IN the 1980s the borough of Haringey had six hospitals. We now have none. Here is what has happened: 1. St. Ann s is a hospital in name only (from 1948 it was a general hospital, and by 1973 it had 586 beds, but for years it has been starved of funding).

IN the 1980s the borough of Haringey had six hospitals. We now have none. Here is what has happened:

1. St. Ann's is a hospital in name only (from 1948 it was a general hospital, and by 1973 it had 586 beds, but for years it has been starved of funding).

2. Prince of Wales Hospital in Tottenham, with 204 beds, was closed in 1983 with the promise that it would become an ''integrated health facility''. By the 1990s it had become luxury flats and serves to show us that we should never believe what we are told!

3. Wood Green and Southgate Hospital was closed in 1991 to become 30 sheltered flats (Passmore Edwards House).

4. Coppets Wood Hospital, Muswell Hill, served as one of only two isolation hospitals in Britain for hazardous infections from 1933 until 2000. It is now luxury housing.

5. Southwood Hospital, Highgate, also became luxury housing in 2003.

6. Hornsey Central Hospital was closed to patients in 2000. Nine years later Middle Lane Health Centre and Queenswood GP practice have relocated here. By no stretch of the imagination is it a hospital.

We are now being warned that the Whittington Hospital is next on the list.

Its closure by stealth will leave the residents of Haringey in a more vulnerable position than in any other area of London. Make no mistake, there will be tragedies.

Sue Hessel

Vulnerable Groups Officer, Haringey Federation of Residents' Associations

Haslemere Road, N8