And don't forget: please sign the petition on the right if you have not already done so.


Paul Burstow, MP for Sutton and Cheam, and Tom Brake, MP for Carshalton and Wallington are asking local residents to support the campaign to safeguard the future of hospital services at St Helier Hospital by signing a petition to the government.
Local residents are asked to sign the petition on this website, which calls on Patricia Hewitt, the Secretary of State for Health, to guarantee that healthcare facilities which are currently available at St Helier will not be moved out of the borough. It also calls for a guarantee that St Helier will be able to offer Accident and Emergency Services.
Speaking about the importance of gaining widespread support for the petition, Mr Brake said:
“We have asked Ms Hewitt for these undertakings before, but she has evaded the question time and time again.”
“The only chance we have to get her to come clean is if local people sign the petition and show Ms Hewitt that thousands of Sutton residents want to know the truth.”
Mr Burstow added:
“St Helier is a hospital at the heart of our community. The huge turnout at our protest rally a few weeks ago showed that people in the borough will not take cuts and closures lying down.”
“Now we’re asking people to show their support by signing our petition demanding a guarantee that our health services are not at risk.”

ON Saturday 25th November, Tom Brake MP and Paul Burstow MP led thousands of concerned staff and local residents in a march to protest against job cuts and bed closures at St Helier hospital.
The organisers estimate that around two and a half thousand people joined the MPs as they marched from Rosehill recreation ground to St Helier open space. The large crowd battled heavy rain, wind and cold, waved placards with slogans such as ‘Hands off our Hospital Hewitt’ and ‘No Cuts, No Closures’ as they made their way up the hill to St Helier. The protest brought traffic on Rosehill to a standstill as police closed the road.
The two MPs, together with local and national union representatives and Sean Brennan, leader of Sutton Council, called on the crowd to make their voices heard to hospital managers and promised to continue their fight to keep the Hospital open.
Speaking after the march, Paul Burstow MP said:
“The fact that so many people turned out in today’s foul weather is testament to the strength of feeling among local people.”
“Our presence here in such large numbers has sent a message to Patricia Hewitt and London NHS bosses – that local people will not stand by while they close hospital beds and cut jobs.”
Tom Brake MP added:
“This march is not the end of our campaign – it is simply the beginning.”
“Local people have made it very clear that they will fight any cuts or closures at our local hospital. We stand united: St Helier must not shut.”

ON 11th September, a report from the influential new labour think tank the IPPR suggested that South West London had excess capacity equivalent to two general hospitals.

I / we the undersigned, call on the Secretary of State for Health to guarantee that the full range of existing healthcare services used by people in Sutton will continue to be provided within the Borough and that St Helier is able to continue to offer the full range of services available for Accident and Emergency.
