SOUTH London's crime-ridden estates could get even worse if plans to scrap key police officers are accepted - reports the South London Press.
An official document has revealed the Met is facing a massive cash shortfall.
It means police chiefs across Lambeth, Southwark, Lewisham and Wandsworth are bracing themselves for a series of cutbacks which could cripple services.
One area they have been told they must rein in is spending on crime prevention - with nearly all South London's specialist officers now facing the chop.
The South London Press understands their vital work handing out advice to the public and "designing out crime" on building projects will be taken over by safer neighbourhood teams.
But senior police sources have warned the cutbacks could have "critical implications" for crime prevention across South London.
One said: "Each crime prevention officer [CPO] has developed skills in particular areas of the profession and acts as an unofficial consultant for others who have not got the same amount of knowledge in that aspect of that field.
"Sadly, with the continued expansion of housing and the static size of the number of officers, the importance of well designed new builds is critical. Otherwise I suspect there will be a steady increase in crime."
In a leaked note, the Met's deputy commissioner, Paul Stephenson, warned every borough in the force faces serious challenges ahead.
He said: "Based on current predictions, the Met is facing a shortfall in funding for the next three financial years. Each business group has been asked to offer up a minimum one per cent of their budget as savings.
"The position is challenging. We are required to deliver a balanced budget, deliver efficiency savings to a nationally agreed level, but at the same time meet stretching performance requirements for tackling crime and keeping London safe."
It is believed the minimum one per cent cut represents tens of millions of pounds from each force's budget.
Showing posts with label southwark. Show all posts
Showing posts with label southwark. Show all posts
Monday, 27 August 2007
Tuesday, 21 August 2007
Southwark: Ex-nurse warns over clinic closure
A former nurse has spoken out to defend a vital mental health clinic threatened with closure - reports icSouthLondon.
Ian Rawlins damned proposals to close the Felix Post Unit (FPU), which is a centre used by the elderly.
Mr Rawlins has spent 25 years working in the NHS, the past five as an associate nurse in the clinic in the Maudsley Hospital, Denmark Hill.
He left earlier this year and says he is appalled at moves to close the FPU.
"It's time to stand up," he said. "This would have a severe impact on these people, on their families and on their communities. I was shocked to hear a senior manager at one meeting talk about 'through-put' - getting people in and out as quickly as possible without trying to look at the whole person. He may as well have called it 'conveyor belt care'."
"There are always other factors with one of our patients - physical things, family things, social problems. It's more than just their mental health."
He believes if the service is scrapped patients with physical or social problems will stop getting the joined-up care they need.
The FPU works as a drop-in centre which sees around 30 people a day.
Elderly patients can get help on the spot for mental health problems and advice on anything else they need.
Southwark Pensioners Action Group (SPAG) and Southwark Mind have both responded angrily to plans to cut or close the centre.
But South london and Maudsley NHS Trust (SLaM) said a consultation on the future of the FPU and day-care services across Lambeth and Southwark was planned for later in the year.
If closed, the FPU would be the second unit closed by SLaM in a year,after the Maudsley's 24-hour emergency clinic was shut to patients in May.
Campaigners are fighting to over-turn that decision. North Southwark and Bermondsey MP Simon Hughes recently submitted a 5,000-signature petition calling for it to be reopened.
Ian Rawlins damned proposals to close the Felix Post Unit (FPU), which is a centre used by the elderly.
Mr Rawlins has spent 25 years working in the NHS, the past five as an associate nurse in the clinic in the Maudsley Hospital, Denmark Hill.
He left earlier this year and says he is appalled at moves to close the FPU.
"It's time to stand up," he said. "This would have a severe impact on these people, on their families and on their communities. I was shocked to hear a senior manager at one meeting talk about 'through-put' - getting people in and out as quickly as possible without trying to look at the whole person. He may as well have called it 'conveyor belt care'."
"There are always other factors with one of our patients - physical things, family things, social problems. It's more than just their mental health."
He believes if the service is scrapped patients with physical or social problems will stop getting the joined-up care they need.
The FPU works as a drop-in centre which sees around 30 people a day.
Elderly patients can get help on the spot for mental health problems and advice on anything else they need.
Southwark Pensioners Action Group (SPAG) and Southwark Mind have both responded angrily to plans to cut or close the centre.
But South london and Maudsley NHS Trust (SLaM) said a consultation on the future of the FPU and day-care services across Lambeth and Southwark was planned for later in the year.
If closed, the FPU would be the second unit closed by SLaM in a year,after the Maudsley's 24-hour emergency clinic was shut to patients in May.
Campaigners are fighting to over-turn that decision. North Southwark and Bermondsey MP Simon Hughes recently submitted a 5,000-signature petition calling for it to be reopened.
Friday, 13 July 2007
Southwark: Mental health clinic threatened with closure
Supporters of a mental health clinic threatened with closure fear a consultation into its future will be a sham after hearing the manager will be moved - reports ICSouthLondon.
The Felix Post Unit at the Maudsley Hospital in Denmark Hill faces the axe and a consultation is due to start in August.
But this week, campaigners learnt its manager of 11 years is to be moved to another job.
A source close to the clinic said: "She would be out by the end of the month. We all feel that they are attacking the service by stealth.
"They are taking out its very strong leader before the consultation begins."
The South London Press has been told the manager is now looking into launching a complaint through her union.
Lois Austin, from the Keep Our NHS Public campaign, said: "This consultation is going to be a sham. They are winding the clinic down so that when it comes to the consultation they can say it's not really operating and use that as an excuse to close it."
Tony Farsky, a former patient at the clinic and campaigner through the Southwark Pensioners' Action Group,said: "They are effectively closing the place, it is despicable.
"The staff there are very dedicated to their jobs and this is no way to treat them."
The South London Press put the claims to the South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust which refused to deny the manager was being moved.
In a statement, it said: "We do not discuss routine, individual staffing issues with the media. However, it is not uncommon for staff to be offered secondment opportunities elsewhere within the trust."
The news comes in the same week that campaigners learnt that Simon Hughes, MP for North Southwark and Bermondsey, plans to present a petition in Parliament on cuts at the Maudsley before the end of the month.
The petition, which now has more than 5,000 signatures, calls for the new Health Secretary, Alan Johnson, to look again at the decision made by his predecessor, Patricia Hewitt, allowing the Maudsley Hospital's 24-hour emergency clinic to close.
The Felix Post Unit at the Maudsley Hospital in Denmark Hill faces the axe and a consultation is due to start in August.
But this week, campaigners learnt its manager of 11 years is to be moved to another job.
A source close to the clinic said: "She would be out by the end of the month. We all feel that they are attacking the service by stealth.
"They are taking out its very strong leader before the consultation begins."
The South London Press has been told the manager is now looking into launching a complaint through her union.
Lois Austin, from the Keep Our NHS Public campaign, said: "This consultation is going to be a sham. They are winding the clinic down so that when it comes to the consultation they can say it's not really operating and use that as an excuse to close it."
Tony Farsky, a former patient at the clinic and campaigner through the Southwark Pensioners' Action Group,said: "They are effectively closing the place, it is despicable.
"The staff there are very dedicated to their jobs and this is no way to treat them."
The South London Press put the claims to the South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust which refused to deny the manager was being moved.
In a statement, it said: "We do not discuss routine, individual staffing issues with the media. However, it is not uncommon for staff to be offered secondment opportunities elsewhere within the trust."
The news comes in the same week that campaigners learnt that Simon Hughes, MP for North Southwark and Bermondsey, plans to present a petition in Parliament on cuts at the Maudsley before the end of the month.
The petition, which now has more than 5,000 signatures, calls for the new Health Secretary, Alan Johnson, to look again at the decision made by his predecessor, Patricia Hewitt, allowing the Maudsley Hospital's 24-hour emergency clinic to close.
Tuesday, 5 December 2006
London: Health cash row in parliament
The escalating row over NHS funding in South London was taken to the House of Commons.
MPs Simon Hughes and Kate Hoey quizzed Health Minister Patricia Hewitt about the future of health-care last week.
Even though Lambeth and Southwark's primary care trusts performed well in their annual ratings, their budgets will be slashed and services hit.
Mr Hughes is spearheading the campaign to stop the cuts which will mean less cash spent across the services, with sexual health services the worst hit.
Last month he met with Ms Hewitt but said he was disappointed with the outcome.
During the heated Commons debate last week, Mr Hughes asked: "What changes in the budgets for 2006/07 for NHS trusts serving Lambeth and Southwark have been agreed?"
Ms Hewitt replied: "I asked NHS London to look again at budgets in Lambeth and Southwark. "It has confirmed that after other factors have been taken into account, Lambeth and Southwark primary care trusts were asked to contribute less to the London-wide risk reserves for this year than most other London PCTs."
Mr Hughes told the Commons he had thought that after meeting Mrs Hewitt a "fairer" allocation of money would be agreed.
He pointed out that despite Lambeth and Southwark being among the two most deprived boroughs in the country, an estimated £23million would be chopped from the budgets for Guy's and St Thomas', King's College Hospital and South London and Maudsley trusts.
However,the Secretary of State answered that Southwark and Lambeth would get the money back once the other badly performing London PCTs were up to speed.
Until then Lambeth and Southwark PCTs will have to continue to bail them out.
After the debate, Mr Hughes said:"I and the other South London MPs are upset that it appears the Government are refusing to budge on this."
Presumably both MPs Kate Hoey and Simon Hughes will be voting against the EU budget deal - a clear waste of billions of pounds a year of public money.
The government plans to give this money to an organisation that, for twelve years in a row, hasn't been able to get auditors approval for its accounts, while there's clearly not enough money to go around London's NHS trusts.
Blocking the EU budget deal and making this saving would be an obvious source of much more money than is needed to prevent these NHS cuts.
MPs Simon Hughes and Kate Hoey quizzed Health Minister Patricia Hewitt about the future of health-care last week.
Even though Lambeth and Southwark's primary care trusts performed well in their annual ratings, their budgets will be slashed and services hit.
Mr Hughes is spearheading the campaign to stop the cuts which will mean less cash spent across the services, with sexual health services the worst hit.
Last month he met with Ms Hewitt but said he was disappointed with the outcome.
During the heated Commons debate last week, Mr Hughes asked: "What changes in the budgets for 2006/07 for NHS trusts serving Lambeth and Southwark have been agreed?"
Ms Hewitt replied: "I asked NHS London to look again at budgets in Lambeth and Southwark. "It has confirmed that after other factors have been taken into account, Lambeth and Southwark primary care trusts were asked to contribute less to the London-wide risk reserves for this year than most other London PCTs."
Mr Hughes told the Commons he had thought that after meeting Mrs Hewitt a "fairer" allocation of money would be agreed.
He pointed out that despite Lambeth and Southwark being among the two most deprived boroughs in the country, an estimated £23million would be chopped from the budgets for Guy's and St Thomas', King's College Hospital and South London and Maudsley trusts.
However,the Secretary of State answered that Southwark and Lambeth would get the money back once the other badly performing London PCTs were up to speed.
Until then Lambeth and Southwark PCTs will have to continue to bail them out.
After the debate, Mr Hughes said:"I and the other South London MPs are upset that it appears the Government are refusing to budge on this."
Presumably both MPs Kate Hoey and Simon Hughes will be voting against the EU budget deal - a clear waste of billions of pounds a year of public money.
The government plans to give this money to an organisation that, for twelve years in a row, hasn't been able to get auditors approval for its accounts, while there's clearly not enough money to go around London's NHS trusts.
Blocking the EU budget deal and making this saving would be an obvious source of much more money than is needed to prevent these NHS cuts.
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