Saturday 10th April, 12.00,  Embankment

Rally at 14.00 in Trafalgar Square

This demonstration is set to coincide with the calling of an election where all the main parties are threatening deep cuts in our public services. Called by the National Pensioners Convention and backed by most Trade Unions it is likely to be large. Join us on the NHS contingent:

Look out for the banner “Fight for the NHS”!

Meet at 12 noon at the corner of Embankment and Middle Temple Lane- (see map above)

Or those who find walking difficult can join us in Trafalgar Square.

There are more details at: http://10410demo.co.uk

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.

Many thanks for everything you have all done to contribute towards Saturday’s march, which was a fantastic success. We estimate there were about five thousand people walking along Holloway Road to the Hospital, including many nurses and doctors who work there but are unable to show their support publicly. Many of those walking had never been on a march before, and we are delighted that Saturday has successfully launched the Coalition’s public campaign and made us a real force in this debate. NHS officials can be in no doubt that the entire population of Islington and surrounding boroughs will not accept cuts that would tear the heart out of the Whittington Hospital and reduce services to those who need them most.

We are really grateful to all of you for your help, it just shows what we can all achieve by working together!

We also had excellent press coverage, not only local papers but TV as well. If you missed any of the TV coverage, you will be pleased to know we were the lead story on both BBC and ITV regional news, and Shirley was interviewed live on the BBC at 12.00.

Here’s a link to her interview (we don’t know how long this will stay up):  Protesters in rally ‘to save A&E’

This is the coverage from  ITV’s London Tonight (sorry about the advertising at the start!): Hospital cuts

There’s more BBC coverage here on YouTube:

And some press coverage by the local newspapers:

Islington Gazette: Thousands of people march to save The Whittington Hospital A&E

Camden New Journal: Thousands march for the Whittington Hospital

Ham & High: March to save Whittington A&E draws 5,000 protesters

The Camden New Journal made this video about the day:

There is a long way to go still though, and we are now thinking about what else we need to do in the run up to the consultation, which is due in September. To that end we are organising a big campaigning meeting which will take place on Monday 22 March at 7.00pm at the Whittington Community Centre, Yerbury Road, N19. If you can come and join in with ideas for how to keep this issue alive in people’s minds and in the press over the next few months, and also ideas for challenging the thinking behind the proposed cuts, please come to this one-off meeting. If you can’t please email us with your ideas – we are a Coalition and value everyone’s contribution.

If you want to get more involved in general planning the next meeting will take place at the Whittington Community Centre next Monday 8 March at 7.00pm.

We look forward to seeing you at our meetings. Onwards and upwards!

Shirley Franklin and Zozi Goodman

Joint Chairs, Defend the Whittington Hospital Coalition

www.dwhc.org.uk

Ham & High:

With the future of the Whittington Hospital at stake medics have contacted the Ham&High this week to speak out against the plans to close the A&E department.

Staff at the Archway hospital have been reluctant to speak out fearing their jobs may be on the line but have contacted the Ham&High this week on condition of anonymity.

The Ham&High also understands the staff are mobilising into a unified force and will soon appoint a spokesman who speak out on their behalf.

Read more here:  Whittington staff speak out about A&E closure

And there’s another great piece by Tom Foot in the Camden New Journal:

YOUR hospital needs you!

Patients who owe their lives to the Whittington have urged New Journal readers to stand up and be counted at a day of protest against plans to axe the Highgate ­hospital’s accident and emergency department.
Police are expecting a massive turnout on Saturday and have already ordered the ­closure of Holloway Road northbound from Highbury Corner up to the Whittington.

Tens of thousands of families will be affected by the proposals and the threat has outraged potential patients, many who have not campaigned before but know their lives may one day depend on the A&E remaining open.

Just ask identical twins Luke and Josh Ames Blackaby, from Highgate, who were diagnosed with chronic infantile asthma at birth. Over three years, they were repeatedly rushed through the doors of the Whittington’s casualty – often in the middle of night. Now 15, they have overcome their respiratory illness and developed into a pair of “top end” athletes – one plays county-level rugby and the other is a cross-country runner for Shaftesbury Barnet Harriers Athletics Club.

Read more here: Former patients back Whittington Hospital campaign as thousands get ready for protest march

Preparations for Saturday are rocking along. We’ve a great collection of speakers lined up and Joint-Secretary Shirley Franklin’s home is currently being used as a placard making factory.

We could still do with more stewards so, if you fancy helping out on the day please drop us a line at defendwhittington@googlemail.com. Stewards will be assembling at Highbury Fields at 11.15. on Saturday morning.

Whether or not you’re stewarding  please do your best to get along to the march and rally: it promises to be a  memorable day.

Transport disruption on Saturday

There are disruptions to public transport on Saturday which, while a pain, serve to highlight one of the many reasons we need to keep an A&E at the Whittington.

This is from Zozi Goodman, DWHC Joint-chair:

Hi everyone, As the big day of the march is dawning thoughts are now turning to how to get to Highbury Corner, especially as the police are closing off half of Holloway Road for us to walk down. So here’s some info to help you plan your journey: Holloway Road is only closed going north ie from Highbury Corner to Archway.

Traffic will still be allowed on the other side of the road, but there are arrangements to close the road at some of the junctions with other roads. Archway Station is closed, as is the whole of the Victoria line, which is all planned engineering work. The Piccadilly line is however open as normal.

There are a lot of planned closures or part closures on the tube network generally, for more information here is the link to the TfL website: http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tfl/livetravelnews/realtime/by-date.aspx?offset=weekend

Buses are still running but some are being diverted. For a complete picture of each bus route, and for more information about which roads are closing when please click on this link: Traffic info for Coalition March on 27 Feb 2010 (.pdf)

Fingers crossed for the weather, see you on the march.

Zozi Joint Chair, Defend the Whittington Hospital Coalition

Press Coverage

There’s an excellent piece about Saturday’s march in the  Tottenham & Woodgreen Advertiser.

CONCERNED residents are urged to turn out in force on Saturday to protest against plans to strip The Whittington Hospital of its accident and emergency department.

Thousands are expected to converge on Highbury Corner at noon to join health campaigners, political leaders and hospital staff in a mass march up Holloway Road towards the hospital in Highgate Hill.

One carriageway of the busy road will be closed for the marchers who will then gather for a rally outside The Whittington with speeches by campaigners including Wendy Savage of the Keep Our NHS Public campaign group.

Proposals for a rejig of services of hospitals and health services across Enfield, Barnet, Haringey, Islington and Camden have sparked fear and uncertainty, particularly that The Whittington’s treasured A&E department may be downgraded.

Services could be lost under four out of seven options as part of an NHS cost-cutting shake-up and plans are also afoot for a cost-cutting merger between The Whittington and the Royal Free Hospital in Hampstead. This is of particular concern to Haringey residents, who have no major hospital within their borders.

Shirley Franklin, joint chairwoman of the Defend The Whittington Hospital Coalition, urged everyone to take part in the demonstration. She said: “Nobody wants to lose the A&E and if you want to have your say, come on the march on Saturday. People are going to be there who have never been on a demonstration before – it has such a resonance for everybody.

“We’ve collected at least 10,000 signatures and they’re still coming in fast and furious. I’ve been gobsmacked with the level of support, which is just fantastic. I think people feel this is their chance to have their voices heard.”

You can read the rest of the article here: Walk the Walk for the Whittington

Political Support

It looks like we’re going to have  loads of political support on Saturday. There have been blog posts popping up throughout the day. Some are a tad too clearly electioneering, but that’s understandable with an election looming and all raise the profile of the campaign. Apologies to anyone I’ve missed: I’m getting these from the Twitter topic Whittington A&E so if you’re an MP/councillor/candidate and would like your blog to be mentioned in these updates make sure you tweet it too!

Karen Jennings (Labour): Whittington A&E protests shift up a gear.

Lynne Featherstone (Liberal Democrat): Whittington A&E: LibDems would give Power to the People.

David Lammy (Labour): Join us on a march to save the Whittington Hospital.

Jeremy Corbyn spoke about the Whittington in Parliament yesterday and has released this press release: PressWhittingtonFeb2010 (.pdf, originally received as .doc)

FEAR and uncertainty over the future of Whittington Hospital could spark a mass exodus of specialist staff, union leaders have warned.

Unison’s national head of health, Karen Jennings, said proposals to close down the Whittington’s accident and emergency department had left a dark cloud over the Highgate hospital.

She said A&E staff were “afraid” and “intimidated” and that hundreds of jobs will be axed if the casualty section is closed.

Ms Jennings said: “The concern is that medical teams, consultants and surgeons are already looking for jobs elsewhere.

“They fear their future will be short-lived. I have spoken to staff and they are afraid and intimidated. They have told me they are frightened to speak out. Hundreds of jobs will go if this goes through.”

Documents released last week revealed how the Whittington is under real threat of being designated as a “local hospital” – rather than its current “general” status – without key departments such as an A&E or a maternity unit.

Ms Jennings said the job cuts would be “much worse” than at the Royal Free Hospital where 180 posts are being “disestablished”, as revealed in the New Journal a fortnight ago.

Read the rest of the article here.

They’ve also put together a video for Casualty (the Whittington song):

Lynne Featherstone (MP for Hornsey and Wood Green) is holding a public meeting on Thursday the 4th March from 8 pm, Greig City Academy, Hornsey, N8 7NU. Rachel Tyndall will be attending and it will be interesting to see if things have changed since the Archway meeting a few weeks back. There’s more information about the meeting on Lynn’s blog.

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.

The day of the demo looms closer so most of our activity is focusing on making it as much of a spectacle as possible.

Please note the *new route *- Assemble at *Highbury Corner at 12*, not Highbury Fields – and it will go to the front of the hospital in Magdala Avenue. Islington Tribune have hired a bus that will go ahead of the march – regs, I’m afraid.

*Mass leafleting* at Holloway Road, by Morrisons entrance *11.30 on Saturday 20th *February.

Please leaflet wherever you can and also use the petitions in hard copy and on line. You can use this leaflet for yours and others’ windows, in addition to the fab info and posters in last week’s Islington Tribune. Look forward to seeing you at the above events – especially the demonstration!

Shirley Franklin,

Joint Chair of Defend the Whittington Hospital Coalition