DEFEND THE WHITTINGTON HOSPITAL COALITION

Sorry that’s it’s been a while since the last update, things have been a bit hectic over the last few weeks.

We had a good couple of hours with the stall outside the Nag’s Head, Holloway on Saturday morning, collecting more signatures, distributing flyers and spreading the word about the Day of Action.  We’ve now got well over ten thousand petition signatures on paper and over 1500 online.

Day Of Action, 29th April

Things are coming along really well for the Day of Action with several different groups and individuals organising events for the day. Hopefully the campaign to save our A&E will be visible in offices, shops and on the streets right across north London. If you have, or need, any ideas for activities please contact us at defendwhittington@googlemail.com. Let us know if you’ve planned something so we can arrange some coverage.

There are more details about the day here and we’ve published a flyer for the day here.

Press Coverage

There’s been a lot of coverage of the meeting with Rachel Tyndall on Monday 29th.

I need to apologise to the Haringey Indepenedent. They have provided a lot of coverage but unfortunately slipped under my radar and haven’t appeared on the site. Sorry.

Hornsey Journal, 03/04/2010: Whittington Hospital: tough choices to be made, says health boss

Islington Tribune, 02/04/2010: Woman who has Whittington A&E fate in her hands

Haringey Independent, 29/03/2010: Senior doctors oppose Whittington Hospital A&E closure

Video

Another excellent video about the march and rally.

The filmmakers who volunteered their time to make the film were:

• Justine Gordon-Smith
• Chris Hall
• Grave Livingstone
• Maggie Pallat.

We are going to have a day of action for the Whittington on Thursday 29th April and would like workplaces, surgeries, nurseries, housing associations etc. to organize events and hold photo opportunities during the day.  We can come round and take photos of the events you organise with a view to creating a montage for the website and distribution to the press.

Please let us know what you can do. We have posters and badges available so please let us know if you need some.

The focal point of the day will be a rally outside the Whittington from 12.00 until 14.00.  This is an opportunity to remind North Central London NHS that this is our hospital, not theirs, and to show our support for the workers and patients of the Whittington.

You can see a list of the events planned so far, and confirmed speakers for the rally, here: http://dwhc.org.uk/doa/

Please come along if you can.

This is a very brief report. More detail will follow over the next few of days.

Over 100 people attended the fantastic meeting tonight where we discussed plans for the next stage of the campaign. The main focus will be a day of action on Thursday 29th April, one week before the probable general election date. The day of action has been arranged for a weekday so that people who work in the areas served by the Whittington can participate in their workplaces. There will also be a rally between 12.00 and 14.00 om the day.

We are going to attend the Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS) demonstration outside Parliament at 11.00 on Wednesday 24th March. Local PCS branches officially support the campaign and this is a good opportunity to get the attention of politicians and highlight the connections between the Whittington campaign and that of the wider Public Sector.

Rachel Tyndall will be attending a meeting at Islington Town Hall on Monday 29th March. We should have a delegation at the meeting. Placards outside at 19.00 then in to the meeting at 19.30.

There was much discussion from the floor and Jeremy Corbyn provided an update about activities in Parliament.

Islingtonnow tweeted from the meeting (and blew my attempts out of the water.) You can read their live account of the meeting here.

Much more was discussed and minutes from the meeting will be on the site soon.

Sorry for the  somewhat perfunctory nature of this post: your web chap is very , very tired.

This is a brilliant video by Sarah Mills documenting the campaign up to the march on 27th February.

The BBC have footage of Lynne Featherstone’s Westminster Hall debate, ‘London Hospitals’, from 17th March 2010 (a transcription from TheyWorkForYou was posted here the other day.). It includes contributions from Jeremy Corbyn, Health Minister Mike O’Brien and MPs from around London. At 1hr 30mins there’s quite a lot to get through but it’s well worth a watch if you have the time.

It’s available on the BBC site here.

Please remember to get along to tomorrow’s meeting if you can, 19.00 at the Whittington Park Community Centre. There are more details here.

Poster

We have a new poster available for download and popping in your window, on your car’s back shelf, printing on vinyl and using to cover an umbrella… Whittington Poster

Jeremy Corbyn’s Early Day Motion (EDM 87) has so far been signed by only 19 MPs. If your MP hasn’t signed it yet please ask them to! You can get find you MP and send them an email directly from  Theyworkforyou.com.

Early Day Motion

EDM 87 WHITTINGTON HOSPITAL 18.11.2009 Corbyn, Jeremy 19 signatures

Abbott, Diane         Clark, Katy         Cohen, Harry
Cryer, Ann         Dobson, Frank         Featherstone, Lynne
Gerrard, Neil         Hoey, Kate         Hopkins, Kelvin
Illsley, Eric         Jackson, Glenda         Jenkins, Brian
McDonnell, John         Meale, Alan         Simpson, Alan
Thornberry, Emily         Wareing, Robert N         Wyatt, Derek

That this House recognises the Whittington Hospital is a valuable asset to healthcare in North London and has recently undergone a major rebuilding programme; notes that the Whittington receives into its accident and emergency department alone approximately 80,000 patients annually and offers accessible services including maternity, neo-natal, cancer, day surgery and more; is very concerned to hear ongoing talk of a threat to or merger of any of the Whittington’s major services with the Royal Free Hospital, thereby reducing the viability of the Whittington’s continued existence as a separate institution, and of its services to local people in Islington, Haringey and Camden; and calls upon NHS London to ensure the continued existence of the Whittington Hospital inclusive of its major services.

The Early Day Motion itself is online here: EDM 87.

We have the advantage that there is an election coming. Unfortunately all the major parties have threatened to slash public sector spending. We have to remind them who pays who’s wages and convince them that healthcare, along with other public services, is more important than the Trident replacement.

Islington NHS Statistics

We have received a copy of Islngton NHS’s 2009 report ‘Health Facts For Islington’ which makes for interesting reading. It’s on site here: Health in Islington – The Facts.

Remember to come along to the meeting on Monday where we will be discussing the next steps of the campaign and, if it’s your sort of thing, to join our Facebook group and follow us on Twitter (links are on the right of this page.)