You can sign up on the facebook event page here to join the feeder March from Halifax-Huddersfield-Dewsbury-Wakefield. Or if you don’t do facebook, you can email the organiser.
And this is why we’re marching…
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The Hospitals Trust has just refused Plain Speaker’s Freedom of Information request to see the Trust’s Outline Business Case for the “Right Care Right Time Right Place” shake up of health and social care services. This is the document that the Clinical Commissioning Groups will consider and then consult the public about, if they decide to accept the Outline Business Case.
If the public can’t see the Outline Business Case, how can we know what we think about it?
I am asking the Trust to review their refusal. Continue reading
The first meeting of Calderdale Council’s People’s Commission on health and social care is on 29th July, 1.30- 3.30pm at Halifax Town Hall.
Calderdale Council is holding its “People’s Commission” in order to:
“lead an open consultation about future health and social care provision in Calderdale and Greater Huddersfield.”
But it starts out by holding its first meeting at a time when no working people will be able to attend, and without much clarity about what its controversial Chair’s terms of reference are. Continue reading
Calderdale Clinical Commissioning Group is among the 87% of Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs) that have bid for a role in commissioning primary care.
This is despite the fact that in May this year, GPs at the Local Medical Committees’ Conference in York voted against co-commissioning of primary care by CCGs, on the grounds that this would create “unacceptable” conflicts of interest.
CCGs are made up of local GPs, and primary care covers GP practices as well as dental practices, community pharmacies and high street optometrists. Continue reading
The American Kaiser Permanente model of healthcare is the acknowledged template for the controversial NHS and social care changes that are hitting Calderdale and Huddersfield, as well as the rest of England.
In this American model, so-called Health Maintenance Organisations (HMOs) provide relatively low-cost health services that are based on short hospital stays and cherry-picking patients with health care needs that are not too costly.
In 1971, when the Nixon administration was looking for ways to cut the costs of healthcare, White House domestic affairs adviser John Ehrlichman explained to President Nixon why he should promote the Kaiser Permanente system of healthcare:
“All the incentives are toward less medical care, because the less care they give them, the more money they make.”
This was enough to persuade Nixon that HMOs were the future for American healthcare.
Continue readingYesterday organisers of Walk for the NHS went to Calderdale Royal Hospital to hand out their flyers in public areas of the hospital, but were told by the duty manager Paula Rosbottom that they needed permission from the Communications Office to do so.
Before the duty manager told Walk for the NHS organisers and supporters to leave the hospital site, people were very happy to take the flyers and were keen to talk about how they value the hospital services and wish to make sure that they continue to provide excellent care for patients and their families. This is the aim of Walk for the NHS. Continue reading
An analysis of the latest published data, for May 2014, shows that Calderdale Royal Hospital and Huddersfield Royal Infirmary have both missed their targets for the number of hours worked at their hospitals by registered nurses.
At Calderdale Royal Hospital, 89% of the total nursing day hours were filled & 75% of the night hours filled. At Huddersfield Royal Infirmary, the figures were 89% day, 91% night.
These figures place Calderdale and Huddersfield hospitals Trust among the lowest 30% of Trusts, in terms of meeting their targets for registered nursing hours. Continue reading
Last week Calderdale CCG governing body approved the award of a new contract for wheelchair services to another organisation than CHFT, which currently provides these services.They have not yet named the successful bidder. [Update: Opcare is the company that has won the contract.] From September 2014, CHFT will no longer provide wheelchair services to the 3 Clinical Commissioning Groups – North Kirklees, Greater Huddersfield and Calderdale.
Calderdale and Huddersfield NHS Foundation Trust (CHFT) has now provided information about their loss of the wheelchair services contract, but said,
“It is important to note that as at the time of this response, the Trust has not formally been notified of the CCG’s decision regarding the award of the tender therefore our response is subject to that formal notification. We have not yet been formally notified that we have not won the contract or who has been the successful bidder”
Calderdale Clinical Commissioning Group Governing Body was in self congratulatory mode on 10th July as they approved the award of a £4m, 3 year Wheelchair Services contract to an as-yet unnamed bidder.
The bidder’s name will be revealed at the end of the 10 day “standstill” that follows the Governing Body’s decision.- Update 30/7/2014 – The contract has gone to a company called Opcare Ltd.
The hospitals Trust, which currently provides wheelchair services to patients in Calderdale, Greater Huddersfield and North Kirklees, will lose the contract in September. The Trust already faces a £20m funding shortfall this financial year and the loss of this contract will further reduce its income. Continue reading
Calderdale Clinical Commissioning Group Governing Body is meeting in public on Thursday 10th July, at 3pm in the Shay Stadium Function Room 2. The main agenda item, which has been allocated 10 minutes, is for the CCG Contracts and Procurement officer Martin Pursey to present information for the CCG Governing Body to rubber stamp the decision by a Tender Responses Evaluation Panel to award a £4m contract for wheelchair services, starting in September 2014 and running for 3 years.
This contract raised important questions about the future of NHS and social care services in Calderdale, because the commissioners originally advertised it in January 2014 as a “part B health and social care service.” But following a successful challenge by an “outside party”, the commissioners re-advertised it as an open tender in March 2014. Continue reading