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Mark Thomas gives his support

Online petition to save the Margaret Centre
Please sign our petition to save the Margaret centre when Whipps Cross Hospital is rebuilt. Find more information HERE or go straight to the online petition HERE


Radio 4 podcast: "The staffing crisis in the NHS"
The Briefing Room, Thursday August 25th 2022

This is a sound item which can either be played on this page using the player below, or alternatively downloaded as an MP3 file or linked to social media pages (Facebook etc.) using the link given.



LINK TO DOWNLOAD FILE: The staffing crisis in the NHS


Article in The Lowdown, 24/01/202, claims Sajid Javid plans to set up "academy style" hospitals, potentially run by the private sector

John Lister, writing in the current edition of The Lowdown claims that there are government plans for "Academy hospitals" ushering in healthcare privatisation through the back door. In the immediate future it raises questions as to whether or not Waltham Cross will remain a full teaching hospital or narrow down its ambitions, cutting the number of specialisms provided and in future training only auxiliary staff.

Article in Waltham Forest Echo, 10th October 2021, reveals bed numbers in the new Whipps X still under threat

Mary Burnett, prominent Action4Whipps activist, writing in The Waltham Forest Echo explains why the commitment not to cut beds in the new hospital is by no means set in stone.

Article in The Lowdown, 20/10/2021, claims Watford's new hospital plans stuck in financial limbo

John Lister, wriring in the current edition of The Lowdown claims that the West Herts authority have underestimated the cost of their plans by a factor of two, and that meeting the requirements of the New Hospital Programme to limit the cost of each new development to £400 million will mean the reduction of their former hospital into a clinic, quite possibly with no beds at all, on "a mixed use site with a high proportion of residential and business development.”

"No plans for kidney dialysis at new Whipps Cross hospital"

An article by Victoria Munro (Local Democracy Reporter) in the Waltham Forest Guardian (9th July 2021) has pointed out that treatment units for almost 300 patients with kidney failure are not included in plans for the new Whipps Cross Hospital. "The hospital’s NHS trust, Barts Health, intends to replace the three outpatient units at Whipps Cross with, it currently estimates, two new units in the community, at locations not yet decided."

The article is currently available to read on the Waltham Forest Guardian website or can be downloaded in PDF format from this site.

Important Early Day Motion (EDM) Tabled

A really important Early Day Motion (EDM) on the Reorganisation of the NHS and Social Care was tabled at the parliament on 9th March 2021 as a reaction to the Government NHS White Paper. This EDM needs the support of as many MPs as possible. Please write to your MP and to the Shadow Health Secretary Jonathan Ashworth and ask them to support this EDM.

The Early Day Motion itself lists the reasons for which the White Paper on Integrated Care Systems is not really acceptable. It states that the legislative proposals for a new Health and Care Bill has been rushed through during the pandemic, excluding input from health and social care professionals as well as the public and patients. It creates the potential for organisations which are not publicly accountable to take key roles in developing plans to address the health, social care and public health needs of local systems.

When you write to your local MP please include the link below and ask them to put their name down to support this EDM on your behalf as your elected representative.

Reorganisation of the NHS and social care

Please share this request with all your contacts.
Thank you
Eva Turner
On behalf of WFSONHS and A4W.

Important Zoom Meetings Now Ended
Action4Whipps urgently needs your help.

As part of their Consultation with the public Barts Heath has recently held a series of three public Zoom meetings

These were held on:
a. Saturday 27th February – 10.30-11.30am
b. Tuesday 2nd March - 12-1pm
c. Thursday 4th March – 6.30-7.30pm

Members of Action4Whipps attended and asked these questions amongst others:

  • Why is the hospital planned with 51 fewer beds when Whipps X is already continually full to capacity , even before the Covid 19 pandemic..?

  • other hospitals in North East London are extremely busy , what will happen if the needs for hospital beds are greater than the capacity?

  • Why are you planning not to re-provide the specialist palliative care facility at Margaret Centre as a ring fenced specialist Unit?

  • There appear to be no plans to re-provide the Connaught Day Centre which provides Medical and Therapy support and interventions for older people following discharge from hospital and helping them to manage safely at home . What is the future for this valuable service ?

  • It appears that the mental health unit at the Woodbury Centre will be moved away from the site Whipps Cross If the nearest Mental health facility is provided outside the WX catchment area, how will A&E at Whipps Cross cope with mental health emergencies?

  • Considering that there appears to be a financial shortfall of £400-£600 million and the sale of the hospital land is likely to bring maximum of £100 million, where is Barts likely to find the rest of the money?

Those attending were very dissatisfied with the amount of time reserved for answering questions, the questions the panel selected to answer, and the shallowness of the answers given. We have however been promised answers to ALL the questions asked in a "FAQ" section on their website which at time of writing nobody has been able to find. We feel that we have been "fobbed off" on all of the most critical matters that we raised.

For example, it is not credible that community health services will be able to make up for the lack of hospital beds or replace the holistic treatment, respite and support services that currently provided by the the Margaret Centre.

You can see recordings of two of the meetings and links to full lists of the questions asked on our Videos page.

It is still possible to communicate your views and ask further questions in the following ways:

1. Respond to the survey:

The survey is worded in such a way that is it difficult to say no to any of their questions. However the way they are worded suggest that they will only apply to the land that Barts is selling to private developers and will therefore have no influence on what will finally happen to the land.

We suspect this is a public opinion exercise, which will give Barts a tool with which to argue that the public is 100% supportive of everything they are proposing for the new hospital at Whipps Cross. So it is important to use the “other” option and specify (at every step) the following:

All questions asked relate to the land which Barts is selling to a private developer and thus Barts will not have any influence in what will eventually be built there. You can add any points you like but relate it please to the Hospital. Please note, you are not allowed to create a paragraph, so the whole thing needs to be written in one long line.

2. Send an email

You can email futurewhipps.bartshealth@nhs.net) with all your queries and questions including if you wish some of those outlined above.

Doing any of the above would be a great help. Let us not allow Barts Health to get away with holding a public relations exercise rather than a genuine public consultation.



Urgent Action Needed – It's the last few days for sending the letter to your MP

Unless we get more funding from the Government for the new hospital at Whipps Cross, it will be built with 51 fewer beds and we'll lose the palliative & end of life care service at the Margaret Centre.

Action4Whipps are writing to all North East London MPs & we need your signatures on the letter. The more signatures we get, the more MPs will take note and act.

So please take a few minutes to open the link below, sign the letter, and send this news release and the link to family, friends & groups you belong to – across NE London. That's Hackney & City, Tower Hamlets, Newham, Waltham Forest, Redbridge, Havering, & Barking & Dagenham, & Epping Forest too!!

MP'S LETTER

Don't delay - please do it now.

Many thanks.

We hope you keep safe and well.

Eva Turner
on behalf of Action4Whipps campaign.



Letter calling for the specialist palliative care unit to be reprovided in the new hospital

A letter calling for the specialist palliative care unit to be reprovided in the new hospital containing a lot of information that can be a useful resource for all of us has been sent to Barts Health NHS Trust. Read or download the letter here: LETTER

Reply to above letter from Barts Health NHS Trust, received 01/02/2021

Hospital design focus groups for the Whipps Cross redevelopment

A new series of public meetings with hospital design focus groups for the Whipps Cross redevelopment has begun and will take place throughout November and early December, each session lasting 1 hour, via Microsoft Teams. Follow THIS LINK for full details including how to register.

Iain Duncan Smith to question Barts Health Trust Chief Exec Alwen Williams on Facebook

On 2nd December at 7pm, live on his Facebook page, Iain Duncan Smith MP will be talking to Alwen Williams, Chief Executive of Barts Health about the redevelopment of Whipps Cross Hospital. You can ask your own questions by visiting the page and recording them in the 'comments box'. Full details HERE.

Whipps Cross Hospital Redevelopment public meetings on Zoom

This series of open public meetings on Zoom to discuss the latest developments regarding plans for the new Whipps Cross Hospital and to hear people's views and answer questions has now ended .

Waltham Forest People's Assembly No. 4 planned for 28 November 2020

Sorry to have to tell you that we have been informed by Maren Hobein that this Assembly has been postponed for the present. If we hear any more we will let you know.

Eva Turner at the Save Our Square rally in the town square, 24th October 2020

Eva Turner from the Action4Whipps campaign spoke at the Save Our Square Rally in the town square, 24th October 2020. Her contribution begins 37 minutes 50 seconds into the recording.


Adrian Stanard Explains How Planning Permission Works

Make sure you visit the "Videos" page to see Adrian Stannard of Waltham Forest Civic Society give an illustrated presentation on Zoom explaining planning, democratic control and environmental impact. Recorded Oct 21st 2020.










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