Council joy as Health Secretary loses appeal over hospital services shake-up

Lewisham Council has fought off an appeal by Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt over a High Court ruling that quashed a decision to downgrade emergency and maternity services at a local hospital.

In July Mr Justice Silber ruled that the minister had acted unlawfully when approving the reduction in services offered at Lewisham Hospital.

A trust special administrator for the troubled South London Healthcare Trust (SLHT), which covered three hospitals but not Lewisham, had recommended the changes.

Following a review by the NHS Medical Director, the Health Secretary backed the measures on 31 January 2013.

It was the first time that the ‘Unsustainable Provider Regime’ had been used.

The council and campaign group Save Lewisham Hospital argued that the administrator and the Health Secretary were only entitled to make recommendations and a decision ‘in relation to the trust’ under Chapter 5A of Part 2 of the National Health Services Act 2006.

They claimed that services offered by Lewisham Hospital could not be the subject of the TSA’s recommendations involving SLHT.

The Court of Appeal has now upheld the High Court judge’s ruling, announcing its decision on the second day of a hearing in London.

Sir Steve Bullock, Mayor of Lewisham, said: “This is a great result. I was confident of our case but I am still very relieved. This is another victory for each and every individual who signed a petition, who wrote to the Secretary of State and who marched through the streets of Lewisham.

“Together we have fought to assert the right of the people who use and deliver health services to have a real say in their future. And we have won.”

The Mayor added: “We knew the Secretary of State and the TSA were wrong in the beginning and today we all know they are still wrong now.

“We all now need to work together with our great local hospital and make sure it can continue to serve our community long into the future.”

Leigh Day & Co lawyer Rosa Curling, who represented Save Lewisham Hospital, said: "The Court of Appeal’s decision confirms what the Save Lewisham Hospital Campaign has been arguing from the start – that the Secretary of State did not have the legal power to close and downgrade services at Lewisham Hospital.

"This expensive waste of time for the Government should serve as a wake up call that they cannot ride roughshod over the needs of the people.”

She added: "The decision to dismiss the appeal also reaffirms the need for judicial review, a legal process by which the unlawful decisions of public bodies, including the Government, can be challenged by the public.”