Urgent Treatment Centre hours cut: Brent Scrutiny urged, 'Put these proposals on your agenda. Stand up for the residents you represent.'

 

 

Zengha Wellings Longmore has presented the 570 signature petition calling on Brent Council's Scutiny Committee to examine proposals to reduce the hours of the Urgent Tratment Centre at Central Middlesex Hospital. 

You can listen to here speech on the video above. This is what she said:

      

Chair, councillors, and members of the Community and Wellbeing Scrutiny Committee,

 

Thank you for giving me the opportunity to speak today.

 

I am here not just as a concerned resident, but as someone whose life is deeply rooted in this borough. I have lived in Harlesden for over forty years. My mother lived in Kensal Green. My grandchildren now live in Harlesden. Three generations of my family have depended on the services in this area — especially our NHS services. So when I speak today, I am speaking from lived experience, from memory, and from a deep sense of responsibility to the future.

 

We are here because of proposals to reduce the opening hours of the Urgent Treatment Centre at Central Middlesex Hospital by three hours a day — twenty-one hours a week. That may sound like a technical adjustment on paper, but on the ground it means real people being turned away, longer journeys late at night, and more pressure on already overstretched services elsewhere.

 

We have been here before:

In 2014, the A&E department at Central Middlesex Hospital was closed following a decision by the then Conservative Health Secretary, Jeremy Hunt. At the time, residents were told not to worry. We were told that an Urgent Care Centre would mitigate the loss of A&E. We were told this was a safe alternative.

 

Then in 2019, that reassurance was weakened when the overnight service was withdrawn and the opening hours were reduced. Many of us accepted that change reluctantly, but we were assured that the service would still meet local need.

 

Now, six years later, we are being asked to accept yet another reduction. The Urgent Treatment Centre currently closes at midnight. Under the new proposals, it would close at 9pm. That is not a small change. That is a fundamental erosion of access to urgent healthcare.

Let us be clear about what this means in practice.

People do not stop becoming ill or injured at 9pm. Children still fall, older people still become unwell, workers still come home hurt or exhausted after long shifts. A late-evening urgent care service is not a luxury — it is a necessity, especially in an area like Brent.

 

What makes these proposals even more difficult to understand is that they come at a time when Brent’s population is growing, not shrinking. Between 2011 and 2021, Brent’s population increased by 9.2%. That is significantly higher than the national average and higher than London as a whole. We also know that our population is ageing, with more people living longer and often with complex health needs.

 

On top of that, major developments are coming on stream across the borough — in Grand Union, Alperton, Wembley Central, and around Neasden stations. Thousands more residents will be moving into Brent. Yet instead of planning for increased demand, we are being told to accept reduced access to urgent care.

 

The question must be asked: how is Brent’s growing and ageing population supposed to cope?

 

We already know the answer. When services are cut at Central Middlesex, the pressure does not disappear — it simply moves elsewhere. Northwick Park Hospital A&E and its Urgent Treatment Centre are already under enormous strain. Reducing hours at Central Middlesex will inevitably push more people there, increasing waiting times and reducing the chances of people being seen quickly when they need it most.

 

And there is another, quieter consequence. When access becomes harder, some people simply don’t go. They wait. They hope it will pass. Conditions worsen. What could have been treated early becomes an emergency later. That is bad for patients, bad for staff, and bad for the NHS as a whole.

 

This is why we are firmly opposed to any further reduction in services at Central Middlesex Hospital.

What we are asking for today is not unreasonable. We are asking for transparency, accountability, and democratic oversight. We are calling on Brent Council to convene an urgent meeting of the Community and Wellbeing Scrutiny Committee so that these proposals can be properly examined, questioned, and debated.

 

There is precedent for this. The 2019 changes to the service were considered by this very committee on 9 July 2019. That process allowed councillors and residents to scrutinise the impact and to ensure local voices were heard. That same opportunity must be afforded now.

 

This is not about politics. It is about people. It is about fairness. It is about recognising that communities like Harlesden, Kensal Green, and the wider Brent area deserve accessible, reliable urgent healthcare — not a slow erosion of services that have already been cut back too far.

 

I have lived here long enough to see what happens when services disappear quietly, bit by bit. Once they are gone, they are incredibly hard to get back. That is why this moment matters.

 

For my neighbours.

For my children and grandchildren.

For the people who work late, who care for others, who are vulnerable, who rely on public healthcare.

 

I urge this council to act now. Convene the scrutiny committee. Put these proposals on the agenda. Stand up for the residents you represent.

 

Thank you.

 

Cllrr Ketan Sheth responding said that the issue remains absolutely on the Committee's radar and that it would be brought back at an appropriate time. 

Unfotunately the response is not as urgent as we would want it to be. The danger is that the cuts will be implemented before the Committee properly examines them. 

Zengha is a Green Party candidate for the 2026 council election in the Harlesden and Kensal Green ward.