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Comment

Plans to radically shake up the way healthcare is delivered in Barnet will undergo further scrutiny after the Secretary of State for Health called in an expert panel to study the proposals.

The plans included the division of maternity and accident and emergency services between Barnet Hospital, in Wellhouse Lane, Barnet, and Chase Farm Hospital, in The Ridgeway, Enfield.

Critics, including Barnet Council, claim the reduction of both services at Chase Farm Hospital would place an unsustainable burden on Barnet Hospital.

A health scrutiny committee convened jointly by Barnet, Enfield and Haringey Councils referred the decision to Alan Johnson, the Health Secretary, at the end of March.

This week Mr Johnson called in the Independent Reconfiguration Panel (IRP), a group of experts on NHS change, to consider whether the proposed changes to services would ensure the provision of safe, sustainable and accessible health services for local people.

Dr Peter Barrett, chair of the IRP, said: "The focus of our reviews is always the patient and the quality of care. During the course of the review, the IRP will be listening to all sides of the debate and gathering evidence to ensure our recommendations are in the best interests of local people."

The IRP will visit hospitals and clinics and meet patients, clinicians and staff and make recommendations to Mr Johnson by the end of July.

TOMASZ JOHNSON

11:28am Friday 16th May 2008

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