questioned workers at the that neither first hand there plais on the Health Service.
AHA he says:
last tea years or 50 - WES force the consenion purpose-DulE Cars maternity hospital into an office block. The bureaucrats of the AHA have already moved in, filling purposely-built wards with desks and filing cabinets. At least this gives Weir the dubious advantage of seeing at "experts contempt for hospital workers as well as the cynical disregard for the effects of their schemes and The insane logic of the AHA'S plans to close the Weir has not escaped even Charles M. Flood, TRUST SO EASELS SUR Writing from Harley Street to the "The Weir Maternity Hospital at the moment is stracturally the best Maternity Unit In the whole Area.. Over the Emalling in the region 1200,000 have been speat, first on the masshe reconstruction OMAR THIRT WANTEE 2A0 the building of the Ante-Natal SWOLLEN ap-grading of the entire hospiFAVOUR Nowhere in the Consaltative Docunent is it stated that the £200,000 of capital expenditure will be completely written such cuts.
off if the Weir is closed sa Maternity Unit und converted to offices, because much of the work, such Rowns, Labour Wards, showers and bidels caener be user he the saminshotive saff: Merton Area Health Authority [AHA] intends to turn this specially equipped I note from the Consaltelive Document that if is eventually Unit at St. George's Hospital, Tooline. of 14 bods. li mi scaff. Last memory serves me correctly the origial cost for this Linit was to be E1.75 million, which £1.25 million. probably Il seens a little foolish to me To welte off u perpose bull Musetries Unit of 76 beds an 2200,000 of capital expendidure to replace it in the short term with possibly 50 beds and in the long term 84 beds at the cost of at least a further £2m.
Flood is not relling the whole story of the artempeed closure ol the Weir. The AHA bope to make a saving in expenditure by using the hospital as offices, It is this attemptto savemoney which is the real motive bellind the atrack on the hospital: in other words it is part and parcel of the whole cuts Charles Flood doesn't detail this paint as he himself is in favour of Rather than Harley Street consultants it a the nurses, techare taking action to defend the The Weir occupation is the chird in London in the last six months. At he EGA and the Hounsloa Hospital in West London the occupations are still solid.
Arthe Weir the management bas tried to intimidate sections of the week the kitchen statt were told that they would no longer repaive any bonus par ments and as soon as the occupation was announoed the Districr Administrator Mr. Peter Floode (no relation) Direarcoed thar all the workers would not get paid it The Jewel Ward at the Wair — formerly the same size and shape de Bryant Ward — has been converted into offices for the administration. all. The management has since hacked down but it is clear that they will try any number of ways ta bully, split and demoralise the Weir stalf to delicat ibeir stand against the cuts:
made a good wart to their fight паск. А ен-пойт рокет лая осс organised and they have banned TO THE NOT TO COCOSEILd canteen, On 1 June they are a St. Jahn's Hospital, St. Joln's that the AHA scrap its plans lo close the Weir
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A MASS MEETING of workers at the Weir Hospital, Wandsworth, voted to occupy their hospital to prevent its closure. The Wandsworth and East