‘Such determination’: Hackney Museum display tells story of community’s fight to save St Leonard’s Hospital in 1980s

Protest outside Hackney Town Hall in 1983. Photograph: Neil Martinson / Malcolm Alexander

A new exhibition at Hackney Museum celebrates the huge community campaign in the 1980s to save a local hospital.

1980s People Power – The Campaign for St Leonard’s Hospital, which runs until 15 July, marks 40 years since the Hackney Health Emergency (HHE) group banded together to ward off a potential health crisis.

In 1983, the Hackney district health authority announced the closure of St Leonard’s as the NHS was reeling from government funding cuts.

What followed was a fascinatingly passionate movement, featuring protests and an occupation of the hospital, involving councillors and trade unions as well as the public.

The exhibition showcases this battle through atmospheric photographs, memorabilia, posters and newspaper articles, collected by Malcolm Alexander, a member of HHE.

He told the Citizen: “I had some ideas about doing this, but then I actually found all these photographs and it seemed like now was the right time. Having all the stuff already was the big joy and surprise of it.

“Reading through it all brought back so many memories. For a lot of the people who have gone to the exhibition and seen the pictures, it brought back a lot of feelings too. The feeling of what was achieved is really so profound.”

He added: “The reason for the campaign was that it was clearly going to be a massive cut in services and staff.”

Photograph: Neil Martinson / Malcolm Alexander

The threat saw hundreds of residents attend council meetings and carry out months of campaigning.

The health authority’s final meeting, when a vote was taken to close the hospital, had hundreds of people demonstrating outside.

The pressure was so tense that the final voter left the building to cast his ballot in private.

Alexander said: “If you look at the front page from that day in the Evening Standard, it was really dynamic. This wasn’t just a casual demonstration. This was people really getting angry about what had been done to the health services.

“Of all my years of working in campaigning organisations, I’ve never seen people with such determination.”

After continuing pressure and even an occupation of the hospital for a few days, the health authority relented and announced a compromise.

The united efforts of campaigners succeeded in getting St Leonard’s services to stay open, apart from the A&E department.

Years later, campaigners were delighted when the A&E service was reintroduced.

Alexander said the campaign was particularly important given the closures of local hospitals that followed it.

For him and other residents, the fight to preserve the area’s health facilities is not over.

Four decades on, Hackney Keep Our NHS Public is battling to ensure the St Leonard’s site is used for health services.

They are trying to stop the land becoming a housing development and instead want to see improvements in the care offered there.

Alexander said protecting the hospital from privatisation is important.

He added: “There was a homely feel to the 1983 campaign. My address and telephone number were on the posters.

“What fascinates me is this was an operation run by lay people, totally committed to saving services.

“Like in Hackney when people saved the two reservoirs, it just shows what can be done if people are determined. It’s possible.”