I'm not really up on all of this, but having been born in Lewisham hospital and lived in the borough for the first 20 years or so of my life I have more than a passing interest.
However, I moved from Lewisham to Greenwich Council's turf and now live in Bexley - so I've also got an interest in those areas. My kids were born in Queen Mary's and my old man was looked after in the Princess Royal - both part of the fucked up and now dissolved NHS Trust.
So although I'm pleased for Lewisham and the people who fought so hard, I do wonder what it means for those of us unfortunate enough to live with the fucked up hospitals? If the idea was to help out the shit hospitals by moving stuff across from a properly run one, now what happens to the others if that isn't going to happen?
Genuine question as I really don't know how this is going to pan out. But I can't for one minute imagine that this defeat for the government is going to somehow magically result in more money being available in the pot for others.
Having been told twice that he acted illegally, Jeremy Hunt is now trying to change the law!
A friend passed on this message:
"I’m a doctor and part of the Save The Lewisham Hospital campaign. Along with thousands of 38 Degrees members, we stopped health minister Jeremy Hunt from closing services at Lewisham Hospital. Thousands of us chipped in to take him to court, and we won. [1]
Jeremy Hunt appealed the decision - but he lost again. So now, having been told twice that he acted illegally, he’s trying to change the law!
[2] He wants to bring in a "hospital closure clause" to give him new legal powers to shut A&Es like Lewisham.
If he gets this through, none of our hospitals will be safe from his meddling or closure. [3]
The hospital closure clause will soon be voted on by MPs. We need to persuade enough of them to vote against it. A huge petition will show MPs that the public don't want them to give Jeremy Hunt new powers to shut hospitals.
I've started a petition on the 38 Degrees website. Please can you sign it today, before MPs vote?been told twice that he acted illegally, he’s trying to change the law!
It's a pretty cynical way to respond to our campaign, isn't it? After losing in court, Jeremy Hunt's trying to sneak a change into a law to allow him “to dismantle hospital services arbitrarily.” [2] Even the very best hospitals wouldn't be safe. This sinister clause is hidden within a much bigger piece of law - presumably he's hoping that it will go through unnoticed.
A big petition can help stop this happening. When the bill is next debated, we can prove that thousands of us are coming together against these plans. Every signature helps sound the alarm. Every signature is a blow to Jeremy Hunt's reputation, an extra voice against him getting new powers to shut hospitals.
Jeremy Hunt saw the public outcry the last time the government changed the law to damage the NHS. He saw his predecessor, Andrew Lansley, lose his job. The last thing Jeremy Hunt will want to see is 38 Degrees members coming together again to stand up for NHS.
Having been told twice that he acted illegally, Jeremy Hunt is now trying to change the law!
A friend passed on this message:
"I’m a doctor and part of the Save The Lewisham Hospital campaign. Along with thousands of 38 Degrees members, we stopped health minister Jeremy Hunt from closing services at Lewisham Hospital. Thousands of us chipped in to take him to court, and we won. [1]
Jeremy Hunt appealed the decision - but he lost again. So now, having been told twice that he acted illegally, he’s trying to change the law!
[2] He wants to bring in a "hospital closure clause" to give him new legal powers to shut A&Es like Lewisham.
If he gets this through, none of our hospitals will be safe from his meddling or closure. [3]
The hospital closure clause will soon be voted on by MPs. We need to persuade enough of them to vote against it. A huge petition will show MPs that the public don't want them to give Jeremy Hunt new powers to shut hospitals.
I've started a petition on the 38 Degrees website. Please can you sign it today, before MPs vote?been told twice that he acted illegally, he’s trying to change the law!
It's a pretty cynical way to respond to our campaign, isn't it? After losing in court, Jeremy Hunt's trying to sneak a change into a law to allow him “to dismantle hospital services arbitrarily.” [2] Even the very best hospitals wouldn't be safe. This sinister clause is hidden within a much bigger piece of law - presumably he's hoping that it will go through unnoticed.
A big petition can help stop this happening. When the bill is next debated, we can prove that thousands of us are coming together against these plans. Every signature helps sound the alarm. Every signature is a blow to Jeremy Hunt's reputation, an extra voice against him getting new powers to shut hospitals.
Jeremy Hunt saw the public outcry the last time the government changed the law to damage the NHS. He saw his predecessor, Andrew Lansley, lose his job. The last thing Jeremy Hunt will want to see is 38 Degrees members coming together again to stand up for NHS.
Not sure if this has been mentioned on this thread and it's not well know but Jeremy Hunt is the cousin of former Tory Health Secretary, Baroness Virginia Bottemley.
In fact he inherited her seat with her support when she left the House of Commons and moved into the Lords where she continues to promote her view that the NHS should be privatised. Unsurprisingly since she is also a director of BUPA and several other companies with links to private health care.
Could all be completely innocent of course and I'm sure that Jeremy and Virginia would never discuss the break up of the NHS and how this might be mutually beneficial at family do's...
Not sure if this has been mentioned on this thread and it's not well know but Jeremy Hunt is the cousin of former Tory Health Secretary, Baroness Virginia Bottemley.
In fact he inherited her seat with her support when she left the House of Commons and moved into the Lords where she continues to promote her view that the NHS should be privatised. Unsurprisingly since she is also a director of BUPA and several other companies with links to private health care.
Could all be completely innocent of course and I'm sure that Jeremy and Virginia would never discuss the break up of the NHS and how this might be mutually beneficial at family do's...
i didnt know that ....but reaffirms my cynicism !
first time i have commented on this thread other than lynching tony jiminez its the most worthy cause on the site
Just returned from Lewisham A&E after my daughter hurt her ankle, fortunately only badly sprained, so she won't miss more than a day at work where she can ill afford to lose the zero wages she is paid as an intern (But that is another thread).
We were treated very efficiently, courteously and professionally ... well done Lewisham A&E. It appears that she has not been their for a while as her records only had her down as Baby Varma ... she is 23 years old now.
Nathan I really don't get it with you and this Lewisham hospital thing, really don't get it at all. Why is it exercising you so much? To have a downer on a peoples campaign that has been justified (twice) in court and is simply trying to preserve a service in a local hospital is beyond me. What would you rather see happening? What tempts you so strongly to contribute to this thread? I seriously don't get it. Is it because of a personal experience or something? If it isn't personal, then your posting your reaction on this thread is beyond weird.
He must be trolling for a reaction, for weird reasons we can't possibly understand. It's not like anything he's said has shown any interest in or knowledge of the subject. He should be pitied really.
I'm not really up on all of this, but having been born in Lewisham hospital and lived in the borough for the first 20 years or so of my life I have more than a passing interest.
However, I moved from Lewisham to Greenwich Council's turf and now live in Bexley - so I've also got an interest in those areas. My kids were born in Queen Mary's and my old man was looked after in the Princess Royal - both part of the fucked up and now dissolved NHS Trust.
So although I'm pleased for Lewisham and the people who fought so hard, I do wonder what it means for those of us unfortunate enough to live with the fucked up hospitals? If the idea was to help out the shit hospitals by moving stuff across from a properly run one, now what happens to the others if that isn't going to happen?
Genuine question as I really don't know how this is going to pan out. But I can't for one minute imagine that this defeat for the government is going to somehow magically result in more money being available in the pot for others.
Anyone, or am I just stuck with shit hospitals with no hope just so people in Lewisham are ok?
Off_It, the downgrade of Lewisham was just one of the proposals of the Trust Special Administrator. A number of the others have already been enacted including moving the running of the hospitals over to other trusts - QEH is now run by Lewisham's Trust (now called Greenwich & Lewisham iirc), The Princess Royal is being run by Kings, and QMH is now part of Oxleas I think.
What this will mean in the long term is hard to judge, given the dead weight of the PFIs are still going to be a drag on the finances of the new trusts. There'll probably be a reorganisation of services, but hopefully this will be on clinical grounds rather than the TSA making a thinly disguised landgrab of the Lewisham site.
This is to remind you about BBC Question Time in Lewisham tomorrow Thursday 9 January.
We now know the event will be at Goldsmiths College, Lewisham Way, New Cross, London SE14 6NW.
Please join the campaign in the protest outside from 5.30 onwards celebrating our victory in saving our hospital and calling for an end to NHS cuts and privatisation.
If you watch Question Time and have a Twitter account, please tweet on @bbcqt and @SaveLewishamA&E – the more tweets the better.
Joint public meeting with the Greenwich, Bexley, Bromley Save Our Local Hospitals Campaign.
The meeting is on Thursday 30th January at 7.30 at Charlton House, Charlton Road, London SE7 8RE You can get there most easily by bus: Nos 53, 54, 380, 422, 486
Speakers Professor Allyson Pollock, Professor of Public Health Research and Policy at Queen Mary’s, London. Allyson Pollock spoke at our People’s Commission wrote a special report with colleagues on PFI issues in the South London Healthcare Trust. ‘…one of the ironies is that some of the banks that we bailed out in 2010, like the Royal Bank of Scotland, into which we poured in billions of pounds – these banks which in theory we own, are actually rebuilding their balance sheets on the back of PFI, because they are still continuing to charge the public sector hundreds of millions of pounds in excess interest charges.’
Dr Jacky Davis , co-founder of Keep Our NHS Public and co-editor of the best-selling book NHS SOS
Charlotte Monro Occupational Therapist and Whipps Cross Unison branch secretary is fighting dismissal for union activities;
Teresa Pearce MP for Erith and Thamesmead
Dr Bob Gill Bexley GP
Iain Wilson, nurse at Queen Elizabeth Hospital
This will be a really interesting meeting.
Publicity and leafleting Please forward this email to friends and colleagues who might be interested. It is very important that the attacks on the NHS are publicised as widely as possible.
If you have some time, we are giving out leaflets at the following times and places across SE London
· 18th Jan – Eltham – Plassey Place (12-2pm)
· 23rd Jan – Woolwich Arsenal Station (Time TBC, please check nearer the date)
· 25th Jan – Charlton FC (2-3pm) - and at other times that day in Charlton
· 28th Jan – Woolwich – market – Powys Street (12-2pm)
· If you are free on Wednesday 22 or Friday 24 January either in the morning or evening to leaflet the hospital or local stations please would you let me know.
· Some of us will be joining people from the Save Our Local Hospitals Campaign to leaflet outside Queen Elizabeth Hospital at 8.30 am on Tuesday 21 January. Please join us.
If you want leaflets for doing your own leafleting in your locality there are some at the Waldron Health Centre that people can pick up there.
I look forward to seeing you there.
Louise Irvine, Chair Save Lewisham Hospital Campaign
Off_It, the downgrade of Lewisham was just one of the proposals of the Trust Special Administrator. A number of the others have already been enacted including moving the running of the hospitals over to other trusts - QEH is now run by Lewisham's Trust (now called Greenwich & Lewisham iirc), The Princess Royal is being run by Kings, and QMH is now part of Oxleas I think.
What this will mean in the long term is hard to judge, given the dead weight of the PFIs are still going to be a drag on the finances of the new trusts. There'll probably be a reorganisation of services, but hopefully this will be on clinical grounds rather than the TSA making a thinly disguised landgrab of the Lewisham site.
Thanks for the reply - have only just seen this now. Not sure I fully understand the answer though to be honest.
QMH has no accident and emergency now anyway, so QEH is the nearest for me. If that's now in the same Trust as Lewisham then it seems to me that unless there is some magical extra cash from somewhere it's bad news for people who rely on QEH (though obviously good news for those who rely on Lewisham).
Either way, anyone who has the misfortune of having an accident anywhere near QMH is fecked!
Speakers Professor Allyson Pollock, Professor of Public Health Research and Policy at Queen Mary’s, London. Allyson Pollock spoke at our People’s Commission wrote a special report with colleagues on PFI issues in the South London Healthcare Trust. ‘…one of the ironies is that some of the banks that we bailed out in 2010, like the Royal Bank of Scotland, into which we poured in billions of pounds – these banks which in theory we own, are actually rebuilding their balance sheets on the back of PFI, because they are still continuing to charge the public sector hundreds of millions of pounds in excess interest charges.’
Are they suggesting that the Banks - who got into a mess for entering into lots of bum deals - now just right off the deal and the interest they are legally due? Don't see how that's going to help the wider issue.
The people who should be taken out and shot are the ones that signed up to these deals in the first place. Just how did they expect to pay back these deals? It smacks of a bloke borrowing money from a bank, pissing it all up the wall then moaning and bleating when the bank wants its money back - although on a much bigger (and more indefensible) corporate scale.
Just who signed these deals in Lewisham's (and others) name?
It is dirty and tatty, and the quality of service I have found to be generally poor. Visiting the A&E there, as I have done at times as a relatively elderly person, has proved to be an ordeal.
Visited Lewisham yesterday to take my 97 year old aunt for a scan. Jesus ! Medical treatment might be good but the staff are a disgrace. Sat for 3 hours watching lazy fat slobs munching on biscuits and crisps. A simple question like " Any idea how long we will be " Met with a stare and a shrug. Phones ringing and ringing why staff stare at computer screens. Then some trainee asking my aunt how to spell Eileen. Lastly, do you have to weigh 25 stone to get a job there?
My mother in law was taken into lewisham two weeks ago and I am currently sitting at her place looking after her pets as she has had to be ambulanced there again. I have nothing but praise for the treatment she has received so far, no complaints about the staff or the premises. We obviously went to a different A&E from others as it was clean and tidy. Yes there are waits but that is no different from other A&E's that I have visited.
Obviously a different experience from others, but no way is Lewisham Hospital ripe for closure.
Dr Chidi Ejimofo, consultant in emergency medicine at Lewisham hospital is standing as a London candidate in the European elections for the National Health Action (NHA) party- a new political movement which aims to alert people to privatisation and cuts in the NHS. He helped spearhead the campaign to save Lewisham A & E. Sounds well worthy of my vote anyway.
Dr Chidi Ejimofo, consultant in emergency medicine at Lewisham hospital is standing as a London candidate in the European elections for the National Health Action (NHA) party- a new political movement which aims to alert people to privatisation and cuts in the NHS. He helped spearhead the campaign to save Lewisham A & E. Sounds well worthy of my vote anyway.
I usually always vote Green at the Euro elections to give them a bit of encouragement. Now I have a better reason to vote for someone, Ejimofo gets my vote.
Not sure whether they have a preferred voting order, but the head of the Save Lewisham Hospital campaign Dr Louise Irvine is also standing as a candidate for the NHA party in the Euro elections
Seth, having just seen a copy of the postal ballot someone's posted on twitter, you vote for the party, and the individual candidates are listed underneath the party name. There are a number of MEPs elected according to the proportion of the vote - I assume if they get enough votes to qualify for 2 seats then the 1st and 2nd on the list are elected, but can't say that for certain.
Comments
http://www.standard.co.uk/news/health/plans-to-axe-two-south-london-ae-units-rejected-8929903.html
However, I moved from Lewisham to Greenwich Council's turf and now live in Bexley - so I've also got an interest in those areas. My kids were born in Queen Mary's and my old man was looked after in the Princess Royal - both part of the fucked up and now dissolved NHS Trust.
So although I'm pleased for Lewisham and the people who fought so hard, I do wonder what it means for those of us unfortunate enough to live with the fucked up hospitals? If the idea was to help out the shit hospitals by moving stuff across from a properly run one, now what happens to the others if that isn't going to happen?
Genuine question as I really don't know how this is going to pan out. But I can't for one minute imagine that this defeat for the government is going to somehow magically result in more money being available in the pot for others.
Having been told twice that he acted illegally, Jeremy Hunt is now trying to change the law!
A friend passed on this message:
"I’m a doctor and part of the Save The Lewisham Hospital campaign. Along with thousands of 38 Degrees members, we stopped health minister Jeremy Hunt from closing services at Lewisham Hospital. Thousands of us chipped in to take him to court, and we won. [1]
Jeremy Hunt appealed the decision - but he lost again. So now, having been told twice that he acted illegally, he’s trying to change the law!
[2] He wants to bring in a "hospital closure clause" to give him new legal powers to shut A&Es like Lewisham.
If he gets this through, none of our hospitals will be safe from his meddling or closure. [3]
The hospital closure clause will soon be voted on by MPs. We need to persuade enough of them to vote against it. A huge petition will show MPs that the public don't want them to give Jeremy Hunt new powers to shut hospitals.
I've started a petition on the 38 Degrees website. Please can you sign it today, before MPs vote?been told twice that he acted illegally, he’s trying to change the law!
It's a pretty cynical way to respond to our campaign, isn't it? After losing in court, Jeremy Hunt's trying to sneak a change into a law to allow him “to dismantle hospital services arbitrarily.” [2] Even the very best hospitals wouldn't be safe. This sinister clause is hidden within a much bigger piece of law - presumably he's hoping that it will go through unnoticed.
A big petition can help stop this happening. When the bill is next debated, we can prove that thousands of us are coming together against these plans. Every signature helps sound the alarm. Every signature is a blow to Jeremy Hunt's reputation, an extra voice against him getting new powers to shut hospitals.
Jeremy Hunt saw the public outcry the last time the government changed the law to damage the NHS. He saw his predecessor, Andrew Lansley, lose his job. The last thing Jeremy Hunt will want to see is 38 Degrees members coming together again to stand up for NHS.
So let's get signing this petition now!
https://secure.38degrees.org.uk/hospital-closure-clause
Thank you for your support.
Louise Irvine,
38 Degrees member and chair of the Save Lewisham Hospital campaign
NOTES:
[1] 38 Degrees blog, Jeremy Hunt beaten in court… again!
http://blog.38degrees.org.uk/2013/10/29/jeremy-hunt-has-been-beaten-in-court-again/
[2] Parliament website, Early Day Motion 656
http://www.parliament.uk/edm/2013-14/656
[3] The Telegraph, Government wants free rein to close hospitals, claims medic
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/10414510/Government-wants-free-rein-to-close-hospitals-claims-medic.html
What's this bloke Hunt on! arrogant tosser.
In fact he inherited her seat with her support when she left the House of Commons and moved into the Lords where she continues to promote her view that the NHS should be privatised. Unsurprisingly since she is also a director of BUPA and several other companies with links to private health care.
Could all be completely innocent of course and I'm sure that Jeremy and Virginia would never discuss the break up of the NHS and how this might be mutually beneficial at family do's...
Jeremy Hunt's agenda is to give himself the power to close hospitals.
In order to do so, he's going to change the law.
Lewisham A & E would again be under threat.
Good point, Ali.
In fact he inherited her seat with her support when she left the House of Commons and moved into the Lords where she continues to promote her view that the NHS should be privatised. Unsurprisingly since she is also a director of BUPA and several other companies with links to private health care.
Could all be completely innocent of course and I'm sure that Jeremy and Virginia would never discuss the break up of the NHS and how this might be mutually beneficial at family do's...
i didnt know that ....but reaffirms my cynicism !
first time i have commented on this thread other than lynching tony jiminez its the most worthy cause on the site
We were treated very efficiently, courteously and professionally ... well done Lewisham A&E. It appears that she has not been their for a while as her records only had her down as Baby Varma ... she is 23 years old now.
Or maybe he's a 'friend of Jeremy'..?
What this will mean in the long term is hard to judge, given the dead weight of the PFIs are still going to be a drag on the finances of the new trusts. There'll probably be a reorganisation of services, but hopefully this will be on clinical grounds rather than the TSA making a thinly disguised landgrab of the Lewisham site.
This is to remind you about BBC Question Time in Lewisham tomorrow Thursday 9 January.
We now know the event will be at Goldsmiths College, Lewisham Way, New Cross, London SE14 6NW.
Please join the campaign in the protest outside from 5.30 onwards celebrating our victory in saving our hospital and calling for an end to NHS cuts and privatisation.
If you watch Question Time and have a Twitter account, please tweet on @bbcqt and @SaveLewishamA&E – the more tweets the better.
Thanks
Louise Irvine
The meeting is on Thursday 30th January at 7.30 at Charlton House, Charlton Road, London SE7 8RE
You can get there most easily by bus: Nos 53, 54, 380, 422, 486
You can find more information on our website at:
http://www.savelewishamhospital.com/public-meeting-nhs-in-crisis/
Speakers
Professor Allyson Pollock, Professor of Public Health Research and Policy at Queen Mary’s, London.
Allyson Pollock spoke at our People’s Commission wrote a special report with colleagues on PFI issues in the South London Healthcare Trust.
‘…one of the ironies is that some of the banks that we bailed out in 2010, like the Royal Bank of Scotland, into which we poured in billions of pounds – these banks which in theory we own, are actually rebuilding their balance sheets on the back of PFI, because they are still continuing to charge the public sector hundreds of millions of pounds in excess interest charges.’
Dr Jacky Davis , co-founder of Keep Our NHS Public and co-editor of the best-selling book NHS SOS
Charlotte Monro Occupational Therapist and Whipps Cross Unison branch secretary is fighting dismissal for union activities;
Teresa Pearce MP for Erith and Thamesmead
Dr Bob Gill Bexley GP
Iain Wilson, nurse at Queen Elizabeth Hospital
This will be a really interesting meeting.
Publicity and leafleting
Please forward this email to friends and colleagues who might be interested. It is very important that the attacks on the NHS are publicised as widely as possible.
If you have some time, we are giving out leaflets at the following times and places across SE London
· 18th Jan – Eltham – Plassey Place (12-2pm)
· 23rd Jan – Woolwich Arsenal Station (Time TBC, please check nearer the date)
· 25th Jan – Charlton FC (2-3pm) - and at other times that day in Charlton
· 28th Jan – Woolwich – market – Powys Street (12-2pm)
· If you are free on Wednesday 22 or Friday 24 January either in the morning or evening to leaflet the hospital or local stations please would you let me know.
· Some of us will be joining people from the Save Our Local Hospitals Campaign to leaflet outside Queen Elizabeth Hospital at 8.30 am on Tuesday 21 January. Please join us.
If you want leaflets for doing your own leafleting in your locality there are some at the Waldron Health Centre that people can pick up there.
I look forward to seeing you there.
Louise Irvine,
Chair Save Lewisham Hospital Campaign
QMH has no accident and emergency now anyway, so QEH is the nearest for me. If that's now in the same Trust as Lewisham then it seems to me that unless there is some magical extra cash from somewhere it's bad news for people who rely on QEH (though obviously good news for those who rely on Lewisham).
Either way, anyone who has the misfortune of having an accident anywhere near QMH is fecked!
Speakers
Professor Allyson Pollock, Professor of Public Health Research and Policy at Queen Mary’s, London.
Allyson Pollock spoke at our People’s Commission wrote a special report with colleagues on PFI issues in the South London Healthcare Trust.
‘…one of the ironies is that some of the banks that we bailed out in 2010, like the Royal Bank of Scotland, into which we poured in billions of pounds – these banks which in theory we own, are actually rebuilding their balance sheets on the back of PFI, because they are still continuing to charge the public sector hundreds of millions of pounds in excess interest charges.’
Are they suggesting that the Banks - who got into a mess for entering into lots of bum deals - now just right off the deal and the interest they are legally due? Don't see how that's going to help the wider issue.
The people who should be taken out and shot are the ones that signed up to these deals in the first place. Just how did they expect to pay back these deals? It smacks of a bloke borrowing money from a bank, pissing it all up the wall then moaning and bleating when the bank wants its money back - although on a much bigger (and more indefensible) corporate scale.
Just who signed these deals in Lewisham's (and others) name?
It is dirty and tatty, and the quality of service I have found to be generally poor. Visiting the A&E there, as I have done at times as a relatively elderly person, has proved to be an ordeal.
Many of the staff speak very poor English.
The whole place is ripe for closure.
Lastly, do you have to weigh 25 stone to get a job there?
Obviously a different experience from others, but no way is Lewisham Hospital ripe for closure.
Now I have a better reason to vote for someone, Ejimofo gets my vote.