Chartwell Inpatients Unit, PRUH:
Update November 2025
We have reviewed the latest edition of proposals from the KCH Trust released ahead of the Bromley Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee’s Special Meeting taking place Wednesday 26th November, 5pm.
The paper restates the case for change, supported by a narrow 6-month snapshot of patient admission data. We believe this evidence base is insufficient to justify action of this scale and fails to capture critical year-on-year variation, patterns of seasonality or winter surges.
Framing configuration as service redesign, The Trust continues to deny closure. However, it clearly sets out plans to move all haematology in-patients to Denmark Hill and repurpose the Chartwell Unit at PRUH as a day-case/ambulatory service. The paper goes on to conclude that ‘this configuration maintains local access for most Haematology patients, with only the most complex cases centralised.’ Those two statements are inconsistent and demonstrate the persistent ambiguity around these proposals.
Crucially, the document does not explicitly reference the Chartwell Inpatients Ward or confirm whether PRUH will retain any protected in-patient cancer capacity—i.e., ring-fenced beds, defined infection-prevention standards and specialist staffing—after the change. Until this is stated plainly, the impact on local access and care quality remains opaque.
Our position is clear and consistent. Closing the Chartwell Inpatient Ward is an objectively unsound decision that will materially jeopardise patient safety, worsen access, disrupt continuity, and shift substantial operational pressure and cost to emergency departments, assessment units, ambulance services and the receiving site, and downstream onto patients and families.
The following response to the proposals from a patient currently using the services of the Chartwell and Denmark Hill is further evidence of the continued strength of opposition and local commitment to protecting a critical service that our community relies on.
Click HERE to view patient response to King’s updated proposal.
Click HERE to view King’s Proposal to Bromley Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee (HOSC).
If you would like to discuss any of the points raised, please email michaeldouglas@chartwellcancertrust.co.uk