DWHC meeting 26 July 2018 minutes
Minutes of DWHC Planning Meeting, 26th July 2018 6.30-8.00pm,
at Archway Methodist Hall
1. Present: Emily F, Shirley F, Alice K, Steve C
Apologies: Tricia Clarke, Gary H, Jem L, Valerie L, Rosie
2. Minutes of last meeting: Agreed
Matters arising Things have now changed because of our success in our campaign to
Get Rydon out of our Hospital. So the action points regarding the next steps in the campaign
had become unnecessary.
We reflected that the only way forward that the Board could take was to drop the deal with
Ryhurst/Rydon. We were reminded that at the beginning of our campaign Hitchins had
stated that the Hospital would have to close if they stopped the contract with Rydon. They
are now pleased to announce that the Estate Strategy will be planned and run in-house.
Shirley informed the meeting that we had been informed that the fine over costs that the it is
expected that Rydon will demand from Rydon can be met by the bonus of £19 million that
the Hospital received at the end of March for keeping in budget. She pointed out that they
would have known this financial fact throughout our campaign and their stubborn stance in
staying with Rydon.
Hitchins eventually responded to our open letter. The only reasons he gave for the
"abandonment of the SEP process" were due to "improved finances" and "strengthened
relationships" with other public sector organisations . It was said that this was a less than
complete justification!
The meeting was reminded that several other people had received the open letter, including
the local Health and Care Scrutiny Committee and Joint Overview Scrutiny Committee for
Health and Social Care. Only Steve Hitchins, eventually, responded. We have never had
any response from the JOSCSC. On 14th June 2018, Jeremy Corbyn had written a strongly
worded letter to the local Health and Care Scrutiny Committee expressing concern that they
had not acted regarding the Whit Health's continued procurement with Rydon. The Hospital
finally formally abandoned the process on Wednesday 27th June 2018.
Finances Islington Trades Council has £250. It was suggested that we are stoll open to
further donations from local trade unions.
3. Update – Resurrection of discussions at Whittington
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Shirley reported that she had Valerie had resumed update discussions with the Management
at the Hospital, but were refusing to meet with Steve Hitchins and Siobhan Harrington. Juliet
in the Communications team had arranged for them to meet with Jonathan Gardner, the
Executive Director of Strategy. He was very friendly, We told him our position remains
opposed to all cuts in health provision, no cuts in staff and no to privatisation, including
running of services and private beds.
The Planning Meeting discussed the effective privatisation of the Pharmacy which is run by
the Whittington , but as a private company not NHS and therefore not subject to NHS pay
and working conditions. We decided that this scheme is problematic and one for us and the
unions to address.
Steve had spoken about our campaign at a meeting addressed by Dr Bob Gill, who has
made a film, The Great NHS Heist. Steve said that this film exposed the scary levels of
privatisation in the NHS. The meeting applauded hios report of our campaign.
Alice reported a similar reception when she spoke at the Grenfell meeting at Tolpuddle.
She is continuing to represent us at the monthly Grenfell Silent marches.
Jackie Taylor
We are so, so saddened by the recent death of the Jackie Taylor, a recent Chair of the
Hospital Unison branch. She was a founder member of our campaign and was an organiser
and participant at all our big marches and meetings. She helped us in our much valued
relationship with the Unison branch. She was a true activist and also a lovely warm person.
We will miss her. Alice, Emily and Shirley attended the funeral and wake. The funeral was so
moving. It started with a cortege behind the hearse, led by the Unison banner and included
our DWHC banner. Jeremy Corbyn sent a lovely message for us to read. The congregation
reflected the wonderful diversity of staff at the Whittington. Thanks to Claire Dixon and Ann
Harris and other Unison members for organising such a great , sad, occasion for us to
celebrate and say goodbye to Jackie.
4. Final Update on Rydon/Ryhurst Campaign
We recognised that Tom Foot and Islington Tribune had played a very important role in our
campaign through their brilliant and prolific coverage of our campaign coverage and that we
should thank them.. And thank everyone who played a role in our success.
We still have concerns about Steve Hicthins and his relationship with Rydon. We want to
continue to investigate this. Concerns were also expressed about Tim Rice, the board
member with links to Rydon (which are not listed on the Board member's details) and the
affiliations of other board members.
Concern was expressed about the secretive decision-taking at the Hospital. All criucial
decisions were taken in private with no minutes available to the public. Thsi is unacceptable
to us. We decided to push for more accountability
5. Discussion on future activities
i) We will monitor the Estate Strategy developments in terms of proposals for private
provision, cuts in care and selloffs
ii) Monitor the interests of Board members
iii) Investigate and monitor privatisation at the hospital – eg Sodexho, pharmacy, IT services,
etc
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Date of Next Planning Meeting: Thursday 13 th September 2018 at 6.30-8pm
Shirley 28.07.2018
