Obviously it is not a quiet time for our NHS, which is experiencing a huge rise in patients attending A&Es along with significant staff shortages thus placing even greater demand on our overstretched and exhausted staff. At the very least they deserve a decent pay rise not a measly 3%!

Instead of responding to the pressures on the NHS the Government is going ahead with a major re –organisation, which you can read about in this month’s newsletter.

You can also read about the latest news on the GP Data Grab, our recent visit to Ealing Hospital, New prescription charges for 60 +, sign the latest Petition and more….. 

IT’S CARNIVAL TIME IN HANWELL – JOIN US ON SATURDAY 21 AUGUST

Once again Ealing Save Our NHS is joining in the festivities with our colourful Stall and some fun for the kids. We have some great new leaflets on the mental health crisis and the dangers of the Governments new Health & Care Bill, balloons and stickers too.

It has become a tradition to have a photo opportunity and this year ‘Love the NHS, dont let it be a skeleton service‘ is our theme with our ‘skeleton face in the hole’ – as you can see from the photo above.

If you are visiting Hanwell Carnival please come and say a hello, take a photo and a leaflet or have a look at our new leaflets here and here 

INVITE TO VISIT TO EALING HOSPITAL – A GOOD NEWS STORY:

At the end of last month ESON was invited to a walk around at Ealing Hospital to see the investment and improvements in services and meet Joanna Paul the Director of Operations at the Hospital, who was accompanied by Simon Crawford, Deputy Chief Executive, London North West Trust who run Ealing Hospital. A few photos are above.

It is once again a busy time at Ealing for Covid patients as wards have had to be reopened to see new cases but thankfully not the numbers previously seen.

Big changes have had to be made to minimise the spread of Covid so services have been be re-located, which is working well, and at the same time have been much upgraded. In particular there has been considerable investment in improving Older Peoples in-patient wards and clinics, which are very welcoming and the Paediatric Outpatient and Day Surgery Unit is frankly delightful.

Diagnostic services have been reinstated with 3 MRI scans now operating on the site and Endoscopy is set to expand. There has also been digital investment making it easier for doctors to monitor patients and access patient data.

It is very welcome to see Ealing Hospital getting some much needed investment and we hope this will continue. Thanks to the Trust for inviting us.

OTHER LOCAL NEWS:

Ealing Hospital suspended services to be restored:

The Review of the Trust’s suspension of Emergency Overnight Surgery and the Trauma & Orthopedic Service at Ealing has recommended that both services be fully restored. We are told this won’t be instant as they have to sort out extra staffing, but it’s still good news.

Ealing Breast Care Clinic:

Ealing currently has 2 Breast Clinics (pre Covid it had 4) whereas Central Middx has 7 and Northwick Park has 5 – quite a disparity! We have been lobbying hard for the restoration of the 2 Breast Clinics that were cut due to Covid. The Trust has now told us they intend to restore these Clinics – but no date yet. We also want to see a return of surgery so that Ealing women can get a full one stop service.

Northwick Park Maternity:

Following the recent CQC inspectors report which downgraded the maternity service to ‘inadequate’ (not the service we were promised when they closed Ealing’ s Maternity) we have been pressing hard for re-assurances that Ealing mums will be safe and get a caring service. The Trust and the North West London ICS, who are now monitoring the Trust, both say the changes they have made mean it’s now safe. A huge amount of work needs to be done to improve the service and they say it will take time. We will do our best to monitor it too.

3% WONT PAY THE RENT OR HELP RETAIN NHS STAFF:

NHS workers and their unions have been protesting against the dismal 3% pay award, this Summer. In July ‘NHS Workers SAY NO’ handed in an 800,000 strong petition to Downing Street calling for 15% now and demonstrations have been taking place around the country.

Since 2010, NHS pay has failed to keep pace with inflation so staff have experienced a real terms cut of at least 15% and the 3% doesn’t even cover inflation, currently at 3.9%.

Unite, GMB, the RCN and Unison are balloting members on whether they support the 3% and considering the next steps of their pay campaigns, including possible strike action. Junior doctors, who have not been awarded 3%, and Consultants are also being consulted about industrial action by the BMA.

With demoralisation and exhaustion at an all-time high the 3% award, which in non-negotiable, will do nothing to stem the escalating recruitment and retention crisis.

ESON is supporting our NHS staff all the way in their fight for pay justice as can be seen by the photo above at our July 3rd NHS Birthday celebration.

HEALTH & CARE BILL – A REAL DANGER FOR THE NHS:

Loss of local accountability and control, centralisation of decision making and budgets, more lucrative contracts for the private sector without competition and wide sweeping powers for the Secretary of State are key dangers facing our NHS from this Bill.

Well known national campaigner JOHN LISTER has written an analysis of the dangers in the Bill in the latest edition of Health Campaigns Together.

And we have summarised his article with some local examples in the latest article on our website, which you can READ HERE

SIGN THE PETITION: SCRAP THE HEALTH & CARE BILL!

ESON will be joining with other campaigners around the country to raise awareness about the threat to the NHS of this Bill and do our best to oppose it.

You can help by signing this Petition headed up by Dr Louise Irvine from Keep Our NHS Public and help spread the word.

Please also keep up to date by reading our Newsletter and following us on Facebook and Twitter.

YOU CAN SIGN THE PETITION HERE

DATA GRAB POSTPONED AGAIN!

The Government’s plan to take the patient records which GPs hold on everyone in England and enter them all into one massive database has been postponed again.

Government Minister Jo Churchill, has told GPs that the uploading of patient data will not take place until –

• The ability to delete data if patients choose to opt-out of sharing their GP data with NHS Digital, even if this is after their data has been uploaded;
• The backlog of opt-outs has been fully cleared;
• A Trusted Research Environment has been developed and implemented in NHS Digital and;
• Patients have been made more aware of the scheme through a campaign of engagement and communication

This a significant backdown brought about by pressure from GPs, like those in East London refusing to comply, campaign groups, professional bodies and of course patients who opted out in droves!

Leading Data Grab campaigners, Foxglove and Med Confidential are not convinced that all the Governments promises will happen. In the meantime we think if you have concerns the best thing is to opt out – you can always opt back in again!

HOW TO OPT OUT 

Latest News from MedConfidential

HAVE YOUR SAY – OPPOSE NEW PRESCRIPTION CHARGES FOR OVER 60s!

The Government is trying to sneak through a so- called ‘consultation’ this Summer on its plan to introduce prescription charges for people aged 60-66.

It is all being done under the guise that as State Pension Age has now moved to 66 so should the right to free prescriptions.

All in all its pretty nasty when so many older people are struggling and women in particular were hard hit by the rising of state pension age.

The Consultation closes on 2nd September and its short and easy to complete

More information can be found here and a link to the online consultation questionnaire HERE

THE SUMMER ISSUE OF ‘HEALTH CAMPAIGNS TOGETHER’ BULLETIN – A GREAT READ

Written in newspaper format, with lots of well-presented and easy to read information on the NHS Bill; the Covid crisis; Maternity Safety issues; the £10bn private sector contract and much more….

You can read it online here –

As a time when our understaffed and underpaid NHS staff struggle to cope with Covid and a massive backlog of people waiting for surgery, you might well wonder why the Government is pushing ahead with a major NHS re-organisation.

The main features of the Bill are a huge loss of local accountability and control, greater centralisation of decision-making and budgets and more lucrative contracts for the private sector without any competition.

The Secretary of State, Sajid Javid is to be given wide sweeping powers including the right to impose reconfigurations that can merge and close services as happened here in Ealing with the loss of our Maternity and Children’s Ward and the threat to close our A&E.

Well known campaigner and analyst JOHN LISTER unfolds the story in the latest copy of Health Campaigns Together in his article – ‘Listing key dangers in the Health & Care Bill’

Here are is a short summary of the key dangers from his article:-

No end to privatisation:

Although the legal requirement for Clinical Commissioning Groups to have to put services out to tender is to be scrapped there is plenty of scope in the new Bill for privatisation too.

“Scrapping Section 75 also raises the question of what new system will apply to regulate the awarding of contracts. On this issue the Bill is a pig in a poke: there is no clear mechanism or commitment to prevent more of the scandalous behaviour that became normalised during the pandemic – awarding contracts worth tens of millions to Tory donors and cronies without competition”

Fewer local bodies, even less local voice:

Over the last year, decision-making about local services has been become even more inaccessible as Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs), who commission our local NHS services, have merged across huge geographical areas. In North West London all 8 Borough based CCGs, including Ealing, have become a single NWL CCG meeting only 5 times in the year, with less then an hour for public questions.

This is the first step in the radical change that will further reduce decision-making and concentrate power into the hands of 42 ‘Integrated Care Systems’ (ICSs) which will cover populations of up to 3.2 million. The North West London ICS will continue to cover the 8 Boroughs with a population of over 2 million people.

“To make matters worse the new ICSs would each be collectively tied to a tightly limited single pot of allocated funding after a decade of austerity and falling real terms funding – and at a time when NHS England has already begun cracking the whip for tighter financial controls, and therefore looking for cuts to balance the books”

These new ICS bodies will have a Board with the Chair appointed by NHS England but Health Secretary Sajid Javid will have a veto over appointments and removals!

Charter for Cronyism

Given that the Chair has the power to make appointments – “On recent form, a rampant expansion of cronyism into the new bodies seems inevitable”.

This is further born out by the lack of any criteria or guidance for the appointments to the Board or their role or responsibilities.

“Nor is there any explicit requirement that the Boards must meet in public or publish their board papers, although NHS England has stated their preference for this: nor is there any commitment, given the wide geographical spread of some ICSs, for meetings to be made accessible online”

“And while local authorities have been weakened by a decade of brutal cuts in spending, and get just one seat on each ICS, the private sector could find itself gaining a stronger voice”.

Powers on reconfiguration:

New powers are to be given to the Secretary of State to intervene directly to either block local plans or enforce reconfigurations such as the dreadful ‘Shaping a Healthier Future’ here in North West London which would have closed our A&Es and beds at both Ealing & Charing Cross Hospitals.

But these powers are but a few of the 138 new powers in the Bill that are to be given to the Secretary of State.

Discharge to Assess:

Despite the title of the Bill including ‘Care’ and all the talk of integration there are hardly any concrete proposals for addressing the Social Care crisis. Instead we have increased CQC inspections of local authority services and the removal of the legal requirement for local authorities to assess the care needs of vulnerable patients before they are discharged!

With reported backlogs of more than 75,000 disabled and older people waiting for help with their care and support from overstretched Social services this is pretty disastrous and will place huge burdens on families and carers, for those who have them.

There is lots more in the Bill including the potential down grading of professional standards in pursuit of ‘financial and efficiency savings’

You can read the full story by John Lister here

Along with campaigns around the country we will be campaigning against the Bill over the next few months. Please read our Newsletter for latest news and sign the Petition. 

We had a really good celebration and protest on Saturday 3rd July at our NHS 73rd Birthday event with around 60 people turning out despite the rain AND almost constant beeps of support from passing cars and buses too.

There was over 70 similar events around the country as part of a NHS Day of Action for pay justice, funding the NHS and ending privatisation, organised by ‘Keep Our NHS Public’, ‘Health Campaigns Together’, ‘NHS Staff Voices’ and ‘NHS Workers say No’.

We listened to some really good speeches, ate delicious homemade cakes, had a few chants and gave out leaflets.

It was great to work with Ealing TUC and have the support of MPs Virendra Sharma, Rupa Huq and GLA member Dr Onkar Sahota.

There was a really good turnout from all our lovely campaigners and supporters and we were also joined by Dr Mona Kamal of NHS Voices, GMB Medirest Rep Binrajah, Ealing Reclaim Social Care Action Group, local Councillors, Southall Community Alliance, Stand Up to Racism and the Green Party.

We certainly did show that we “Love Our NHS and Ealing Hospital” and want them properly funded and we want a decent pay rise for our brilliant NHS Staff!

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London Demonstration: Although we couldn’t join the London Demo on 3rd July you can see some of the photos and read a good article on the National Day of Action here.

• 
  Private Healthcare Profits Are Draining Vital Resources from Our NHS
  The National Health Service was founded on a simple principle: healthcare should be available to everyone, regardless of wealth or background. Yet increasing amounts of NHS funding are being diverted into the hands of private healthcare companies, raising serious questions about whether public money is being used in the best interests of patients and taxpayers. A recent study by the Centre for Health and Public Interest examined NHS spending on private healthcare providers in England over a two-year period. The findings were striking. The NHS spent approximately £12 billion on services provided by 760 private companies. Of that total, around… Read more: Private Healthcare Profits Are Draining Vital Resources from Our NHS

EALING BREAST CARE UNIT – SAFE FOR NOW! We are very pleased to have received a letter from the London North West NHS Trust CEO to say that no decision has been taken to close the Breast Care Unit and no plans to do so! This was further confirmed to us at the recent Trust Board Meeting. The Service is however under review and we are continuing to make strong representation in support of not just keeping but improving Ealing’s Breast Care Service. Although the service is safe for now, only some of the Breast Care Clinics have re-opened after the shut down due to Covid 19. Instead of two full days a week (4 clinics) only one full day (2 clinics) has been re-opened – a 50% cut. However all the clinics at both Central Middlesex and Northwick have re-opened. We have asked why Ealing women are being treated differently! We are also pressing for breast surgery to be returned to Ealing, having been cut 4 or 5 years ago.

JOIN US ON SATURDAY 3RD JULY OUTSIDE EALING HOSPITAL FROM 12.00-1.30PM Despite all their dedication and hard work throughout the pandemic, NHS staff have been offered a disgraceful 1% pay rise and many workers are struggling to make ends meet- it is an insult! The Pay Review Body will be making its findings public in June, which will bring the whole issue of pay back into the media. Campaigners want to show maximum solidarity with NHS staff as well as making sure that patient safety, privatisation and the government’s woeful handling of the Covid-19 pandemic remain clearly in the public eye. On the 73rd anniversary of the NHS, Keep Our NHS Public, NHS Workers Say No!, NHS Staff Voices and Health Campaigns Together have come together to show that they will not be backing down without a fight. Please join us for a good old shout, some songs, speakers and maybe some cake on the 3rd – hold the date!

UNDER PRESSURE THE PLANS TO SHARE OUR PATIENT DATA HAVE NOW BEEN DELAYED TO 1ST SEPTEMBER BUT STILL BEST TO ACT

If you live in England, all your encounters with your GP – information about your physical, mental and sexual health and other sensitive information such as criminal records and abuse are being put into a huge database which can be shared with ‘third parties’, including private companies!

This is being done without patient consent by NHS Digital, who runs the health service IT system, under instruction from Secretary of State, Matt Hancock. 

This new data system (General Practice Data for Planning and Research system (GPDPR) comes in to effect on 1st July 2021, so there is only a short time to spread the word.

Campaign groups for digital rights such as ‘Foxglove’ have started legal action. Rose Curling, Solicitor from ‘Foxglove’, in a legal letter sent to the Department of Health & Social Care, said they had “serious concerns” about the legality of the move because no explicit consent had been given and “very few members of the public will be aware that the new processing is imminent, directly affecting their personal medical data”.  Further legal action is being prepared in conjunction with ‘Just Treatment’

NHS Digital denies that our data will be sold off and claim private companies will only be able to request access for research purposes, but they have been pretty silent on who will have access.  

After the Government give away of billions of pounds in Covid contracts to their cronies, why should we trust them not to do the same with this very lucrative ‘lake of data’ estimated to be worth £10 billion a year!!

‘Foxglove’ are also concerned the data could be shared with US tech giants including Amazon, Google, Microsoft, plus UK artificial intelligence group Faculty and US data analytics firm Palantir Technologies.

We can do something about this and opt out by filling in this form and taking it to our GP’s before the deadline of 23rd June. After this date our historical records become a permanent and irreversible part of the new data system. Patients who opt out after the deadline can only stop any future data from being funnelled into the new system.

SOME IMPORTANT LINKS: 

How to opt out – it’s easy and doesn’t affect your care

an excellent video explaining how the data store works and why ‘Foxglove’ is taking legal action.

And if you are still not sure what to do, it’s well worth reading this detailed explanation from Caroline Molloy of ‘Open Democracy’.

Ealing Save Our NHS held a protest against privatised Test and Trace on Tuesday outside Ealing Town Hall.

Campaigner Oliver New said “Serco and other private companies have been handed millions to run their tracing contract misleadingly called “NHS Test & Trace”. But the cross-party Public Accounts Committee of MPs recently concluded that there is
“NO clear evidence” that it has helped reduce infection levels.

Serco and other private companies have been put in charge of running the Test and Trace system – but it’s a
disaster because it’s not actually “NHS” Test and Trace – it’s privatised Test and Trace.

The Government allocated £37 billion of taxpayer‘s money and gave huge contracts to SERCO and others with an unproven record. Those resources must instead go to the actual NHS and to Councils i.e. the people who are successfully delivering vaccinations to millions.. Those resources must instead to the actual NHS and to Councils i.e. the people who are
successfully delivering vaccinations to millions.

This is URGENT. Vaccines alone won’t beat Covid 19. Most success in other countries involved local contact tracing and isolating. As more Covidvariants emerge we need to act now.

“Not only are Councils naturally placed to respond quickly to the distinct needs, challenges and infection rates of their own area, but they are equipped with their own teams of public health professionals.”
Professor Donna Hall (Chair, Bolton NHS Foundation Trust)

An influential Parliamentary Committee said there was no evidence the “unimaginable” cost of Test & Trace made any progress in dealing with the pandemic. The Cross-Party Public Accounts Committee (PAC) added that despite being allocated £37 billion in funding, it failed to deliver the Government promise of preventing
lockdowns.