Charing Cross Repair Delays Are Unacceptable, says local Lib Dem activist

Fulham resident and local Lib Dem campaigner Philip Rader has hit out at the government's continued lack of action over repairing Charing Cross Hospital.

Despite years of local frustration, the Government confirmed earlier this year that they will not complete the floor-by-floor refurbishment of Charing Cross before 2030. This means that the 50-year old hospital will have to wait for the better part of a decade before it can receive the modernisation local campaigners and concerned residents have been calling for.

Speaking in an address to local residents, Philip said "It is completely unacceptable that the Government has changed its mind and will now not complete the refurbishment of Charing Cross Hospital before the start of the next decade.

Charing Cross is a vital hospital, and the Conservatives wanted to demolish it until just a few years ago.

The better part of a decade is simply too long to wait to give Charing Cross the modernisation it needs to continue to provide its essential service. It has the busiest major trauma centre in London and is host of the NHS’s largest biomedical research centre."

It comes as the Liberal Democrats continue to set out their plans for the NHS ahead of the next General Election - highlighting the 112,000 staff vacancies in England alone, long waiting times, missed targets and poor outcomes which have "pushed the NHS into the danger zone".

Philip continues, "It's clear that the Conservatives don't value Charing Cross at all, and that our local NHS is not safe in Greg Hands' hands.

I'm calling on the Government to change course and deliver the refurbishment as soon as possible."

The Liberal Democrat plan for the future of the NHS includes : 

• Giving everyone the right to see their GP within seven days, or within 24 hours if they urgently need to. To deliver on that right, we will train, recruit and retain more GPs and free up more of their time.
• Reforming NHS dentistry so that no one is forced to pay hundreds of pounds for private care.
• Finally putting mental health on the same footing as physical health.
• Investing in public health and prevention so that fewer people get ill and need treatment.
• Recruiting, training and retaining more doctors and nurses to fill the thousands of vacancies in the NHS and cut waiting times.
• Fixing the life-threatening crisis in our ambulance services and provide emergency funding to tackle poor response times.