Dissertation conclusion - Essay Example

It is also expected that more babies will be born at home and this could endanger the health of infants and their mothers. The respondents also perceive that the downgrading and closure proposals will be disruptive to a feeling of community. Residents of Ealing will have to leave their community for the purpose of obtaining medical health care in a number of cases. This renders the community fragmented. The reality is, Ealing Hospital is a part of the Ealing community and will not serve the greater population of Ealing.

In the meantime, the campaigns have served to bring the community together, if only for a temporary and limited purpose (See Figures 1 and 2). One respondent, a community member, felt that the proposed downgrading of the A&E ward was a necessity and served the greater good of the local community. In particular, the respondent noted that things could not continue as they were. For example between 50% and 60% of patients reporting for A&E services were not casualties and therefore overtaxed an already overburdened health care system operating on a limited budget.

Downgrading would reduce the budgetary demands and would redirect services elsewhere. If things continued as they were, the trusts in the area would eventually close altogether and everyone would lose access to much-needed health care services. Cuts were therefore not only necessary to avoid closure, but also to ensure that those who need health care services the most would be able to access it. As for the impact of downgrading and in particular the proposed closure of the maternity ward, the respondent did acknowledge that there were protests within the community.

However, the respondent felt that whenever there are changes to a system, there will always be disappointment. This disappointment did not equate to evidence of negative outcomes. In fact, the respondent stated that there was no evidence of a negative impact on the local community. This respondent’s impressions were quite different from the remaining respondents. The remaining respondents were far more pessimistic about the future trajectory of Ealing Hospital and the community impact. For example, a respondent member of the Trans Union participating in the Save Our Hospital campaign predicted that the hospital changes “will be a disaster”.

This prediction was based on the medical needs of residents in Ealing and in particular the large population of disadvantaged residents with medical needs. One respondent who is a medical doctor, felt that the downgrading was due to budgetary constraints, debts, and the move toward privatisation which was a persistent trend in government services. Even so, the doctor did not think that downgrading was the solution to the problem. If anything, services in the Ealing hospital should be expanded.

This is particularly so for the elderly, the uneducated, migrants and ethnic minorities service users. These categories of service users typically use public transport and in doing so will now have to make the journey farther away to access services