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Campaign to save the homeopathic hospital
Activist says her treatment saves the NHS £500,000 a year
A NUTRITIONAL activist who claims she saved the NHS half a million pounds by changing her diet is campaigning to save Europe’s largest homeopathic hospital from closure.
Eliza Johnston, 42, (right) of West Hampstead, wants the NHS to put more money into the Royal London Homeopathic Hospital (RLHH), which she says saved her from a crippling mental health disorder.
Her pleas come after the New Journal revealed that several primary care trusts (PCTs) have stopped paying for patients to be treated at the hospital, on Great Ormond Street, with more expected to follow.
With increased financial pressures inflicted on PCTs by a string of NHS budget cuts, alternative treatments appear to be the first to face the chop.
Ms Johnston, who was diagnosed with bipolar affective disorder, was sectioned for almost three months every year for 10 years for acute manic psychosis.
She estimates her residential and medical care over that period cost the NHS at least £500 per day.
But, after being referred to the RLHH, where she was advised to change her diet, her life changed.
She said: “The change was almost instant. Within a month I was out socialising. Before this I was crippled with depression for about eight months and the rest I was psychotic with mania. I was trapped in a cycle of ill health. After I changed my diet everything calmed down.
“The help I received has transformed my life from being unable to support friendships or go for a walk, to being able to travel the country educating others with a psychiatric determined diagnosis.”
She added: “I go to the RLHH every four months, it must cost them almost nothing. If the NHS put more resources into the hospital they could be cutting their mental health budget in half. The hospital has helped many people change their lives.”
A spokeswoman for Islington PCT said: “We wish to change the basis of the way GPs make referrals to the services at the RLHH. We will be introducing an approval process for all new referrals for homeopathy. We understand the situation is sensitive and complex for patients receiving long-term care.
“During the spring, we will be working closely with clinicians and Islington GPs to review, on an individual basis, the patients who have been receiving long-term care. For patients where it can be demonstrated that ongoing care at the RLHH is the clinically most appropriate treatment, we will continue to fund their treatment.”
A spokeswoman for Camden PCT said: “We are reviewing a number of treatments and therapies to ensure they are clinically effective and cost effective in setting priorities for 2007/08. Treatments at the RLHH are included within this review.”
Whit gets top marks for maternity work
THE Whittington Hospital’s maternity department, working with Sure Start Holloway, has been recognised as an example of good practice by the Department of Health in its report on reducing infant deaths.
The government set a target to reduce ‘health inequalities’ by 10 per cent by 2010 and one of the key factors was reducing the rate of infant mortality in the most deprived communities.
A report names the Whittington’s One to One Midwifery service as being a practical example of how these problems can best be addressed.
Between 2002 and 2006, six midwives attached to the Whittington were based at Holloway Sure Start centre providing a one-to-one midwifery service.
The Whittington’s service sought to provide continuity of care to mothers who were able to have their antenatal care, delivery and postnatal care overseen by a recognisable face with whom they had built a relationship. |
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