| Although we won’t be having meetings or street stalls over the coming months, we haven’t stopped campaigning and will continue to keep you updated. |
| TOP of our list is to support our wonderful NHS Staff at Ealing Hospital and elsewhere as much as we can. |
| Very worrying is the failure of the Government to test all NHS workers leaving many forced to self-isolate, even though they may not have the virus. So we need to lobby the Government by whatever means we can to test all NHS workers now! |
| One of the best things you can do now is to sign the Petition below and circulate it to everyone you can and spread the word. |
| Please also read on for some great messages, interesting news and updates…. |
| **SIX Demands from NHS workers to help them tackle Cornovirus** |
| It’s clear that an urgent intervention is needed on the government’s Coronavirus response. Despite the massive threat posed by the pandemic, Boris Johnson isn’t doing what’s needed to support our health workers as they confront this crisis. This is doubly alarming given that our NHS is going into action following a decade of under-funding, under-staffing, and undermining from Conservative-led governments. |
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| Keep Our NHS Public, (to which we are affiliated) in conjunction with other groups has launched a new petition putting six key demands to the government. The demands are: |
- Covid-19 testing and personal protective equipment (PPE) must be available for all NHS and social care staff now
- Those relying on social care (or ‘Direct Payments’) must be given immediate support if carers go sick
- NHS support staff (including those outsourced) must receive at least living wage, paid sick leave for illness or self-isolation and an increase in statutory sick pay
- Bring private health resources into public service without compensation to fight COVID-19 and aid NHS response. It’s a disgrace that private hospitals are being paid £2.4 million per day to rent their beds!
- Make all information that the Government is basing its strategy on wholly available for public scrutiny
- An immediate end to legislation enforcing eligibility checks and charging in the NHS, including those related to residency status or national origin, allowing all patients to use the NHS without fear.
| Please sign and share the petition – link here – |
| Ealing Hospital still here to help us! |
| When we started campaigning all those years ago against the ‘Shaping a Healthier Future’ plans that would have closed Ealing and Charing Cross A&Es and hundreds of beds, we had no idea that it would be such a life and death battle. |
| We recently received this moving message from a health worker at Ealing Hospital speaking about the defeat of those closure plans, which we thought we would share with you all. |
| “What a good thing it is that Ealing Hospital is able to be here in one of the darkest times as we face as a nation. |
| I can’t help but feel that had their ridiculous plans completely gone through and they had closed us down, then there is absolutely no doubt there would’ve been more deaths.
The hospital is rising beyond expectations; it is dealing with this outbreak. The fantasy idea of GPs dealing with everything simply isn’t possible: GPs can’t see most patient’s face-to-face right now but the Ealing hospital doors are open day and night …” |
| Fantastic to know that Ealing’s staff are rising to the challenge; our heartfelt thanks go out to all of them! |
| A conversation with Sir Amyas Morse – Chair, LNWH Trust |
| Last Thursday a few of us from ESON had a long telephone conversation with Sir Amyas Morse, the new Chair of London North West University Healthcare Trust, which includes Ealing Hospital. |
| We discussed at length our concerns about the chipping away of services at Ealing Hospital and the lack of a proper plan for the future of the Hospital, which needs to be resolved. He agreed there needs to be clear plan for Ealing Hospital for both the public and the staff working there and told us he has been raising this too. He said it might take a while to come back to us with their proposals for the Hospital but he promised to do this as soon as practically possible. |
| Unfortunately he was unable to answer our questions on the Trust strategy to deal with coronavirus patients, but he did offer to act as a conduit for our questions and to possibly provide some briefings. |
| We are grateful for him taking the time to listen and respond to our concerns. |
| Hammersmith Hospital Urgent Care Centre closed for safety reasons: |
| At 8.00am on Friday 20th March the Urgent Care Centre (UCC) at Hammersmith Hospital was closed. The reason given is that Hammersmith Hospital is unable to screen and segregate patients so must close. After explaining that Charing Cross is screening and segregating possible Covid-19 patients at the front door, the local CCG (NHS bosses) say in their press release that: |
| “The urgent treatment centre at Hammersmith Hospital has neither the space nor the clinical capacity to segregate patients at the front door in this way. Charing Cross also has an emergency department in case a patient is taken seriously ill.” |
| Health campaigners have always maintained that useful as UCCs were in streaming emergency patients, they had never been shown to be safe unless co-located with a proper A&E. Unfortunately we are all finding out how true that is the hard way. A big blow for the people in that area who now have a difficult journey to either Charing Cross or St Marys (thanks to Hammersmith & Fulham Save Our NHS for the information). Fortunately our UCC is co-located next to Ealing A&E where suspected Covid 19 cases are being isolated. |
| Northwick Park runs out of critical beds: |
| Many of you may have heard on the national media that Northwick Park became the first hospital to ‘declare a critical incident’, in that it ran out critical care beds and had to call on other North West London Hospitals to take patients. |
| The critical incident status has now been stood down, thanks to the help from the other hospitals, but is very worrying at such an early stage. At present Ealing Hospital, which is not a major centre for treating Covid -19, seems to be coping and is no doubt extra busy picking up some of the critical cases not able to go to Northwick Park. |
| **Clap for our carers – Show your support for the NHS** |
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| A CAMPAIGN has been launched for people to take part in show their gratitude to NHS employees working tirelessly during the Coronavirus outbreak. The Clap For Our Carers, or #clapforourcarers, campaign will see people across the country applaud the NHS workers from their homes. |
| This is to show appreciation for doctors, nurses, GPs and every other NHS workers. |
| You can join the ‘CLAP for our Carers’ on March 26 at 8pm. |
| People joining are asked to applaud from their front doors, gardens, balconies and windows, keeping a safe distance from other people. |
| This has already been done in countries such as Spain, France and the Netherlands. |
| Keep well and safe everyone. |
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