DEFEND THE WHITTINGTON HOSPITAL COALITION

This has been a busy week so probably not the best timing for the Googlemail address to decide it was no longer going to send emails. We’ve now set up a new email address at dwhc@dwhc.org.uk which we will use to send the weekly(ish) email updates. More regular updates will, as usual, be posted here on the site. You can sign up to the email list here.

DWHC joint chair Shirley Franklin was on Eddie Nestor’s  BBC Radio London this Tuesday talking about the campaign. The item starts about an hour and fourteen minutes into the programme  here (BBC iPlayer.)

The Camden New Journal have a front page story about the campaign this week, Stars Fight for Future of Hospital.

STARS of stage and screen have told how the threatened accident and emergency department at the Whittington Hospital helped their families – and how they are desperate for it not to close.

A host of famous faces have now swung behind a campaign – backed by the New Journal and our sister paper the Islington Tribune – to keep the treasured facility open.

Steve McFadden, best known as EastEnders hardman Phil Mitchell, said: “I don’t want to see the A&E close. I have used it a lot, particularly for my children as they have a fantastic children’s facility.

“The care is of a very high standard. When my daughter was a newborn baby she was ill and was admitted to the specialist children’s facility through the A&E. She stayed there for a week and the care she received was very good. The Royal Free is oversubscribed already and it’s not as if you don’t have to wait long enough to get seen.” Read more of the article Here.

The online petition reached 50 signatures this week and it looks like we’ve nearly 3000 on the paper ones.

Tomorrow’s cavalcade looks like it will be noticed! Please come along and join us at 11.30 outside The Whittington.

Please remember to join our Facebook group, sign up for the march and rally on 27th February, sign the petition, follow us on Twitter and spread the word.

This Saturday the Defend the Whittington Hospital Coalition will be running a cavalcade to promote our campaign and the rally of 27th February.

Please come along and join us outside the Whittington at midday.

This is from Jeremy Corbyn’s monthly report.

Defend the Whittington Hospital

It is apparent that the North Central London Health Authorities covering Camden,Islington, Haringey, Barnet and Enfield are trying to “reconfigure” services to make enormous savings. To do this they are looking at the possible closure of the Accident and Emergency (A&E) unit at the Whittington Hospital. As soon as this
became clear as a possibility, I sought and obtained a special debate in Parliament which is included in this report.
Read more…

Submitted by Dave Morris of Defend Haringey’s Health Services Coaltion; NHS NCL Strategy Plan distributed by Lynne Featherstone MP.

We now have the NHS official proposals for North Central London area. The key pages are pages 79-82 with the ‘7 scenarios’.

Its clearly an attack on the services at all North London’s hospitals, and we have to stick together and resist any ‘divide and rule’ tactics.

All of the scenarios seem to downgrade most of the Hospitals with only one scenario maintaining any of the 6 hospitals as a District General Hospital (Scenario 1 – for Barnet and North Middx).

Re: Whittington specifically:

– All ‘scenarios’ include an ‘Urgent Care Centre’.

– 3 scenarios include full A&E retained, 2 scenarios retain just 16hrs A&E, 2 scenarios have no A&E.

It needs checking carefully… but the battle is well and truly on.

North Central London NHS Strategy Plan 2010 – 2014: Options document

– by Rachel Tyndall, NHS North Central London

Click here to download (.pdf, 2.27 mb)

From Keep Our NHS Public:

25 February: London on the Brink – what is happening to local Health Services?
Organised by the London Regional Council of the British Medical Association (BMA)
Open meeting with Keep Our NHS Public groups, health campaigners, and other health unions

Thursday 25 February 7-9 pm, the Great Hall,
BMA House, Tavistock Square, London W1
John Lister of Health Emergency will present his BMA-commissioned report “London on the Brink”
Join BMA members, other health unions and health campaigners to share information about the changes to the NHS, and map out our joint strategy for the fightback.
To reserve a place contact : info.lrc@bma.org.uk

Click here for poster with full details