I am afraid that Ruth Montague is mistaken in her assertion that "the promised consultation process" on Edgware A&E department was instigated by the Labour Government when it came into power in May 1997 (Not Labour's fault', Times Letters, October 11).
The previous Conservative Government had taken the decision to close the A&E at Edgware, ignoring the referral by Barnet Community Health Council. The Labour Party had promised to review all A&E department closures in London including Edgware. Three weeks after coming into power, this promise was broken and the announcement was made that the closure of the A&E would not be reviewed.
What subsequently took place the Edgware Review led by Barnet Health Authority was a rather woolly, although inclusive, process which resulted in more or less the same non-acute services the health authority had already put forward once for the site. The possibility of having an A&E department and acute services at Edgware was explicitly excluded from the review.
It is important to sort out the problems we currently have in the health service in Barnet. However, it is also important not to allow political revisionism to distort the facts.
Elizabeth Manero, former chairman
Barnet Community Health Council
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