Synopsis

Save Bethnal Hospital examines the closure of community hospitals in East London. It explains that by 1984, seventeen out of the twenty seven East London Hospitals will be closed, with Accident and Emergency Departments the first to go. Patients, NHS Medical Staff and Counsellors are interviewed to provide their opinion on the closure of Bethnal Green Hospital. One patient in orthopaedics shares her concerns about the longer waiting lists at The London, and who will accept Bethnal Green patients once the hospital is closed. There is genuine concern amongst nurses and patients that residents of Tower Hamlets will have nowhere to go if they need medical attention once the hospital closes. The video ends with a protest march about the closure, with one man commenting “…it’s a matter of life or death…”.