Letter sent to Ken Livingstone

Dear Sir

I am writing to you concerning the future planed closure of The Henderson Hospital in Sutton, Surrey. The Henderson is no ordinary hospital, as I’m sure you know. It is a centre of excellence in Therapeutic Communities, with a reputation that’s known throughout the worlds mental health services and beyond. The Henderson is a world-wide leader in drug free treatment of personality disorders.

The Henderson has had a six month waiting list, for as long as I can remember. There were far more referrals than there were bed spaces. This ended last year when legislation was introduced which place NHS funds in the hands of Primary Care Trusts, Since then, The Henderson went from a service that had a six month waiting list and best part of 500 referrals a years, to a service that can now only fill 16 out of 29 beds.
I’m sure you will agree, it’s a dramatic drop and a drop not attributed to the standards of care given by The Henderson.

The Henderson now has to face the very real prospect of closing their doors for the very last time. Despite a great deal of protests by people such as myself and the many other people campaigning against the planed closure, we are yet to make any real difference. We have had MP’s debate this matter in a private members debate but I fear hit a stone wall in the shape of Ivan Lewis. A man who seems to have no sense of reason and very little interest in arguments as to why The Henderson should not be allowed to close. Mr Lewis says there is argument to why The Henderson should close but as yet, he has failed to produce any evidence to back this up. I’m sure you would agree, closure or no closure, this should not be based on hearsay.

We have a meeting arranged, for campaigners to meet up with Philippa Stroud (Conservative Parliamentary for Sutton and Cheam) on 08/01/08 to discuss how best to fight the planed closure of The Henderson. It would be great for the moral of the campaigners to know that they have and can count your support.

I am not going to make this a very longer letter, as I guess you will need some time and a lot more information than I can humbly supply. I will give you a few websites, I hope this won’t be a problem.

https://savethehenderson.forumotion.com/index.htm

http://www.tc-of.org.uk/wiki/index.php/Henderson_Campaign

http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/Savethehendo/

There are far more websites, facebooks and blogs to mention. While reading the government petition, notice how many Professors, Psychiatrists, and Doctors, as well and almost every walk of life. The internet has sites from Lands End to John O'Groats, from Northern Ireland to the Shetland Island and that just covers this country.
Lastly,
If we lose Centres of Excellence like The Henderson, real people, with real problems will be in real danger, with nowhere to turn.

Thank you, for taking the time to reads this letter. I look forward to your reply.

Karl Adaway