Showing posts with label Ealing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ealing. Show all posts

Saturday 30 March 2019

Ealing primary school stops academisation with support from the council and local MP

Southfield Primary School NEU members
Here's another example of a local council and MP getting behind campaigners, this time on academies. It contrasts with Brent Council's failure to really get behind anti-academisation campaigners in the case of The Village School.

This is a statement from the school's NEU members received via the Anti Academies Alliance:
 "Here’s some good news. We have managed to stop Southfield Primary School from becoming an academy!

After hearing that our governors wanted to join the Knowledge Schools Trust, through the process of academisation, unhappy NEU members decided to make a stand. We believe in education for all, not just the chosen few. So we rallied together to fight this decision. We fought back! We had a ballot, met with parents and decided we were prepared to strike to save our children’s education. We wanted to stay part of Ealing, it is a supportive borough.

We wouldn’t have achieved this if we hadn’t stuck together and would like to thank Stefan Simms and the NEU for their support.

We would also like to thanks Julian Bell Leader of Ealing Council, Cllr Yvonne Johnson and Rupa Huq MP for standing with us."

 

Monday 15 May 2017

Local hospitals hit by cyber attack: advice from Health Trust

Statement from NW London NHS Trust


Since Friday's cyber attack, staff across the Trust have been working tirelessly to ensure patients are cared for safely.

We identified the virus at 12.45pm on Friday (12 May) in three PCs and two servers. As soon as the virus was identified we took immediate action to protect our systems from any data loss and further corruption. 

As a precaution we shut down a number of IT systems and some services are currently using paper-based systems. It is the precautionary measures we have taken that have caused most disruption, not the virus itself.

We continue to work with NHS Digital and will begin to switch our IT systems back on when we feel it is safe to do so.

In the meantime we are asking the public to help our staff and visit our emergency departments for serious and life-threatening injuries and conditions only. Please consider the alternatives, such as visiting your local walk-in centre, pharmacy or calling 111 for minor injuries and advice. This will help relieve pressure on our services. 

Advice for patients 

Patients are asked to attend their appointment or operation as planned over the coming days, unless they have been contacted and told not to attend. If patients or their loved ones need to get in touch about their appointment or operation, please call (instead of email) our main hospital switchboards:
 
  • Central Middlesex Hospital: 0208 965 5733 
  • Ealing Hospital: 0208 967 5000
  • Northwick Park and St. Mark's hospitals: 0208 864 3232


We apologise for any delays and cancellations that patients will experience and we thank you for your continued patience and cooperation as we work to resolve these issues.

MORE
Since Friday's cyber attack, staff across the Trust have been working tirelessly to ensure patients are cared for safely.
We identified the virus at 12.45pm on Friday (12 May) in three PCs and two servers. As soon as the virus was identified we took immediate action to protect our systems from any data loss and further corruption.
As a precaution we shut down a number of IT systems and some services are currently using paper-based systems. It is the precautionary measures we have taken that have caused most disruption, not the virus itself.
We continue to work with NHS Digital and will begin to switch our IT systems back on when we feel it is safe to do so.
In the meantime we are asking the public to help our staff and visit our emergency departments for serious and life-threatening injuries and conditions only. Please consider the alternatives, such as visiting your local walk-in centre, pharmacy or calling 111 for minor injuries and advice. This will help relieve pressure on our services.
Advice for patients
Patients are asked to attend their appointment or operation as planned over the coming days, unless they have been contacted and told not to attend. If patients or their loved ones need to get in touch about their appointment or operation, please call (instead of email) our main hospital switchboards:
  • Central Middlesex Hospital: 0208 965 5733 
  • Ealing Hospital: 0208 967 5000
  • Northwick Park and St. Mark's hospitals: 0208 864 3232
We apologise for any delays and cancellations that patients will experience and we thank you for your continued patience and cooperation as we work to resolve these issues.
- See more at: http://www.lnwh.nhs.uk/about-us/news-and-media/latest-news/cyber-attack-information-for-patients/#sthash.fVPMmwLk.dpuf
Since Friday's cyber attack, staff across the Trust have been working tirelessly to ensure patients are cared for safely.
We identified the virus at 12.45pm on Friday (12 May) in three PCs and two servers. As soon as the virus was identified we took immediate action to protect our systems from any data loss and further corruption.
As a precaution we shut down a number of IT systems and some services are currently using paper-based systems. It is the precautionary measures we have taken that have caused most disruption, not the virus itself.
We continue to work with NHS Digital and will begin to switch our IT systems back on when we feel it is safe to do so.
In the meantime we are asking the public to help our staff and visit our emergency departments for serious and life-threatening injuries and conditions only. Please consider the alternatives, such as visiting your local walk-in centre, pharmacy or calling 111 for minor injuries and advice. This will help relieve pressure on our services.
Advice for patients
Patients are asked to attend their appointment or operation as planned over the coming days, unless they have been contacted and told not to attend. If patients or their loved ones need to get in touch about their appointment or operation, please call (instead of email) our main hospital switchboards:
  • Central Middlesex Hospital: 0208 965 5733 
  • Ealing Hospital: 0208 967 5000
  • Northwick Park and St. Mark's hospitals: 0208 864 3232
We apologise for any delays and cancellations that patients will experience and we thank you for your continued patience and cooperation as we work to resolve these issues.
- See more at: http://www.lnwh.nhs.uk/about-us/news-and-media/latest-news/cyber-attack-information-for-patients/#sthash.fVPMmwLk.dpuf
Since Friday's cyber attack, staff across the Trust have been working tirelessly to ensure patients are cared for safely.
We identified the virus at 12.45pm on Friday (12 May) in three PCs and two servers. As soon as the virus was identified we took immediate action to protect our systems from any data loss and further corruption.
As a precaution we shut down a number of IT systems and some services are currently using paper-based systems. It is the precautionary measures we have taken that have caused most disruption, not the virus itself.
We continue to work with NHS Digital and will begin to switch our IT systems back on when we feel it is safe to do so.
In the meantime we are asking the public to help our staff and visit our emergency departments for serious and life-threatening injuries and conditions only. Please consider the alternatives, such as visiting your local walk-in centre, pharmacy or calling 111 for minor injuries and advice. This will help relieve pressure on our services.
Advice for patients
Patients are asked to attend their appointment or operation as planned over the coming days, unless they have been contacted and told not to attend. If patients or their loved ones need to get in touch about their appointment or operation, please call (instead of email) our main hospital switchboards:
  • Central Middlesex Hospital: 0208 965 5733 
  • Ealing Hospital: 0208 967 5000
  • Northwick Park and St. Mark's hospitals: 0208 864 3232
We apologise for any delays and cancellations that patients will experience and we thank you for your continued patience and cooperation as we work to resolve these issues.
- See more at: http://www.lnwh.nhs.uk/about-us/news-and-media/latest-news/cyber-attack-information-for-patients/#sthash.fVPMmwLk.dpuf

Thursday 26 January 2017

Brent Central LP calls on Brent Council to oppose STP alongside Ealing & Hammersmith Councils



At a crowded meeting in Harlesden, the Labour Party in Brent Central condemned the cuts being made to the NHS services that people in Brent depend on. Labour Party members voted unanimously to call for Brent Council to reject the plans drawn up by NHS officials to reduce hospital services across northwest London.  The motion requested that the Council's Labour Leader, Cllr Muhammed Butt discontinues any negotiations over the Sustainability and Transformation Plan (STP) and any other proposed cuts to the NHS budget.  The meeting also called for unity with Hammersmith and Ealing Councils who have also opposed STP.

NHS bosses across England are required by the Department of Health to produce these plans, known as “Sustainability and Transformation Plans” or STPs. The plans rest on the idea that large numbers of patients could be looked after more cheaply in the community instead of in hospitals. However, doctors at the meeting said that GPs and other community services are already stretched to breaking point and would not get enough extra staff or money to take on the additional work this would involve.

The plans include closing the 24/7 A&E Departments at Charing Cross Hospital and Ealing Hospital, turning them into Urgent Care Centres.

In 2014, when Central Middlesex Hospital had its A&E Department downgraded to an Urgent Care Centre, Northwick Park Hospital was supposed to take on all the extra emergency patients. Instead patients waited far longer to be seen because Northwick Park was overwhelmed by the needs of the extra patients. Not enough had been done to prepare Northwick Park Hospital for the surge, and funding and staff numbers were nowhere near enough to handle the number of people coming through.

The NHS is already in crisis over long-term funding cuts imposed by the Government, and the plans for further cuts to hospital services are a serious threat to the health of the public, health campaigners told the meeting.

Butt said that Brent Council had not accepted the STP and has demanded assurances on funding and risks from the Government before it could be agreed. Brent Council is currently considering their next steps relating to the plans covering the borough.

At the Health and Wellbeing Board on Tuesday Cllr  Krupesh Hirani said that it was the issue of the adequacy of out of hospital services that kept him awake at night.

Thursday 8 December 2016

Extraordinary Brent CCG meeting on Wednesday to further controversial health plans

There is an Extraordinary Meeting of the Governing Body of the Brent Clinical Commissioning Group at noon-1.30pm on Wednesday 14th December at the Boardroom Wembley Centre for  Health and Care.  The meeting is open to the public and 30 minutes has been allocated to questions from the public.

The meeting is about the business case for Shaping a Healthier Future and the CCG consider this essential for delivering  the controversial NW London Sustainability and Transformation Plan. Cllr Krupesh Hirani confirmed in the Brent and Kilburn Times today that Brent Council intends to sign the STP despite the fact that neighbouring Ealing and Hammersmith and Fulham councils have refused to do so.

As usual the documents are massive, jargon ridden and with enough acronyms to fill Wembley Stadium.

Anyone who manages to plough through them AND understand them deserves an honorary degree.

Those who think that the STP, though argued on the  basis of benefits to patients, is really a cover for cuts may be interested in the Strategic Outline Case for investment to eventually save money: 
For trusts under the ‘comparator’ scenario, where no commissioner QIPP is assumed to be delivered and with business-as-usual CIP delivery, all our provider trusts will be in financial deficit, with a combined deficit of £114m at 2024/25. However, if commissioner QIPP were delivered, trustsI&E would improve to a combined deficit of £18m as additional CIPs can be achieved (termed the ‘SaHF scenario before reconfiguration). The CCG QIPP delivery is dependent in part on the building of the hubs, which is why it is not included in the ‘comparator’. If we receive the capital funding we are requesting, the trusts’ financial projections demonstrate that all trusts will have a sustainable I&E surplus position of £27.6m at 2024/25, with the reconfiguration contributing a c£50m benefit (termed the ‘SaHF scenario after reconfiguration’). 

Currently the trusts are running in-year deficits which would require an estimated cash support of £1.1bn over the next 10 years (and continue thereafter), which would reduce to £0.5bn under the ‘SaHF scenario before reconfiguration’ (where additional CIPs are delivered, partly due to hub investment to enable QIPP delivery). Under the SOC part 1 option (‘SaHF scenario after reconfiguration’), the cash deficit support in the 10-year period would reduce further to £0.4bn and are eliminated post reconfiguration. 

If the capital investment were funded by loans, two of the trusts would have a below target Financial Sustainability Risk Rating (FSRR) and be unable to meet the loan repayments. As the loan funding scenario is unaffordable from a liquidity perspective, we have explored two further scenarios and have concluded that our preferred option is for Public Dividend Capital (PDC) funding, and an accelerated timeline. 

We have also demonstrated that the case is affordable under a range of scenarios by conducting sensitivity analyses.
This is the Brent Cabinet decision as recorded in the minutes of the October 24th Cabinet meeting:


1.     Cabinet noted the STP submission for North West London. 

2.     Cabinet welcomed the principles adopted within the STP of prevention, out  of hospital care, dealing with the social care funding gap and the need to work across the public sector to maximise benefits from changes to the NHS and other public sector estate. 

3.     Cabinet noted that the STP will need formal sign off by the end of December and that between October and December the following issues need to be clarified both within the submission and through other NHS processes, in 
 order for the council to give full support for the plan:
a.     That the IMBC on which delivery area 5 is based is released, debated and understood; 

b.     That the flow of monies from acute to out of hospital settings are clarified; 

c.      That the specification for out of hospital settings, in particular social care, are clarified
based on an agreed model of out of hospital care; 

d.     That a full risk assessment for the plan and relevant mitigations are included. 


Saturday 3 December 2016

Ealing and Hammersmith & Fulham Councils show Brent how to campaign on the STP

 It is just not possible for me to go to every vital meeting that I advertise on Wembley Matters so I am posting this account from the Hammersmith and Fulham website of their public meeting on the NW London Sustainability and Transformation Plan.

How about a similar meeting in Brent, Brent Council?


The decision by Hammersmith & Fulham and Ealing councils to refuse ‘secretive’ hospital closure plans was backed by hundreds at a packed town hall meeting this week.

Nearly 700 cheered and applauded the leaders of the councils as they explained why they have refused to sign up to the local NHS Sustainability and Transformation Plan (STP). Councils across the UK have been asked to endorse similar plans for each region of the NHS, before they are submitted to government for approval.

“The STP is a deeply cynical re-hash of the earlier flawed plans which now proposes to close Charing Cross Hospital in 2021,” said Cllr Stephen Cowan, Leader of Hammersmith & Fulham Council.

“There are no good arguments for demolishing Charing Cross or for selling off much of the land and replacing it with an urgent care clinic just 13 per cent the size of the hospital. That’s why this administration will continue its fierce defence of Charing Cross and the vital local NHS services people rely on.”

The meeting drew campaigners from across the region who have been fighting plans to close or downgrade services at five out of the nine hospitals in north west London.

Despite the published plans, an NHS spokesman has said: “We want to reassure our staff, patients, local residents and partners that Charing Cross is not closing and that there will be no reduction in the hospital’s A&E and wider services during the lifetime of the STP, which runs until April 2021.”
Anne Drinkell, of the Save our Hospitals campaign, said: “This is a cuts and closures programme. We’re not saying we want no change. But objectively there’s already not enough capacity in our local hospital so closing more services would be unsafe.”

Campaigners were united in condemning the tactics being used to force through drastic reductions in local health services secretively and without public consultation.

The NHS has pressured councils to approve STPs by linking it to the release of vital government cash needed to keep councils’ social care services from collapsing under ever-rising demand.

But Cllr Julian Bell, Leader of Ealing Council, said: “The NHS tried to bounce us into signing the STP. They tried to get us to agree to the STP on the basis of a two-page summary and they told us we didn’t need to see the full document. We insisted, but it didn’t arrive until they day before we were meant to sign it. And once we finally saw what was in it, we understood why. There was no way on earth I was going to sign up to those plans.”

Dr David Wingfield, chairman of the Hammersmith and Fulham GP Federation, suggested the STP was not equipped to tackle the health and social care problems facing the borough. He offered to form a ‘grand alliance’ between GPs, councillors and members of the community to confront local healthcare challenges.



 
Save Charing Cross Hospital meeting audience

 
Save Charing Cross Hospital campaigners



Monday 28 November 2016

Urgent meeting on NW London STP tomorrow Hammersmith Town Hall 7pm

From London Keep our NHS Public

Hammersmith and Fulham Council has announced plans for legal action against the NW London Sustainability and Transformation Plan  which aims to close first Ealing then Charing Cross Hospitals. Hammersmith & Fulhan  and Ealing Councils are the first to refuse to sign off the STP -  action we need replicated across England. In a step forward last Tuesday Hounslow Council passed a motion with all party support to retain acute services at Ealing and Charing Cross and a statement was signed by 5 councils including Harrow and Brent condemning the closure plan.The public meeting called by Hammersmith & Fulham Council tomorrow is vital in demonstrating the scale of public opposition and highlighting the need to protect local health services.



Thursday 7 April 2016

Is this the beginning of the end of Brent Council's Human Resources scandal?

Brent Council has announced the appointment of a new Director of Human Resources. This is the post currently held on an interim basis by Mildred Phillips, who took over when Cara Davani left the Council. Presumably Phillips will now revert to her previous deputy role.


David Veale is expected to take up the post in July. He is currently the Assistant Director of Human Resources and Organisational Development in Ealing, a post he has held for 4 years.

Mildred Phillips was notable by her absence at the recent Scrutiny Committee where Michael Pavey  protested that the report on progress on his HR Review, that she had written, had not been submitted to him for approval prior to publication.

Pavey remarked at Scrutiny that the report felt like 'a ceremonial closing of the Pavey Review' he went on to say, 'as the actions are ticked off, I have a lingering concern that we will lose the imperative which launched this [review] process in the first place.

It will be David Veale's job to ensure that imperative is not lost and that the battle for racial equality and an end to bullying and harassment becomes a top priority in practical terms for Brent Council.

Veales has had experience of a dysfunctional HR department at Ealing where this was said about the department LINK:
In 2006 an Audit Commission report painted a gloomy picture of the HR function at Ealing Council. The troubled department was failing to provide a good HR service to the organisation and bringing little added value.

The team was feeling demotivated, overworked and unproductive following an intense period of restructuring. With so much on their plates, team members had lost sight of the big picture. A series of rapid changes in leadership, with five HR directors in almost as many years, had also lowered morale. The structure of the senior HR team meant that the five key senior leaders, each responsible for a vital HR function, worked in isolation.

To improve the service, the senior HR team needed to be re-energised and prepared for further change. Recognising this, Hilary Jeanes, the interim HR director at the time, appointed Paul Fairhurst and some of his colleagues from the Institute for Employment Studies to conduct a bespoke strengths-focused coaching scheme for the HR leadership team. The aim was to support the senior leaders through this difficult time, rebuild their confidence and help develop them as managers and inspirational leaders.
A six month coaching programme was instigated with some sessions off-site, away from the frontline:

David Veale working Ealing HR consultancy at the time said in his evaluation of the programme:
The programme gave me a clear understanding of my strengths and the activities I enjoy doing at work, as well as those I find more challenging. It helped me step back from difficult situations and view them more objectively. I feel much more confident, and as a team we are less stressed, less reactive and more focused on outcomes.
 The case study concluded:

Lessons learned:

  • Ignoring weaknesses turns them into problems. Focus on your strengths, and make sure you know the strengths of those around you.
  • Overworked, exhausted staff need thinking space, but a re-energised team can have the determination to tackle bigger challenges ahead with enthusiasm.
  • Change is a constant, but preparing people for it, rather than inflicting it upon them, is well worth the investment. 
It is to be hoped that these lessons and others learned in the interim will contribute to a change of culture at Brent HR.

Meanwhile the 'Guinness' model of Brent Council management (white on top and black below) has been changed to some extent by the appointment of BAME candidates. Althea Loderick succeeds Stephen Hughes as Strategic Director of Resources and Amar Dave takes over from Lorraine Langham as Director for Regeneration and Environment.

Wednesday 3 February 2016

'Nuclear Disaster - The Aftermath' Feb 4th Meeing


Ealing
 
Are hosting
Nuclear Disaster
The Aftermath
A talk by Mrs Kei Ikezumi
(Director of the No-Nuke project)

Kei has been living with the thousands of evacuees still living in temporary accommodation 5 years after the Fukushima-Daiichi Nuclear Power plant disaster in Japan. Kei will speak about the impact of the disaster and the dangers imposed by nuclear power

Thursday 4 February 7.00pm for 7.30pm
The Forester pub (upstairs function room)   Leighton Road, West Ealing W13 9EP

Thursday 28 January 2016

Plans for Cargiant's Old Oak Park site

Old Oak Park site today
The 'vision'
Old Oak Park, owned by Cargiant, at 46 acres is the largest privately owned section of the Old Oak Regeneration area that borders on Brent.

Below you will find a presentation on plans for the site.


Monday 7 December 2015

Mansfield slams NW London hospital plans: Brent Patient Voice responds with proposals and asks 'Why is the NHS silent?'




 From Brent Patient Voice
-->
Brent Patient Voice welcomes the findings of the Mansfield Report. BPV Chair, Robin Sharp, said: “We are pleased that Mansfield endorses the extensive evidence that we and many other independent people submitted. Why has the NHS greeted it with silence?”  

The Report of the Independent Healthcare Commission for North West London under Michael Mansfield QC was published on 2nd December. It brings no comfort for the NHS chiefs in our area – and none for patients either.

The Report says that the Shaping a Healthier Future programme is “deeply flawed”. Launching the Report Michael Mansfield said that the planned reforms provide “no realistic prospect of achieving good quality accessible healthcare for all and any further implementation is likely to exacerbate a deteriorating situation.”

The Commission calls for the programme to be halted, for the decisions to close the A&E Department at Central Middlesex Hospital and the Maternity Unit at Ealing Hospital to be reversed, for the increasing size of the population in NW London to be properly established and factored into future planning, for the so-called “Implementation Business Case” to be published and for there to be a new public consultation on the plans which they believe to have changed significantly. They suggest that the local authorities should consider seeking judicial review if the NHS press ahead with the programme in current circumstances.

However we are deeply disappointed that neither the eminence of Michael Mansfield nor the extent of public concern revealed by the evidence have moved the NHS authorities responsible for Shaping a Healthier Future to be sensibly open about the current state of the programme or its likely costs.
Commenting further, Robin Sharp said “Our fundamental criticism of the whole initiative is that the NHS in NW London has broken its promise in the consultation document that out of hospital services will be in place before changes are made to hospital-based services. Two A&Es and one Maternity unit have closed. Where are the openings to take their place?”

In order to be constructive we propose:

·      That the NHS should publish an intelligible version of the Implementation Business Plan for Shaping as it now stands, with outline costs, as is normal for any major public project;

·      That full consideration of the future of Central Middlesex Hospital be resumed, including the option of restoring its acute status with a fully-functioning A&E, bearing in mind the inadequacy of a stand-alone Urgent Care Centre there and the continuing intolerable situation at Northwick Park;

·      That Council officers be instructed to work with GLA statisticians to provide reliable estimates of the size of the current Brent population and growth rates, taking account of births, deaths, net migration and planned major developments;

·      That in collaboration with all partners Brent CGG produce a clear account of their Out of Hospital Strategy, including the role of the new GP networks, to restore confidence in this vital missing element of the Shaping programme;

·      That full and meaningful patient consultation and involvement should be integral to all future consideration of these proposals.
Brent Patient Voice  5th December 2015


Visit the Brent Patient Voice website HERE

Saturday 5 September 2015

One month to comment on Old Oak-Park Royal Development objectives



The Old Oak and Park Royal Development Corporation (OPDC) is consulting on the Integrated Impact Assessment (IIA) Scoping Report for the forthcoming OPDC Local Plan.This huge development covers parts of the London boroughs of Ealing, Brent and Hammersmith and Fulham and includes issues concerning housing, transportation, air quality, sustainability, health and the local economy.

The IIA Scoping Report is now out for consultation and available for download from OPDC’s website. LINK

OPDC is also seeking comments on the Scoping Report from the public and other stakeholders.

Hard copies will be made available at the address below.

Please note all comments, suggestions and responses should reach OPDC by 5pm 9th October 2015 and be sent by email to info@opdc.london.gov.uk or by letter to:

Local Plan IIA Scoping Report Consultation
Old Oak and Park Royal Development Corporation
City Hall, The Queen's Walk,
London SE1 2AA

This extract gives a flavour of the ground to be covered:

OBJECTIVES


1.     To enhance the built environment and encourage ‘place-making’ 

2.     To optimise the efficient use of land through increased development densities and building heights, where appropriate 

3.     Maximise the reuse of previously developed land and existing buildings, including the remediation of contaminated land 

4.     Minimise the need to travel and improve accessibility for all users by public and non- motorised transportation methods 

5.     Improve access to well designed, well-located, market, affordable and inclusive housing of a range of types and tenures, to meet identified local needs 

6.     Improve climate change adaptation and mitigation, including minimising the risk of flooding and addressing the heat island effect 

7.     To minimise contributions to climate change through greater energy efficiency, generation and storage; and to reduce reliance on natural resources including fossil fuels for transport, heating and energy 

8.     To minimise production of waste across all sectors in the plan area, maximise efficiencies for transporting waste and increasing rates of re-use, recycling and recovery rates as well as composting of all green waste 

9.     Improve the quality of the water environment 

10. Create and enhance biodiversity and the diversity of habitats across the area and its surroundings 

11. To minimise air, noise and light pollution, particularly for vulnerable groups 

12. To conserve and, where appropriate, enhance, cultural heritage 

13. Increase community cohesion and reduce social exclusion 

14. Improve safety and reduce crime and the fear of crime 

15. Maximise the health and wellbeing of the population, reduce inequalities in health and promote healthy living 

16. To improve the education and skills levels of all members of the population, particularly vulnerable groups 
 
17. Maximise the social and economic wellbeing of the population and improve access to employment and training 

18.To encourage inward investment alongside investment within existing communities, to create sustainable economic growth.