A highly-controversial move that will see Harold Wood Hospital stripped of the ability to care for the most seriously ill babies will come into effect from Monday.
Hundreds of thousands of pounds worth of lifesaving equipment, much of which was paid for by donations collected locally, will be broken down and moved out of the borough King George Hospital in Goodmayes.
Barking, Havering and Redbridge NHS Trust has taken the decision to transfer its Neo-Natal Intensive Care Unit to Goodmayes until the new Romford Hospital opens in 2006 with the Special Care Baby Unit remaining at the Gubbins Lane hospital to treat less serious cases.
The decision, which means parents of the sickest new born babies will be forced to travel to Redbridge for treatment, has been slammed by former Mayor of Havering Brian Eagling who helped raise money for the equipment.
He said: "How can the NHS Trust justify moving all this equipment out of the borough only to move it all back again in 18 months. The cost of the move is horrendous. Surely it would have made better financial sense to leave it as it was until the new hospital was ready?"
Trust chief executive Mark Rees defended the decision saying: "These developments will ensure the trust and its partners are best placed to respond to the huge agenda for change both nationally and locally in children's services."
Published Friday June 18, 2004
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