Jeremy Hunt takes Lewisham hospital reform battle to court of appeal

Jeremy Hunt takes Lewisham hospital reform battle to court of appeal Health secretary challenges previous ruling that he is not empowered to downgrade A&E and maternity services.

A long-running battle over NHS services in south-east London reached the court of appeal as the health secretary, Jeremy Hunt, tried to overthrow a judge's ruling that his attempts to downgrade A&E and maternity services at Lewisham hospital broke the law.

The cuts were put forward as part of a package to remedy the financial problems of the neighbouring South London Healthcare trust (SLHT), which was losing more than £1m a week.

But Hunt's approval of a shakeup of services was torpedoed by the high court in the summer when Mr Justice Silber said the health secretary and his special administrator for the trust, Matthew Kershaw, had exceeded their powers under the 2006 National Health Services Act.

The decision put a question mark over the way the government is able to deal with failing NHS organisations, and campaigners claim ministers are having to clarify their powers through further legislation.

Hunt argues that he and the administrator had the necessary powers to change services at Lewisham, despite Kershaw being instructed to investigate a neighbouring trust. Lewisham hospital is not part of SLHT.

Rory Phillips QC, for Hunt and Kershaw, said any solution to deal with the problems of SHLT had to take into account the wider context of the NHS "machine". He argued that Silber had adopted too narrow a view of the legislation.

Phillips said the support of GP commissioners for the change – those in Lewisham did not support them - was not a legal requirement.

Phillips said other commissioning groups in south-east London had been broadly supportive and one group of GPs could not be given "some kind of veto."

But Elisabeth Laing QC, speaking for Lewisham council and the Save Lewisham Hospital campaign, pointed out later that the only hospital where services were affected by the change was Lewisham's.

The hearing before Lord Dyson, master of the rolls, sitting with Lord Justices Sullivan and Underhill, is expected to end on Tuesday.

Louise Irvine, a local GP and chair of the Save Lewisham Hospital campaign, said before the hearing: "The clinical and economic evidence shows that we have right on our side. We hope that the court of appeal will prove that we continue to have a legal right to save Lewisham hospital too." The Guardian