Protest in Whitehall (29th July)
On Thursday 29th July, at 1pm, we hope to stage a public protest outside the Department of Health. If you are concerned or in any way affected by the potential threats to our services, then please feel very welcome to join us at Richmond House, 79 Whitehall, London SW1A 2NS.
Click here to view our leaflet about this event.
One of the main reasons for holding this protest is to raise public awareness of our continuing anxiety about the future of our services. Although there are no published plans to dismantle or downgrade the Whittington Hospital, we fear that the health services in North London face a very uncertain future. The existing authorities are trying to delegate responsibility to GP commissioners, who will be forced to make unpopular local decisions against extremely difficult constraints.
Click here to view our leaflet about the White paper.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION – EVENTS THAT HAVE LED UP TO THIS PROTEST
On 16th July, Stephen Conroy, a director at North Central London NHS, wrote a disturbing letter to local politicians, to notify them of a “stocktake”. It had all the hallmarks of a renewed threat to the Whittington.
On 21st July, following the regular DWHC planning meeting, Shirley Franklin (our chair) wrote directly to Stephen Conroy, seeking a guarantee that all our hospitals in North London are safe.
Click here to see a copy of Mr Conroy’s reply, dated 23rd July. In effect, he is advising us to take the matter up with his successors because it is soon going to be outside his control. This puts us in “no man’s land” because his successors have not yet been appointed, but it is in our interests to ensure that they are well aware of public feeling by the time they start any assignments.
In parallel with Mr Conroy’s response, the NHS published the following press release:-
statement-on-whittington-hospital
“Following stories about the future of services at the Whittington Hospital, NHS London would like to make it clear that there are no plans to downgrade A&E or maternity. Any options for changes to services at the Whittington would have to have clinical backing and there would be a full public consultation before any changes were made.”
Whilst this is good news for the Whittington in the short term, it does not detract from the fact that the entire health service is at risk if the White Paper passes successfully through Parliament, and our beloved NHS could regress to something akin to the American model. For an insight into this White Paper, click here to view Kingsley Manning’s report “Liberating the NHS”.
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