| John Lister set the tone with a warning of what’s coming down the line, holding up pictures of the two PM contenders, neither of whom will protect our NHS. Increasing privatisation, charging and withdrawn treatments are some of the potential threats – but support for the NHS is so strong that John was confident that campaigning can win out. John also read out some leaked documents about our local health services (see below). |
| Jenny Vaughan made a passionate plea to us all to continue to fight for Ealing Hospital, which has not been supported by the CCG or Hospital management. Even though the A&E has been saved, services were still under threat. A vision was need for the Hospital based on listening to local people and doctors. |
| Coral Jones spoke about how the Government blames patients for the pressures being placed on GPs when the real problems were poor training programmes, cuts to public health, welfare, community & youth services and constant re-organisations. |
| Unfortunately Steve Pound couldn’t join us as he was stuck in Parliament, but it was particularly pleasing to see support from our Hospital doctors, one of whom spoke powerfully about the threat to cut evening Orthopaedic surgery and transfer patients to Northwick Park – more campaigning to do! |
| A big thank you to everyone who gave so generously to our Campaign Collection – we collected a huge £352.00! for our campaigning work! |
| For those who missed our excellent speakers, a full length film of the Meeting can be found, courtesy of Visit Southall, on YouTube |
| If you don’t have time to listen to it all, you can find John Lister at 5.32; Jenny Vaughan at 31.42 and Coral Jones at 40.30. |
| Senior NHS boss invites ESON to meet him: |
| Some of ESON’s officers recently met with senior NHS boss Mark Easton, who is the top manager for North West London NHS. It is certainly a step forward to be able to talk to NHS bosses at all. Our aim was to press the case for more funding for Ealing and stop the hollowing out of services and gather more understanding of their latest re-organisation/super CCG. |
| We discovered they apparently have no vision for Ealing Hospital post SaHF, in fact would rather never talk about SaHF again. Their re-organisation plans are, unfinished and frankly a bit bizarre, but they want to rush them through anyway. Mr Easton suggested meeting us again in the Autumn to discuss the local Long Term Plan. |
| SaHF Leak reveal much about NWL NHS bosses: |
| A few weeks ago internal documents were sent anonymously to ESON. They included a draft ‘how to reply to SaHF questions’ for North West London NHS staff. |
| What was most worrying about the responses was that they didn’t seem to know answers to key questions such as – How will you change the way you make decisions in future to ensure millions more pounds of taxpayers money isn’t wasted” No answer to “Why were the closures of A&E and beds at Charing Cross and Ealing hospitals not taken off the table sooner,” |
| There is no suggestion of any apology for all the harm done, instead they wax lyrically about all the achievements, which in effect means closing our Maternity and Children’s acute services! No-one is to resign and no lessons learnt either. It does not bode well for the future. |
| You can read more on this story and John Lister’s assessment of the North West London re-organisation here – |
| Some Trusts are now charging for restricted treatments: |
| Some Hospital Trusts are ignoring guidelines and ‘allowing’ patients to pay for treatments no longer available on the NHS according to a recent story in the Health Service Journal – article here |
| Last April NHS England introduced severe restrictions on certain procedures. Four of these procedures are effectively banned: most surgery for snoring, treatment for heavy menstrual bleeding, knee arthroscopy for osteoarthritis, and injection for nonspecific low back pain (where no sciatica). A further list of 13 procedures can only be carried out if they meet certain ‘agreed’ criteria. However, it is now coming to light that there are many more treatments that NHS Trusts are refusing to carry. |
| NHS England issued guidance last November to Trusts saying they did not expect them to offer these interventions privately but some Trusts are still doing it, including Chelsea & Westminster and Imperial in North West London. |
| This is a slippery slope, challenging the principles of an NHS free at the point of use and available to all regardless of income. |
| A&E waiting time figures take another nose dive: |
| A&E performance for April, May and June this year was the worst ever recorded, averaging 86% against the 95% target for 4 hour waiting time. Some Trusts didn’t even report or hid their performance. Just as well they did not manage to close our Ealing and Charing Cross A&E’s or figures for North West London would have been the worst by far! |
| Come help us organise our Campaign: Tuesday 16th July : |
| Ealing Save Our NHS holds regular monthly Meetings every 3rd Tuesday except August, where we plan our campaign activities, get reports from various bodies and keep updated on what’s happening locally and nationally to our NHS services. Following our public meeting we need to plan how we develop a vision for Ealing Hospital and stop services like evening orthopaedic surgery being transferred. |
| We would love to see more people get involved and new ideas, so please think about joining us, you will be very welcome on the 16th at 7.30pm, Northfields Community Centre, 71a Northcroft Road, Ealing W13 9SS. Tea and Coffee provided too. |
| PLEASE SIGN OUR PETITION – ‘BRING BACK VITAL SERVICES to EALING HOSPITAL’ here |
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