• Whittington and North Mid stay with two stars, as elite band of three-star hospitals grows
• Haringey patients set to lose out through bogus figures, say Lib Dems
• A&E services given poor scores at both hospitals

Haringey hospitals are in danger of being left behind as other London NHS Trusts reap the benefits of ‘foundation’ status, according to the local Liberal Democrats. The comment comes as the Whittington and North Middlesex hospitals today retained their ‘two-star’ status from the CHI (Commission for Health Improvement) the Government’s NHS star ratings ‘watchdog’.

Across the country, the number of three-star trusts has leapt from 52 to 63. These hospitals will now be able to join the controversial queue for ‘Foundation’ status, attracting the best staff and resources. As a result of the Government’s narrowly defined and much criticised starring system, the Whittington and the North Mid will not be among them.

Lib Dem Parliamentary spokesperson, Lynne Featherstone, has also expressed concern about Accident and Emergency Services at both local hospitals, after both have today been rated poorly in the CHI findings.

Lynne Featherstone comments:

“These results are a blow to acute health care in the borough, because the key services at the Whittington and the North Mid are in increasing danger of finding themselves on the wrong tier in Labour’s new, two-tier health system.

“Labour’s unfair league tables do not properly measure patient care, and patients in Haringey, as well as local doctors, nurses, and NHS staff, are losing out in this arbitrary system.”