VOTE FOR THE NHS

BRUTAL CUTS

You can help save the urgent care centre at Hammersmith Hospital - but you need to act now

It's where you can get vital NHS treatment for things that aren't life threatening

By

Julia GregoryLocal Democracy Reporter

• 15:27, 5 FEB 2019
  
• There's a chance to have your say before the NHS closes the unit to try to save money (Image: Getty images)
There are plans to close an "underused" out of hours  urgent care centre in Hammersmith .
It's where you can go 24-hours-a-day to be seen urgently if your illness is not life threatening.
And, if you have strong views on that, now is the time to speak up.
Residents are to be asked what they think - there are six weeks to have a say.
The closure is one of several options which will be included in a consultation this month as the cash- strapped Hammersmith and Fulham Clinical Commissioning Group looks to save money.
It estimates that shutting one of  its two urgent care centres which are open overnight from 8pm to 8am, reducing weekend plus GP appointments from one practice to three and cutting 155 extended hours GP appointments a week, could save £1m a year.
It said it had no plans to close the urgent care centre at Charing Cross Hospital, or reduce its hours from 2am to 6am.

So, how under-used is it?

An average of seven patients are seen at the urgent care centre at Hammersmith Hospital on any night.
Of those, an average of only two need emergency or urgent care, according to the CCG.
It said the highest number of people ever turning up between midnight and 8am was 18.
So it's up and down.
But that's still a lot of people.
In 2017/18, nearly 33,000 people visited, with 47,000 patients turning up at Charing Cross, which has seen a maximum of 20 people during the midnight to 8am slot.

Now the consultation begins

The CCG has already talked to Healthwatch about the best way to consult residents about the options.
MD Janet Cree told Hammersmith and Fulham’s health and well-being board that it was not practical to send letters to every patient. That data is not available.
It has already staged a series of pre-consultation events and discussed ways it will stage the formal consultation.
The CCG’s  co-vice chair, Vanessa Andreae, said patients commented at last year’s pre-consultation events that "they were not always aware of what’s available. Having a single location could reduce that complexity".
She added many of the appointments were filled by the practices’ patients.
Ms Cree said: "There is nothing determined until we get that feedback."

Have your say

Councillor Ben Coleman, who is Cabinet member for health and adult social care urged residents to respond.
The Labour politician said:"Our local NHS is under attack from government funding cuts. Almost 50 people attend Hammersmith Hospital's Urgent Care Centre overnight each week and nearly one in three of these requires urgent or emergency treatment.
"This consultation could lead to the service being closed. I urge residents to respond."
The consultation will last six weeks.
https://www.mylondon.news/news/west-london-news/you-can-help-save-urgent-15783299

NEW YEAR - MORE NHS CUTS

Hammersmith and Fulham has to make £44 million cuts in health spending

Health campaigners are demanding to know exactly what will be cut and when

The CCG buys in the health care needed in Hammersmith and Fulham but campaigners fear many services will have to be cut (Image: BrianAJackson / Getty Images)

One of management groups that buys in health care for people across huge areas of West London is going to have to make savings of some £44 million, but won't yet tell people what services are to be cut.

Health campaigners have pledged to keep asking for more details about the "eye-watering" savings Hammersmith and Fulham Clinical Commissioning Group is facing over the next two years.

Merril Hammer from health group Save Our Hospitals, has demanded the CCG open up and share information about ways it will save money.

She told its governing body meeting "to date there have been no detailed reports on what  savings have been made in the current financial year and on what services have been affected in what way?"

She asked when the public will be consulted about the proposed £17m savings the CCG needs to make this financial year and the further £27m in 2019/20.

Janet Cree, the CCG’s managing director said there are plans to  "engage" with the public on January 29.

Paul Brown, the chief financial officer of North West London CCGs said it has to consult on proposals such as closing the Hammersmith urgent care centre which could save £359,000 a year.

He said there were also contracts which are still running, but will be examined.

But Councillor Lucy Richardson, who chairs the council’s health, inclusion and social chair public accounts committee is also pressing for more detail.

She said residents are concerned that services could be downgraded as the CCG has been asked by health NHS England bosses to make "eye-watering" savings of £44m by 2020.

The board meeting was told that there were a range of possibilities, but the “mostly likely position is a total system deficit of £17m and most likely Hammersmith and Fulham will be adrift by £10m,” said Mr Brown.

Demand for the CCG’s services are also 10% higher than its contract.

He said: "We know it’s a challenge, but we keep on working on this problem."

But Ms Hammer said: "People need specifics."

Health campaigner Anne Drinkell also asked how many job losses were likely as the CCG looks to save money.

Chief officer Mark Easton  for the group of CCGs said: “We do not anticipate a specific number of redundancies.”

He said there were a large number of vacancies and it the CCGs have already made savings by collaborating on some staff costs and half the accountable officers for the area.

He said savings will be looking “at reductions in growth”.

He told the LDR service “often these are about alternatives and cheaper options".

https://www.mylondon.news/news/west-london-news/hammersmith-fulham-make-44-million-15695596

HAPPY BIRTHDAY - CHARING CROSS 1818-2018

West London hospitals require improvement, says CQC

Watch the video here: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q4XwsDcaLfQ&feature=youtu.be

A formal warning was issued over cleanliness and hygiene issues at the A&E at St Mary's Hospital.

Three hospitals in west London have been told by inspectors they "require improvement".

The Care Quality Commission criticised some of the care and conditions at Charing Cross, Hammersmith and St Mary's Hospitals.

Inspectors found at least one A&E was found to have broken equipment and was dirty.

Imperial Healthcare NHS Trust said it was not good enough and that it would redouble its efforts on cleanliness.

Inspectors found curtains of bays had brown stains on them and these had last been changed in February 2014.

Some equipment was held together by tape - such as a drip stand and a patient monitor - while an anaesthetic machine had been out of order for six days.

A portable X-ray machine labelled "clinically clean" was found thick with dust.

Inspectors found there were not enough nurses

Inspectors also saw unbagged, soiled linen on the floor next to two linen bags that were full, one of which was outside the treatment room.

The inspection, which was carried out in September, also found:

• Nurse staffing levels were not sufficient in some areas, especially in medical wards, and there was a high reliance on bank and agency staff
• The surgical department had a significant backlog of patients waiting for elective surgery. Referral times in some specialties had breached national targets on an ongoing basis
• Charing Cross Hospital was rated as "requires improvement" overall; its A&E and end of life care were rated good
• Its medical care, surgery and critical care required improvement while its outpatient service was "inadequate"
• Hammersmith Hospital was also rated as requiring improvement overall by inspectors
• Its outpatient services were inadequate, while all other core services at the hospital were rated as requiring improvement
• St Mary's Hospital required improvement overall while A&E and outpatient services were rated inadequate. Medical care and surgery were rated as requiring improvement

Following the inspection, CQC issued the trust with a formal warning over cleanliness and hygiene issues in A&E at St Mary's Hospital.

Inspectors have since returned and found the required improvements had been made.

The hospital's A&E department has been under pressure recently as it takes on more patients following the closure of Hammersmith Hospital's A&E department in September.

CQC's chief inspector of hospitals, Professor Sir Mike Richards, said although staff delivered compassionate care, there was too much variation in the quality of services.

"People are entitled to receive treatment and care in services which are consistently safe, effective, caring and responsive to their needs," he added.

Dr Tracey Batten, the chief executive of the trust said: "There's no doubt that what was found by the CQC was not good enough in the A&E department and we really need to redouble our efforts to ensure the standards of cleanliness and hygiene are our number one priority down there."

BBC London News

16 December 2014 Last updated at 17:56

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-30501207