Local residents are being directed away from Queen Mary’s Hospital in Roehampton for minor injuries treatment, despite the facility having available capacity and same-day appointments, in what appears to be the latest restriction on a service councillors warned was being “deliberately run down.”
Putney.news has documented multiple cases where NHS 111 has actively blocked or redirected patients from accessing the Extended Primary Care Hub at Queen Mary’s, forcing them to travel to hospitals across London including Chelsea & Westminster and Charing Cross for treatment that could have been provided locally.
The cases follow warnings from Wandsworth councillors last month who accused St George’s NHS Trust of systematically restricting access to create the appearance of low demand – warnings the Trust dismissed while insisting it had no intention of closing the service.
In the most detailed case, a Putney father attempting to get treatment for his son’s foot injury earlier this month was first told by an NHS 111 operator to attend Queen Mary’s within four hours. Fifteen minutes later, the same service called him back to say he could no longer go there as it was “blocked,” and instead directed him to travel to Chelsea & Westminster A&E.
Frustrated by the redirection, he called Queen Mary’s minor injuries unit directly. He was given an appointment for 12:30pm that same day. When he arrived, there was only one other patient present. He was seen by a doctor within five minutes and received “fantastic” service.
“It was very strange that the NHS 111 operator said I could go then called back saying it was blocked and I couldn’t go there,” he told Putney.news. “It seems like St George’s Trust may be trying to block patients going there to then give evidence to say no one is using it so they have to close.”
A second resident reported a similar experience, being told to travel to Charing Cross for a broken finger rather than attend their local facility at Queen Mary’s.
Staff at the Queen Mary’s Hub have confirmed that they have specifically instructed NHS 111 to provide patients with the Hub’s direct phone number so they can assess whether the facility is appropriate for their needs. However, this appears not to be happening consistently.
The pattern councillors predicted
The documented cases of NHS 111 blocking fit precisely the pattern that Wandsworth councillors warned about just weeks ago.
At a heated council scrutiny meeting on 17 September, councillors directly accused St George’s Trust of “deliberately running down” the Queen Mary’s service. They pointed out that the unit was switched from walk-in to appointment-only after COVID and capped at just 44 slots per day, despite previously serving 60 to 80 patients daily as a walk-in with wait times far shorter than major A&Es.
Cllr Crivelli challenged the Trust’s claim that the service was “underused”. Cllr Jafri stressed how difficult it would be for Roehampton residents, many without cars, to travel to Tooting instead. Councillors also warned that by limiting access through appointment-only restrictions, the Trust could present the hub as “expensive” per patient seen, bolstering the case for moving staff back to Tooting. They demanded full transparency and proper public consultation before any changes.
Now, just weeks after those warnings, patients are reporting another layer of access restriction: NHS 111 actively blocking them from the appointment slots that do exist even when capacity is available.
The Trust is operating under significant financial pressure, rolling out a £95 million savings programme. In this context, creating the appearance of low demand at Queen Mary’s could provide justification for further service reductions – exactly what councillors warned about.
Trust’s position
St George’s NHS Trust maintains that patients can still book appointments at Queen Mary’s through NHS 111 and that this arrangement has not changed. The Trust emphasizes that NHS 111, which is commissioned by NHS South West London rather than the Trust itself, directs patients to the most appropriate facility based on the information provided about their health needs at the time.
The Trust acknowledges it is “currently reviewing aspects of the Enhanced Primary Care Hub service at Queen Mary’s hospital in Roehampton,” including “balancing St George’s staff across the Queen Mary’s site and the Urgent Treatment Centre in Tooting, while retaining a service at Queen Mary’s.”
The Trust says no decisions have been made and that when its detailed analysis is complete, it will take on board the views of staff, people who use the service, and communities before making any changes.
While the Trust maintains the service remains available through NHS 111, its responses have not explained why multiple patients report being told they cannot access it, or whether the acknowledged “balancing” of staff affects capacity information provided to NHS 111.
“Victory” that wasn’t
The September council meeting followed a major community campaign after the Trust announced plans in August to review the minor injuries service, triggering fears of closure. The campaign gathered nearly 10,000 signatures and involved local MPs and councillors.
On September 25 – just days after Slemeck’s conditional statements to councillors – MPs met with Trust bosses and subsequently declared victory characterising the outcome as the Trust backing down from closure plans.
Putney MP Fleur Anderson said: “This is fantastic news for our community. The number of people who signed the petition shows what a valued service it is.”
However, the Trust has not publicly confirmed what, if anything, it had committed to preserve, and requests from Putney.news for clarity on the Trust’s position have received either no response or a statement that services remain under review.
The gap between public declarations of victory and the Trust’s actual commitments is growing.
Questions requiring answers
- Why are NHS 111 operators telling patients Queen Mary’s is “blocked” when appointments are demonstrably available?
- What does “balancing staff” actually mean for service availability and NHS 111 routing decisions?
- Is NHS 111 being given accurate, real-time information about Queen Mary’s capacity?
- Who controls the information NHS 111 receives about Queen Mary’s availability – the Trust, NHS South West London, or the Hub itself?
- Is usage data being collected in a way that accurately reflects actual demand?
- What exactly did the Trust believe it committed to in September when MPs declared “victory”?
The cumulative effect of appointment-only restrictions, staff “balancing,” and now apparent NHS 111 blocking is a service that thousands of residents fought to preserve but increasingly cannot access.
Whether this represents coordination or dysfunction, the result is the same: patients forced to travel unnecessarily, other hospitals receiving avoidable demand, and a community left questioning what their campaign actually achieved.
The Trust needs to clarify what is happening at Queen Mary’s and whether the service residents were told they had “saved” is actually available to them.
If you have experienced similar issues accessing Queen Mary’s through NHS 111, please contact us at news@putney.news.
