We are 100<\/b><\/p>\n
This is the 100th issue of this newsletter. The first issue was published in May 2013. In that issue we looked at the changing roles of hospitals. We anticipated the 2012 NHS North West London (NWL\u2019s) plans to close the A&E unit at Ealing Hospital. That never happened and we thought the matter was resolved in March 2019 when the Department of Health & Social Care withdrew its support for NHS NWL\u2019s \u2018Shaping a Healthier Future\u2019 plans. How wrong we were. Ealing Hospital recently supported the upgrading of Northwick Park Hospital and the downgrading of Ealing Hospital as part of NHS NWL\u2019s response to Covid-19. Rumours are rife that now the pandemic is starting to wane, the Ealing Hospital downgrade will not be reversed.<\/span><\/p>\n We also nervously welcomed the arrival of the Ealing Clinical Commissioning Group (ECCG), a product of the 2012 Health & Social Care Act. ECCG seems to be currently falling apart even though its formal closure date is way off on 31 March 2021. Another new kid on the block in May 2013 was the NHS 111 telephone advice service which replaced the NHS Direct telephone advice service. These days anecdotal evidence suggests that the advice received on 111 ranges from brilliant to hopeless.<\/span><\/p>\n In August 2019 we issued the eighth version of our NHS NWL Glossary. Along with this birthday issue is version nine of this lexicon of 236 terms, acronyms and jargon.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n The <\/b>Board Which Runs Ealing Hospital Met in Private on 27 May 2020<\/b><\/p>\n On 27 May 2020 the Board of London North West University Health NHS Trust (LNWH) met in private. A video recording of the \u2019Public Session\u2019 of the meeting was placed in the public domain on 1 June 2020. Why the public were excluded from watching and asking questions at the meeting is beyond me. The meeting lasted 80 minutes and some of the highlights\/lowlights were:<\/span><\/p>\n 5 LNWH Staff Members Have Died of Covid-19 – <\/b>4 women and 1 man. 3 white and 2 Asian. The LNWH charity donated \u00a38,000 to each of the families. No details about Ealing Hospital staff.<\/span><\/p>\n Sickness and Self-Isolation of LNWH Staff Peaked at 1,460 \u2013 <\/b>Current (27 May 2020) level is 433. (Total LNWH staff is 8,316). No details about Ealing Hospital staff.<\/span><\/p>\n Staff Absenteeism Peaked at 22.1% in April 2020 – <\/b>It\u2019s currently at 7.5%. Target is 4%. No details about Ealing Hospital staff.<\/span><\/p>\n Non-Covid-19 Backlog Includes 2,500 Ultrasound Scans <\/b>\u2013 again no Ealing Hospital data<\/span><\/p>\n ICU Busy Today (27 May 2020) with 37 Patients <\/b>\u2013 presumably this is at Northwick Park Hospital<\/span><\/p>\n Role Changes for Junior Doctors Has Been an Issue \u2013 <\/b>(300 doctors re-deployed because of Covid-19)<\/span>. W<\/b>eekly Junior Doctor Forums and trying to maintain training as mitigations\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n 35 Infection Control Serious Incidents \u2013 <\/b>PPE related<\/span><\/p>\n Key Role of Clinical Psychologists<\/b> \u2013 the two regional mental health Trusts providing ongoing support<\/span><\/p>\n Currently LNWH has \u00a384 Million in the Bank<\/b><\/p>\n LNWH has Covid-19 Tested 2,000+ Staff and Family 18+<\/b> \u2013 More Than Any Other Trust<\/span><\/p>\n The best presentations \u2013 crisp, clear, easy to hear were from CFO Jonathan Reid, Chief Nurse Lisa Knight and Director of HR and OD Claire Gore.<\/span><\/p>\n The most inarticulate presenters were Chair Sir Amyas Morse, Deputy Chief Executive Simon Crawford and Non-Exec Dr Vineta Bhalla. The Chair failed to introduce himself at the beginning of the meeting, mumbled, appeared slow moving and added no content to the proceedings. However the meeting was well run. The Non-Execs asked good questions. The questions from the public which had been submitted to the Board prior to the meeting were not answered at the meeting. In fact the questions were not even asked at the meeting \u2013 except for one from a Councillor. The PR guy said that this was the only question that had been submitted. This was incorrect as I and at least one other had submitted questions and we\u2019d both had acknowledgements of receipt from the Trust!\u00a0 As at 15 June 2020 these questions from the public have still not been answered.<\/span><\/p>\n The IT support and training (and adequate equipment at home) seems to be sadly lacking in virtual meetings in the public sector such as this one.<\/span><\/p>\n For papers and to view the recording of the \u2018public\u2019 part of the meeting:<\/span><\/p>\n www.lnwh.nhs.uk\/papers<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Ealing CCG Finally Makes a Public Statement About its Covid-19 Response<\/b><\/p>\n Informally we have discovered that ECCG staff have been redeployed and worked\/are working\u00a0 very hard as part of the Covid-19 response in Ealing over the last three months. But it\u2019s only in ECCG documents released into the public domain on 10 June 2020 have we gained a small, formal glimpse of what ECCG staff have been doing.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n There are still no details on Covid-19 deaths at Ealing Hospital. As of 1 June 2020 there have been 1,511 Covid-19 deaths in the nine \u2018main\u2019 NHS NWL hospitals. Apparently there have been 55 Covid-19 driven service changes. Only one of these seemingly involved Ealing Hospital \u2013 the suspension of overnight surgery at Ealing Hospital. This really is being economical with the truth about the Covid-19 driven changes at Ealing Hospital. Ealing Save Our NHS has written to NHS NWL commissioning supremo Jo Ohlsen about this shoddy failure of disclosure. The actual changes at the hospital also includes all Trauma and Orthopaedic surgery being diverted to Northwick Park Hospital, the transfer of the Breast Clinic, and the transfer of a wide range of critical care equipment and most ICU Beds. Add to this the closure of Ealing\u2019s only Acute Adult Mental Health Wards of Hope and Horizon\u00a0 on the site and the Ealing Hospital Covid-19\u00a0 downgrade is extremely significant and if not to be reversed very worrying.<\/span><\/p>\n Covid-19 testing in the car park behind Mattock Lane Community Health Centre in West Ealing has been confirmed. Local residents remain baffled as to what was\/is occurring at this location as its official designation is \u2018Local Primary Care Escalation Hub\u2019. The staff running this test centre are employed at Ealing\u2019s only NHS Trust – the West London NHS Trust (WLHT) in Southall. Covid-19 testing for NHS staff is now also taking place in Mattock Lane. ECCG staff worked with WLHT staff at Ealing Hospital on patient discharge. WLHT staff contacted 2,000 Ealing patients to discuss their healthcare needs.<\/span><\/p>\n Completely unannounced the Army turned up in the Gurnell Leisure Centre (closed) car park in West Ealing on 13 June 2020 offering Covid-19 testing. Did ECCG commission this? Casually dressed people (with no id) who were bossing motorists around in the car park said they were employed by Ealing Council. (Nothing about this in Councillor Bell\u2019s 12 June 2020\u00a0 Covid-19 newsletter or in the 130,000 copies of the latest Ealing Council \u2018COVID-19 SPECIAL:\u00a0 Around Ealing\u2019).<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n McKinsey & Co Partner Ms Penny Dash To Become NHS NWL ICS Chair on 1 July 2020<\/b><\/p>\n An odd date to start one wonders as the NHS North West London Integrated Care System (ICS) only goes \u2018live\u2019 on 1 April 2021. And unless new Government legislation come in before then the ICS will be a non-statutory body. The statutory body, of sorts, that will exist on 1 April 2020 will be the new\u00a0 NHS NWL CCG. Local commissioning for 2.5 million NHS NWL patients \u2013 quite some trick that one.<\/span><\/p>\n An NHS NWL ICS paper published on 10 June 2020 lists an NHS NWL ICS work programme. What is striking about the programme is there\u2019s no any reference at all to any planned work on social care or healthcare and social care integration.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Research Reveals Covid-19 Largely Arrived in the UK from Spain (34%), France (29%) and Italy (14%)<\/b><\/p>\n The Covid-19 Genomics UK Consortium has announced its findings. Only 0.1% of the original Covid-19 cases originated directly from China. The virus arrived on at least 1,336 occasions and the rate of infection peaked around 15 March 2020.<\/span><\/p>\n More at:<\/span><\/p>\n