagement and bumbling decision making of politicians it really shouldn't be Lewisham Hospital's responsibility to shoulder their burden.

Jeremy Hunt and the cabal at the Department of Health tell us that their hands are tied, there's nothing they can do, they must balance the books! Don't we know there's a massive deficit? Don't we understand that the NHS is simply too expensive? All of this while they wring their hands in horror that hundreds of people died at Mid-Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust because financial considerations were put before patient care. All of this while they promote David Nicholson who presided over Mid-Staffordshire while dead bodies were being stacked up in the morgues. And all of this while Jeremy Hunt clumsily claims to understand the clinical case for downgrading our public services. It certainly doesn't help build confidence that the Health Minister persists in clinging to the false statistic that the massive service reconfiguration in South-east London will save 100 lives. He's said it in parliament at least twice so one would assume he must be sure of his facts, especially when the entire cohort of Labour MPs from Lewisham called his assertion into question.

Even Professor Sir Bruce Keogh, NHS medical director, has tried to stop Jeremy embarrassing himself when he wrote a public letter  to distance himself from the wayward minister's gaffe. But, oh no, Jeremy bumbles on. He's even passed the misinformation to Boris Johnson, Mayor of London, who ineptly trotted it out at a People's Question Time held in the London borough of Lewisham. I wonder whether he'll listen to Jeremy again after the roasting he got from the Save Lewisham Hospital campaign?

Boris Johnson gets a taste for the outrage in Lewisham

Not only will the disastrous plans cobbled together by Trust Special Administrator Matthew Kershaw and his pals at McKinsey's and accepted by Jeremy Hunt definitely not save 100 lives, they will expose an entire borough of London to unacceptable risk. The plans fly in the face of patient care, health equality and take us back by a generation in maternity provision. I think it would be fair to say that David Cameron's pledge to keep the NHS safe is one made in pure fantasy.

One finger, one thumb
keep moving.
One finger, one thumb
keep moving.
We all stay merry and bright.

Children’s nursery rhyme.

Meanwhile Beatrice's finger continues to heal and I've been daydreaming about what I'd like to do with with my middle finger but I have to concede that this might not be the best way to negotiate with the Right Hon. Jeremy Hunt MP. Tempting though it is.