The fight to save Chase Farm Hospital’s accident and emergency and maternity wards is over after a court rejected Enfield Borough Council’s case for a judicial review.

After nearly two days of evidence at the Royal Courts of Justice, it took less than two minutes for Lord Justice Bean to dismiss the claims made by the council that urgent care had been promised to be in place by the time the Enfield hospital was downgraded.

The battle, however, had been ongoing for nearly a decade with the final nail coming today meaning the hospital will lose its A&E on December 9, and maternity on Friday, November 15, with these services at Barnet and North Middlesex hospitals expanding.

In his judgement, Mr Beanstated that even if he had granted a judicial review, the case put forward by the Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG), the defendants, that “A&E services in Enfield will be far better able to cope with the strains of the coming winter” if the services were streamlined than if developments had stopped.

He added: “Enfield has fought a good fight to save the A&E department at Chase Farm from closure for several years, and I appreciate that the Council genuinely believes that it would be in the interests of those they represent for the department to remain open.

“But in legal terms that fight has now reached the end of the road. I have come to the conclusion that the Council has no arguable case for judicial review. I refuse permission and dismiss the claim.”

Dr Nick Losseff, medical director for the Barnet, Enfield and Haringey clinical strategy said: “Clearly we are pleased that the court has ruled that we can proceed with these moves to A&E services.

“The NHS has been carefully planning these changes to provide better, safer care for local residents in Barnet, Enfield and Haringey for many years.

“The changes have the overwhelming support of local clinicians; the hospitals have made it clear that they are ready to proceed, and GPs in all three boroughs agree that they should be implemented now. These changes will improve the quality and safety of the services our residents receive.”