Town Hall bosses to discuss the axing of Central Middlesex Hospital’s casualty unit

Brent & Kilburn Times: Central Middlesex Hospital to lose its casualty unitCentral Middlesex Hospital to lose its casualty unit (Image: Archant)

Brent Council will be holding vital talks to discuss whether to take the case against a hospital A&E closure in Harlesden to the secretary of state.

The council has announced they will discuss the controversial plans at their next meeting of the Health Partnership Overview and Scrutiny Committee.

If they decide to press ahead with a referral they will need to prepare a report to Jeremy Hunt, secretary of state for health arguing against the plans.

Today, health bosses confirmed the impending closure of the A&E unit at Central Middlesex Hospital in Acton Lane under the Shaping a Healthier Future plans.

The plans, which were set out to transform healthcare across eight London boroughs were rubber stamped following months of discussions.

But directors for the programme conceded any official reviews from local councils or campaign groups could potentially thwart major developments such as removing services.

Ealing Council has already announced they would be looking into the matter as the plans also result in closure of the casualty unit at Ealing Hospital.

However, so far only the Labour group at Brent Council has publicly condemned the closure plans.

They claimed that, as they did not have cross party support they are unable to use tax payer resources to launch a campaign against the proposals when they were announced.

But today it has been confirmed they will asses the plans further.

A spokesman for the council said: “The committee next meets on March 19 and this issue will be discussed then.

“If any referral was made it would mean that a detailed report would have to be prepared to present to the secretary of state.”