Those suggesting Councillor Alambritis was wrong to tell the chair of the Merton Clinical Commissioning Group that his position is untenable are missing the point entirely.
The future of A&E and other services at St Helier Hospital - which the local health service wanted to close - was one of the central issues in May's elections.
More than 13,000 signed a petition to save the hospital, and the astonishing swings to Labour in wards like Lower Morden and Cannon Hill, where candidates stood on a Save St Helier ticket, demonstrate the strong community feeling around the issue. You only have to walk around the streets there and see all the Save St Helier posters to see how valued the hospital is.
Councillor Alambritis' stance was in response to that strong community feeling.
Recent letters to the Wimbledon Guardian from Maurice Groves (former Conservative councillor for Lower Morden) and others show that the Tories cannot be trusted to support St Helier Hospital.
Telling the head of the local health service that he no longer has the support of the community can't have been easy. But it was the right thing to do, and he should respect the outcome of a democratic election.
Mike Mannion
Cannon Hill
- Send your letters to: letters@wimbledonguardian.co.uk
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