Prognosis for Whittington A&E future good, Highgate Society told

Healthcare campaigners concerned about the future of the Accident and Emergency department at the Whittington Hospital are celebrating a pledge made by the hospital's chief executive, Dr Yi Mien Koh, to keep an A&E at the Whittington for the next five years. The statement was made at a meeting of the Highgate Society, one of the local groups involved in an ongoing campaign to keep the A&E onsite since the possibility of closure was first raised in 2009.

The news comes as some relief to campaigners, who have kept up a steady stream of pressure on successive governments to keep the department open over the past few years. In February 2009, a number of possibilities for the future of urgent care across North London were drawn up, some including the full or partial closure of the Whittington A&E.  Holborn and St Pancras MP Frank Dobson told us in an exclusive interview that the closure was "a crazy idea - if only from the point of view of the cost."

Despite initial success for the campaign in April 2010, a renewed threat to the department's future emerged in May following the change of government and its new central spending plan.

At the end of last month, however, members of the Highgate Society were told that the hospital was currently devising its strategy for the coming five years, and that the aim was to retain a full A&E department. The Whittington is also celebrating the news from the NHS Information Centre that it is officially the safest in the country, with the lowest summary hospital-level mortality indicator (SMHI) score in England - see the data here. The hospital is also working towards Foundation Trust status, meaning the hospital will have a greater degree of independence from the local health authority and be able to respond more flexibly to community needs.

Despite the good news, NHS campaigners feel their work is not yet done - the Defend the Whittington Hospital Coalition is campaigning against the closure of another A&E at the King George Hospital in Ilford, and a public meeting on 22 November will discuss cuts in local mental healthcare provision. For now, however, the future of the Whittington A&E seems secure.

Image: Richard Osley