NHS London published a report named Healthcare for London that set out a plan to ensure consistently high-quality care for all Londoners. The changes proposed will affect our population in that new 'Major Stroke' and 'Major Trauma' Hospitals have already been designated and do not include Barnet General or the Royal Free Hospital. We were all invited to respond to the consultation document and over 2000 of Barnet's residents did just that. However, the wishes of the London Borough of Barnet's residents have been ignored and, in the near future, any patient in Barnet who suffers a Major Stroke will be taken to a 'Hyper Acute Stroke Unit' (HASU) at UCH (or, if full, to another central London Unit). After approximately 3 days the patient will be transferred back to a local stroke unit for continuing treatment, which may be either at Barnet or The Royal Free Hospitals. Additional investment has been promised for these 2 stroke units. The London Ambulance Service has said that it can deliver patients from the Borough within 30 minutes to the Hyper Acute Stroke Unit at UCH.

In addition, it is worth noting that Barnet's population appears to be at a greater risk of stroke than some other areas. Major trauma cases, which are relatively rare, with most serious incidents occurring in central London, will be taken to the Royal London Hospital. All Londoners should be within a maximum of 45 minutes blue-light ambulance journey to a major trauma centre.

As a local organization we are aware that many residents feel that these services are too far away and we remain unconvinced that the ambulance service does have the capacity, without further investment, to both meet these criteria and to cope with the increasing demands made on their services by the downgrading of both the Maternity Unit and the A and E departments at Chase Farm Hospital.