Let's keep fighting to keep our local hospitals intact

Today during the wind and the heavy rain Liberal Democrat councillors and supporters spent time at the rally opposite Ealing Hospital.

I made a short speech, as those in attendance covered themselves with umbrellas. I talked about the fact that despite Ealing Council losing the court case recently the Secretary of State for Health, Jeremy Hunt, will make a key decision on the Independant Panel's report which he received a couple of weeks ago.

A rain sodden speech

I see our position using a footballing analogy. We are one nil down at half time but we have time (next week) to score not just an equaliser but a couple of goals to win 2-1 and save Ealing from having our hospitals downgraded.

We all hope that Jeremy Hunt makes the right decision for Ealing, Acton. Chiswick and the surrounding area. We need our hospitals to have maternity units as well as A&E's! If patients travel further to hospital then quite simply more people will die.

We have a growing community as people live longer and locally birth rates have increased over the past few years.

At the rally it was good to see lots of campaigners from all parties but good to speak to those who travelled from Acton and Chiswick (Councillor Andrew Steed and Gary Busuttil) as well as Nigel Bakhai the Lib Dem health spokesperson, who has spent the last 18 months with others standing up for the residents of Hanwell and the wider Ealing area.

Jon Ball (right) and other Lib Dems at the rally

Jon Ball, the Lib Dem parliamentary canididate for Ealing Central & Acton, was present with the Liberal Democrat banner, showing that we are firmly against these mad plans to downgrade our hospitals.

Whatever decision is taken next week we will continue to fight for a better local health service.

Liberal Democrats give evidence to Independent Hospital Reconfiguration Panel

As many of you are aware it is possible that four local hospitals may have their A&E and their maternity wards shut. The hospitals at risk are Ealing, Charing Cross, Hammersmith and Central Middlesex.

Ealing Council with the support of the Liberal Democrat Group arranged for an independent review to take place so that our hospitals can be protected. Hanwell's Liberal Democrat Councillor, Nigel Bakhai, spoke up at the meeting which took place on 8th July in Ealing Town Hall.

I attended this crucial meeting where the independent panel will take evidence on why the current plans will leave Ealing's heathcare in tatters. Councillors from all three of Ealing political parties spoke including Nigel Bakhai, councillor for Elthorne.

Me speaking a hospital rally

It appears that their report will be written by 13th September and then a month later the Secretary of State will make a decision on the Panel's recommendations. The team giving evidence also included a member of the public.

There was no meaningful engagement of the proposals by the NHS North West group during the process. The consultation did not actively look to involve the diverse range of languages and community groups. The consultation form was so long that it made War and Peace look like a short story. The changes have been foisted upon us as a fait accompli.

We heard evidence about the huge numbers of residents who took part in two local marches, the tens of thousand people who filled in petitions. I was lucky enough to speak on Ealing Common to the crowd of residents who want their NHS services protected not downgraded.

Councillor Nigel Bakhai spoke about the lack of support from doctors and consultants for the plans to shut local maternity and Accident & Emergency services. Nigel added that surveys of local GPs did not agree with the proposals - which was a critical test set by Secretary of State.

The Ealing area is so diverse, with lots of people with diabetes (like myself). The high demand for A&E services during this hot weather showed that we need our A&E services kept local. We have a large increase in the birth rate and so the planned maternity closures do not make sense.

Travelling further for treatment will mean people become more ill or will die. We heard one person give evidence about a 37% increase in death due to extra travelling.

People travelling to the hospital for treatment are likely to need at least two buses plus a walk. The estimates for a small 10% increase in journey time assumes that people all drive! I have said many times that part of a good treatment is to have your family or friends with you so you can recover more quickly. If I had to wait for visitors getting two buses and a long walk then I think most people would not be able to visit as often.

With Nigel Bakhai campaigning in Hanwell

We saw that the authors of the NHS proposals used different sources of data when it was clear that some examples gave some strange outcomes...

...for Hammersmith hospital it stated that 7 patients would use each bed, each day! How can we trust the data never mind their projections based upon quicksand.

Since the news that Ealing Hospital was due to be downgraded they were forced to advertise to state they were "open for business"!

Part of their plans also involve huge number of patients having treatments from their GPs who cannot currently cope with their numbers. No plans have been arrange to assist any changeover to a new way of working and so quite simply the plans are unsafe.

To sum it up the plans are unsafe. At the same time the Government is reviewing health care such as hospitals and so the plans to shut our maternity and Accident & Emergency wards should be shelved until the Government review has been concluded.

HS2 Good News, Hospital Judicial Review & Carlton Road Day Centre

Yesterday was when the meeting took place in Ealing where Ealing Council makes its big decisions. A lot of interesting topics were discussed including the possibility of Ealing Council making a Judicial Review to stop the closure of Ealing Hospital's A&E and maternity wards was discussed.

Good News on High Speed 2 (HS2)
With the recent news that High Speed 2 (HS2) will now not result in the knocking down of a very large number of bridges, Ealing borough will have a tunnel to avoid noise and other problems as part of HS2.

A tunneled High Speed Two train!

The decision on a tunnel for HS2 going through Ealing shows that local people and other campaigners including the Liberal Democrats can make a difference. The Liberal Democrats have said that HS2 is good for the country but tunnels are needed in some locations including Ealing. The tunnel for Ealing can mitigate some of the adverse effects and worries for residents. The two other political parties in Ealing have said on many occasions that HS2 is a waste of money despite the benefits to business due to people being able to travel the country a lot faster.

The tunnel means the HS2 project can be delivered 15 months quicker, and as a result of these changes, it is very good news. We believe that investment in high speed rail is long overdue and offers huge benefits in terms of reduced journey times, greater opportunities for access to employment opportunities, as well as a potential alternative to airport expansion if the route is also allowed to go direct through Heathrow.

Liberal Democrats Support the Legal Fight to Protect Hospitals

At the cabinet meeting last night I asked about the chance of success, for Ealing, if they applied for a Judicial Review to stop the downgrading of hospital services.

Me with Craig O'Donnell and Jenni Hollis at Hospital Rally

After hearing the legal advice (which was of a confidential nature) I said that because of the high cost of the Judicial Review (up to £250,000) it would be crucial to try to get the court to delay their activities until the Secretary of State can make a decision on the same matter.

If the Secretary of State agrees with Ealing Council then there may not be a need for a full length legal challenge which would cost a lot of money.

Liberal Democrats believe that making a Judicial Review is needed to give us more options to stop the plans to downgrade our hospitals. The evidence that downgrading our local hospitals will be a good move is discredited by many doctors and professionals. More background to this story can be read here and also here!

Remember on Saturday 27th April there will large number of anti hospital downgrade protesters marching from either Southall at 11.30am or Acton from 12 noon - both converging for the main rally on Ealing Common at 2pm. Come along to show you are against the downgrades.

Carlton Road Day Centre Update 
After myself and Southfield ward councillors heard some good news recently (that the Carlton Road Day Centre) it appears that the gloss has been rubbed off.

The statement last night indicated that the Day Centre building would be sold off (like so many under Labour over the past two or three years) but the users would need to use the facilities when they are built in Acton Town Hall. I am not sure if you can call the day centre, the "Carlton Road Day Centre", if it is not in Carlton Road. Seems like Ealing Council are selling off our family silver (buildings) and not thinking whether this will result in a better outcome for the current users.

Council's Procurement Procedures Need Updating  
Ealing Council has not updated its procurement policies since 2004! Is this why Ealing Council has had four large contracts go 'pear shaped' in the past year?

First, Enterprise (who are meant to sweep our streets and collect our waste), then two housing repair companies (Keirs and Morrison) and more recently Interserve, the facilities management company. All in different ways have failed or are failing.

I stated that when reviewing the current procedures Ealing Council needs to take account of the following:

• A review to take place after a contract has failed to establish whether the Council has given too much value to the contractor's bid rather than the quality they offer.
• Whether the Council should bring 'in house' some services that are currently out sourced
• Ensuring that there are sufficient tough clauses in the contacts so that failing contractors (like  Enterprise) do not get away with an absolutely poor service
• That break clauses are added to more contracts in case we need to ditch poor quality contractors
• Whether it is better to offer contacts to more local and smaller companies than one large company.

In the coming months our local hospitals is a topic that we will come back to. Let's hope it is a topic that sees better hospitals and no downgrading of our medical services.