Dear Supporter,
Save Our Hospitals is gearing up for a busy autumn! And we begin this week with a lobby of the Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust AGM:
JOIN OUR PROTEST
LOBBY AT IMPERIAL NHS TRUST ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING
Wednesday 14th September 2016 from 16.45
St Paul’s Church, Queen Caroline St, Hammersmith Broadway, W6
Make your voice heard in support of local health services and against the continuing threat to Charing Cross Hospital. Supporters will also be going into the AGM at 17.45 to listen and raise questions – book online at https://www.imperial.nhs.uk/about-us/events/agm-2016
This is part of our ongoing campaign against Shaping a Healthier Future (SaHF) and the Sustainability and Transformation Plan (STP) which threaten our local health service and the NHS more widely.
NW LONDON STP
After persistent pressure, including a Freedom of Information request, health authorities in NW London were forced to publish the STP for our area – the first in the country to be published. As with SaHF, the plan is full of pious hopes and little practical detail on how alternatives to hospital provision can be provided in the context of savage cuts. The key aim of STPs is to close the funding gap between what is spent on patient care and what the government is willing to provide. THIS IS A POLITICAL CHOICE, not a health-driven plan. Put simply, the NHS – which was recognised internationally as the most efficient and effective public health provider in the world – is now seriously underfunded.
Today (Sunday 11th September) the BBC has reported that even the Chief Executive of NHS Providers, Chris Hopson, is alarmed at the current situation:
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NHS Providers, the organisation that represents hospitals in England, says unless urgent funding is provided it will have to cut staff, bring in charges or introduce "draconian rationing" of treatment, for example, of non-urgent operations.
It highlights that 80% of England's acute hospitals are in financial deficit, compared with 5% three years ago - while missed A&E waiting time targets have risen from 10% to 90%.
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Imperial is one of the hospital trusts with a huge financial deficit (£50M). Instead of fighting for more funding, local health authorities aim to save money by closing 500-600 hospital beds, turning Charing Cross and Ealing hospitals into little more than day centres, and selling off NHS land. How they do this while improving facilities in the community is a mystery.
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CONGRATULATIONS to H&F and Ealing local councils which have refused to sign off any proposals which include the downgrading/closure of Charing Cross and Ealing Hospitals. As the leaders of the Councils have said, the STPs are ‘about the breaking up and selling off of the NHS’. As a result, there’s a suggestion that both councils could be penalised with reduced access to social care funding and policy making forums. THIS IS UNDEMOCRATIC AND UNFAIR!
CAN YOU HELP?
SOH is a campaign group of local volunteers who are fighting to protect our health service. We are entirely funded by contributions from local people. If you would like to contribute you can send donation to SOH, 7 Kimbell Gardens, London SW6 6QG or
Directly to our account with Lloyds: Sort Code 309897 Account Number 39956060.
We also regularly produce leaflets with updated information for distribution. We would like to increase our deliveries to homes in our area. If you feel you could deliver leaflets to your street or estate and maybe neighbouring streets, could you please email us atscxandh@gmail.com giving us contact details and we will get back to you.
JUNIOR DOCTORS have voted to reject the imposition by Jeremy Hunt of a contract which they see as UNSAFE FOR PATIENTS AND DOCTORS, DISCRIMINATORY AGAINST WOMEN DOCTORS AND UNFAIR TO ALL DOCTORS. They have called off their action this coming week because of their concerns about patient safety. SOH agrees with the Junior Doctors that the NHS cannot be run safely with overworked, over-stressed and underpaid staff.
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DATES FOR YOUR DIARY
We’d be delighted if you could join us at any of the following events:
Wednesday 14th September 7.30-9.30pm SOH Organising Meeting, at Hammersmith Town Hall. This is immediately after the Imperial AGM. All welcome!
Saturday 24th September 2.00-4.00pm Stall at Shepherds Bush market, Uxbridge Rd end.
Saturday 8th October North End Rd market. H&F Council have again offered SOH a stall in the market on their “Autumn Market” event. SOH will be there from 10.00 – 16.00. This is a fun event which we hope you might attend – and even spend some time with us at the stall.
Please join our campaigning when you can – we need our NHS and our local hospitals.
Merril
Chair, SOH
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