Four Accident and Emergency (A&E) units at London hospitals are to be downgraded.
This means serious emergencies will have to be referred to other hospitals, lowering the number of hospitals able to treat Londoners.
The four affected hospitals are; Charing Cross, Central Middlesex, Hammersmith and Ealing, according to the BBC.
Although they are losing the A&E departments, they will keep other services, but will no longer be able to care for urgent cases.
The reason behind the decision, announced at a joint committee of Primary Care Trusts in Westminster, was (surprise, surprise) budget cuts.
If these four are downgraded it will not only save money but also improve patient care apparently.
But Anne Drinkell, campaigner against the decision, said the proposals were budget-driven not clinically-driven.
While Andy Slaughter, Labour MP for Hammersmith, said the decision left a “second-class health service for millions of Londoners” and that the A&Es left would be “over-crowded and over-run”.
Image: ITV
