A chilly but sunny afternoon at the beginning of March. Four happy children play in a back garden, shouting and laughing. It’s tea-time so the children come inside for a spot of toast and cake. One little girl leans on a door frame to take off her shoes. At the same time the door is slammed shut onto the middle finger of her right hand.

She shrieks, I run, open the door and see that the top joint of one of the fingers of my beautiful, perfect five-year-old girl Beatrice has been amputated. Before I know what I am doing I shout to my friend to get us to Accident & Emergency, and hold the joint onto the finger. My little girl screams and screams, we rush into a neighbour’s car and within 10 minutes we are at Lewisham Hopsital’s Children’s Emergency Department.

Jessica and Beatrice are grateful to Lewisham Hospital Ormerod family

That was three weeks ago and those 10 minutes felt like an eternity. Beatrice fainted five times in the car and I was powerless to stop the horrible pain I knew she was in. I wanted to cry and scream myself but I knew I had to be strong.

The soaring relief on arrival at the hospital was immense. We were seen immediately. Beatrice was given pain relief, at which point she fell into a deep sleep, and I was given reassurance by the fabulous nurses and doctors. We were transferred to St. Thomas’ Hospital that evening, Beatrice had surgery the next morning and we were home again within 24 hours of the terrible injury taking place.

Thank you, Lewisham Hospital. If you hadn’t been there it would have been an hour or more before Beatrice had pain relief and the care she needed to prevent her losing her finger. Long may you stay open for business.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: Lewisham Hospital is a successful, solvent healthcare provider. It’s the kind of hospital that Prime Minister David Cameron promised to champion during the election campaign when he pontificated: ‘The NHS is safe in my hands.’

And yet, this fantastic hospital full of caring doctors, nurses and sensible managers is scheduled for down-grade to bail out South London Healthcare Trust in a neighbouring London borough. As wrong as it is that the people of Woolwich are being penalized for the mismanagement and bumbling decision-making of politicians, it really shouldn’t be Lewisham Hospital’s responsibility to shoulder the burden.

Jeremy Hunt and the cabal at the Department of Health tell us that their hands are tied, there’s nothing they can do; they must balance the books! Don’t we know there’s a massive deficit? Don’t we understand that the NHS is simply too expensive?

It certainly doesn’t help build confidence that the Health Minister persists in clinging to the false statistic that the massive service reconfiguration in southeast London will save 100 lives per year. Even Professor Sir Bruce Keogh, NHS medical director, has written a public letter to distance himself from the wayward minister’s gaffe. But, oh no, Hunt bumbles on. He’s even passed the misinformation to Boris Johnson, Mayor of London, who ineptly trotted it out at a People’s Question Time held in the London borough of Lewisham. I wonder whether he’ll listen to Jeremy again after the roasting he got from the Save Lewisham Hospital campaign?

The disastrous plans for Lewisham will expose an entire borough of London to unacceptable risk. The plans fly in the face of patient care and health equality by taking us back by a generation in maternity provision. I think it would be fair to say that David Cameron’s pledge to keep the NHS safe is one made in pure fantasy.

Meanwhile, Beatrice’s finger continues to heal and I’ve been daydreaming about what I’d like to do with my middle finger, but I have to concede that this might not be the best way to negotiate with the Right Honourable Jeremy Hunt MP. Tempting though it is.