A major health summit is taking place today will change the face of the NHS in London, reports the Evening Standard.
Senior managers and doctors are meeting to draw up plans that will abolish traditional hospitals.
They are finalising a major consultation document that asks every Londoner to decide if GPs should move into big polyclinics.
Patients will be asked a series of crucial questions - signed off at today's meeting - that will lead to the massive changes next year.
They will be asked about the centralisation of services such as trauma care, treatment of children and the care of stroke victims should be centralised away from local hospitals into so-called "specialist" centres.
And whether more maternity departments should be run by midwives instead of doctors.
The consultation will be launched at the end of the month and is likely to trigger battles to
save local services.
Bosses have refused to name the hospitals and surgeries that should close and are consulting on "ideas" first.
Robert Creighton, chief executive of Ealing primary care trust, and one of the leaders of the consultation, said: "We want to get people's views about the proposals and we intend genuinely to listen to what the public have to say."
But doctors have warned that the plan is being driven through. Dr Stewart Drage, head of Londonwide Local Medical Committees, said: "We have reservations about this whole process. We are concerned that the local input is going to be very limited."
It comes as campaigners find out the results of a consultation to downgrade Chase Farm hospital in north Enfield.
Thousands have been fighting plans to move A&E and maternity services to Barnet and North Middlesex and make Chase Farm a community hospital.
The summit meeting into changes across the capital - taking place at the Sofitel hotel near St James's Park - could mean the plans for Barnet and Chase Farm change again.
The proposals are based on plans drawn up in the summer by junior health minister Lord Darzi, who is now leading a nationwide review of the NHS.
Questions must be asked as to whether these changes are being driven more by attempts at cost-cutting than to enhance patient care.
With MPs voting an extra £7bn to the European Union completely without justification on Monday of this week, public funds for essential services are becoming increasingly tight.
It's time MPs looked again at the real priorities of those they represent, before they give final approval to this multi-billion-pound funding increase to an organisation that has failed its annual audit for 13 years and is beset by reports of needless extravagance, waste and fraud.
Come next year, it'll be no good MPs posturing in protest against hospital closures in their constituencies if they've voted to waste such vast sums of public money on the EU. They will be personally responsible for the money running out, and themselves can expect to pay the price at the ballot box.
Showing posts with label ealing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label ealing. Show all posts
Wednesday, 21 November 2007
Friday, 19 October 2007
Ealing: Six-year waiting list for NHS wheelchairs
EALING Primary Care Trust's mammoth six-year waiting list for NHS electric wheelchairs was this week described as "obscene" - reports icEaling.
The waiting list, which has been calculated at 316 weeks, has got so out of hand that for a time it had to be closed to anyone wanting to get on it, (though it has now reopened).
It puts Ealing bottom out of 99 Primary Care Trust's (PCTs) in terms of waiting time for NHS electric wheelchairs.
Wiltshire's waiting list is 260 weeks, East Midlands' is 224 and Hillingdon's is closed on 156 weeks.
The revelations have prompted urgent calls from politicians for action from Ealing PCT, which funds the rental service.
The waiting list, which has been calculated at 316 weeks, has got so out of hand that for a time it had to be closed to anyone wanting to get on it, (though it has now reopened).
It puts Ealing bottom out of 99 Primary Care Trust's (PCTs) in terms of waiting time for NHS electric wheelchairs.
Wiltshire's waiting list is 260 weeks, East Midlands' is 224 and Hillingdon's is closed on 156 weeks.
The revelations have prompted urgent calls from politicians for action from Ealing PCT, which funds the rental service.
Friday, 4 May 2007
Ealing: 15 teachers lose jobs in cuts
More news of cuts to public services in Ealing that should give Ealing's MPs pause for thought about whether they can afford to approve the 60% hike in payments to the audit-failing EU - and certainly whether local voters will approve of such a choice, come the next election.
The Ealing Gazette reports today that 15 teachers at Ealing, Hammersmith and West London College are losing their jobs as a result of a government cut of 7% - equating to £2m - from the college's budget for adult education services.
The cuts are thought to be the "tip of the iceberg", with more following before September.
The college has campuses in Barons Court and Ealing, and is having to increase class sizes and merge some services as a result.
Amarjit Busi, deputy principal of the college said: "We've lost £2m of public funding support at the same time we're being told to direct money away from lower-level courses."
"It's going to affect the most vulnerable and poorest parts of the community."
The Ealing Gazette reports today that 15 teachers at Ealing, Hammersmith and West London College are losing their jobs as a result of a government cut of 7% - equating to £2m - from the college's budget for adult education services.
The cuts are thought to be the "tip of the iceberg", with more following before September.
The college has campuses in Barons Court and Ealing, and is having to increase class sizes and merge some services as a result.
Amarjit Busi, deputy principal of the college said: "We've lost £2m of public funding support at the same time we're being told to direct money away from lower-level courses."
"It's going to affect the most vulnerable and poorest parts of the community."
Ealing: Teachers & health workers protest at pay offer
Public sector workers staged a protest on the steps of Ealing Town Hall on Tuesday to show opposition to the government's 2% pay rise offer - reports the Ealing Gazette.
Organised by public sector union Unison and supported by Ealing teachers and health workers, the protest argued that with inflation running at 4.8% the government deal is effectively a pay cut.
Adam Smith, an officer for the Ealing branch of Unison, warned that the protest was a "first step" and could lead to widespread strike action and disruption of services.
Are Ealing's MPs going to tolerate such a situation - do they agree health and education workers should get a pay cut? Are they going to vote billions of pounds extra away to the audit-failing EU that could actually be used to pay teachers and others in line with inflation?
Organised by public sector union Unison and supported by Ealing teachers and health workers, the protest argued that with inflation running at 4.8% the government deal is effectively a pay cut.
Adam Smith, an officer for the Ealing branch of Unison, warned that the protest was a "first step" and could lead to widespread strike action and disruption of services.
Are Ealing's MPs going to tolerate such a situation - do they agree health and education workers should get a pay cut? Are they going to vote billions of pounds extra away to the audit-failing EU that could actually be used to pay teachers and others in line with inflation?
Friday, 13 April 2007
Ealing: 23,000 children living in poverty
A staggering 23,000 children in Ealing are living below the poverty line, reports the Ealing Gazette.
They live in poor-quality and overcrowded housing, or temporary accommodation and will probably grow up to be poor adults with emotional issues, according to new figures that show poverty rates across 624 wards in London.
Carey Oppenheim, chair of the London Child Poverty Commission, said the problem would not be solved without major policy changes and improvements to benefits and tax credits.
She said: "Radical improvements in employment for parents of low incomes, rises in national benefits such as child benefit and child tax credit as well as specific measures which improve the incentives for Londoners to take and hold on to jobs are all needed."
Can Ealing MPs Stephen Pound, Andrew Slaughter and Piara Khabra all really intend to vote to approve paying billions of pounds a year to an audit-failing and obviously wasteful body like the EU, with such serious problems in their own backyard?
Are they saying that their constituents living in poverty can do without a share of the £2.5bn a year of public money that the government would save if they voted against the EU budget deal?
If so, they should have a serious look at their priorities. Or at least the thousands of families affected by this problem will likely be looking for change come the next election.
They live in poor-quality and overcrowded housing, or temporary accommodation and will probably grow up to be poor adults with emotional issues, according to new figures that show poverty rates across 624 wards in London.
Carey Oppenheim, chair of the London Child Poverty Commission, said the problem would not be solved without major policy changes and improvements to benefits and tax credits.
She said: "Radical improvements in employment for parents of low incomes, rises in national benefits such as child benefit and child tax credit as well as specific measures which improve the incentives for Londoners to take and hold on to jobs are all needed."
Can Ealing MPs Stephen Pound, Andrew Slaughter and Piara Khabra all really intend to vote to approve paying billions of pounds a year to an audit-failing and obviously wasteful body like the EU, with such serious problems in their own backyard?
Are they saying that their constituents living in poverty can do without a share of the £2.5bn a year of public money that the government would save if they voted against the EU budget deal?
If so, they should have a serious look at their priorities. Or at least the thousands of families affected by this problem will likely be looking for change come the next election.
Friday, 17 November 2006
Ealing: MP fears at police opening hours
Steve Pound MP has backed calls for Greenford Police Station to be opened for longer in the evening – reports the Ealing & Acton Gazette.
The Ealing North MP backed residents after a series of violent incidents left people feeling "insecure".
He said: "The station is not fit for purpose. It needs to be refurbished and improved so that it can be staffed throughout the night.
"There seems to have been an increase of crimes in the area and people would feel more secure if the station was opened longer."
Last month, a student was stabbed after getting off a bus in The Broadway, while gangs of professional pick-pockets have been targeting shoppers in the busy thoroughfare.
However, funding longer opening hours will take more money and Mr Pound needs to explain where’s that money going to come from. Perhaps he shouldn’t, as he intends to, vote to waste an extra £2.5bn a year on the EU – a 60% increase over current payments?
Especially given there’s no justification for handing the EU such a vast amount extra while auditors can’t tell us how the majority of what we already pay is being spent.
But if Mr Pound doesn’t like that idea, he needs to come up with a better one.
Demanding in newspapers that public services like the police do more, while voting to waste vast amounts of public money on the EU that could help improve their work, is surely simply posturing.
That's unlikely to go down well with Ealing voters, come the next election.
The Ealing North MP backed residents after a series of violent incidents left people feeling "insecure".
He said: "The station is not fit for purpose. It needs to be refurbished and improved so that it can be staffed throughout the night.
"There seems to have been an increase of crimes in the area and people would feel more secure if the station was opened longer."
Last month, a student was stabbed after getting off a bus in The Broadway, while gangs of professional pick-pockets have been targeting shoppers in the busy thoroughfare.
However, funding longer opening hours will take more money and Mr Pound needs to explain where’s that money going to come from. Perhaps he shouldn’t, as he intends to, vote to waste an extra £2.5bn a year on the EU – a 60% increase over current payments?
Especially given there’s no justification for handing the EU such a vast amount extra while auditors can’t tell us how the majority of what we already pay is being spent.
But if Mr Pound doesn’t like that idea, he needs to come up with a better one.
Demanding in newspapers that public services like the police do more, while voting to waste vast amounts of public money on the EU that could help improve their work, is surely simply posturing.
That's unlikely to go down well with Ealing voters, come the next election.
Ealing: Three groups make final list for community award cash
Three deserving groups have been shortlisted for a local community award that will see the winner receive a £1,000 grant towards their work – reports the Ealing & Action Gazette.
Mind in Ealing, the 5th Hanwell Cubs and the Holy Cross under 5s in Greenford are the finalists for the prize, which has been donated by Barclays Bank.
The competition attracted a flood of entries of a "very high calibre", from youth clubs to support groups for children with special needs.
Readers of the Gazette were asked to nominate the ones they felt made a real difference to people’s lives.
Jeri Appiah, chief executive of Mind in Ealing, said: "This is really great to be a finalist. We do give a very good service to the community, supporting people with mental problems, in employment and helping people gain access to services."
The popularity and high number of entries to this competition shows just how many "high calibre" small groups that people feel are "making a real difference to people’s lives" are in need of even small amounts of extra money towards their work.
Put this scramble among community groups for just £1,000 – with only one lucky organisation winning the cash – next to the £6bn a year the government is planning to lavish on the EU. The injustice and waste is glaring.
If Ealing’s MPs weren’t planning to vote pay that money to the EU, when the EU budget deal comes before Parliament for approval, several thousand community groups in each Ealing constituency alone could be given £1,000 to aid their work. Every year!
Sadly this abject irresponsibility with large quantities of public money by Ealing’s MPs means only one deserving group in Ealing will get support for their work.
And an organisation that hasn’t had its accounts approved by auditors for twelve years running is getting billions more to waste.
Is this what MPs think standing up for their communities means?
Mind in Ealing, the 5th Hanwell Cubs and the Holy Cross under 5s in Greenford are the finalists for the prize, which has been donated by Barclays Bank.
The competition attracted a flood of entries of a "very high calibre", from youth clubs to support groups for children with special needs.
Readers of the Gazette were asked to nominate the ones they felt made a real difference to people’s lives.
Jeri Appiah, chief executive of Mind in Ealing, said: "This is really great to be a finalist. We do give a very good service to the community, supporting people with mental problems, in employment and helping people gain access to services."
The popularity and high number of entries to this competition shows just how many "high calibre" small groups that people feel are "making a real difference to people’s lives" are in need of even small amounts of extra money towards their work.
Put this scramble among community groups for just £1,000 – with only one lucky organisation winning the cash – next to the £6bn a year the government is planning to lavish on the EU. The injustice and waste is glaring.
If Ealing’s MPs weren’t planning to vote pay that money to the EU, when the EU budget deal comes before Parliament for approval, several thousand community groups in each Ealing constituency alone could be given £1,000 to aid their work. Every year!
Sadly this abject irresponsibility with large quantities of public money by Ealing’s MPs means only one deserving group in Ealing will get support for their work.
And an organisation that hasn’t had its accounts approved by auditors for twelve years running is getting billions more to waste.
Is this what MPs think standing up for their communities means?
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