Category Archives: 999 Emergency-Save Our NHS

Conservative Parliamentary Candidate encourages all party support for Council motion on Calderdale A&E

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Conservative Parliamentary Candidate for Halifax Philip Allot is encouraging all Calderdale Councillors to support a motion that calls on Calderdale and Huddersfield NHS Foundation Trust (CHFT), Locala and South West Yorkshire Foundation Partnership Trust to:

  • withdraw the proposals set out in their Strategic Outline Case for the future of the NHS and social care in Calderdale and Huddersfield, and in particular the ‘preferred option’
  • enable the two local authorities and the two Clinical Commissioning Groups to lead an open consultation about future health and social care provision in Calderdale and Greater Huddersfield, through establishing a health and care commission to take evidence, lead consultation and produce proposals regarding future health and social care provision across the Calderdale and Greater Huddersfield health and social care “economy”
  • requests Cabinet to take all necessary steps to secure this outcome.

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What’s the rush? Calderdale NHS commissioners go ahead with Strategic Review “Engagement” despite not agreeing the Engagement Plan

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Members of the public were puzzled and cross after attending the April 14th Calderdale Clinical Commissioning Group Governing Body meeting, where it seemed that the NHS commissioners had lost the plot over the Calderdale and Greater Huddersfield Strategic Review of the future of the NHS and social care.

Members of the public, including two Calderdale Councillors, attended the meeting to hear answers to questions they had sent to the Governing Body, and to find out about the Commissioners’ Strategic Review Engagement Plan. Continue reading →

NHS financial regulator calls for accelerated NHS “reconfiguration” changes

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Monitor has just told Clinical Commissioning Groups and NHS Trusts to “turbo charge” NHS reconfiguration programmes, such as the Calderdale and Greater Huddersfield Strategic Review.

Monitor is the NHS financial regulator responsible for making sure that Clinical Commissioning Groups and other organisations follow Health and Social Care Act 2012 competition regulations – ie put NHS services out to private tender. Continue reading →

Moving care from hospitals to the community – an NHS privatisation wolf in sheep’s patient-centric clothing

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There is a public outcry in Calderdale and Greater Huddersfield about cost-cutting proposals to close and curtail acute and emergency hospital services and replace them with cheaper, integrated health and social care in the community (whatever that might turn out to be, because it isn’t at all clear).

People worry  that, having downgraded the massively expensive Private Finance Initiative-funded Calderdale Royal Hospital to a small, planned care clinic with a minor injuries unit, the hospitals Trust would use the remaining three quarters of the hospital for private patients. Continue reading →

Calderdale and Huddersfield NHS shake up is a top-down change, drawn up by pro-privatisation think tanks and management consultants

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Government  (trying to wash its hands of unpopular hospital closures) likes to say it’s all about local decisions now, but funnily enough Calderdale’s local decisions look a lot like local decisions everywhere else.

Across England, NHS Trusts and Clinical Commissioning Groups are “reconfiguring” and “transforming” NHS and social care in very similar ways. Continue reading →

Calderdale Clinical Commissioning Group Governing Body Meeting 10 April

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Calderdale Clinical Commissioning Group Governing Body meeting, which is open to the public and press, is at 2-5pm, Thursday 10th April, in Shibden Meeting Room, F Mill, Dean Clough, Halifax.

Agenda and meeting documents are online here.

Upper Calder Valley Plain Speaker has emailed these questions for the Governing Body to answer at the meeting: Continue reading →

Hospitals Trust staff question Chief Exec’s email

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Some staff at Calderdale and Huddersfield NHS Foundation Trust have questioned an email from the Chief Executive, Owen Williams, where he appears to justify the Strategic Outline Case for “reconfiguring” the NHS and social care on the grounds that a recent survey has shown things need to improve at the Trust.

4 out of 10 staff who completed the survey towards the end of 2013 reported suffering from work-related stress over the last 12 months, and on a scale of one to five, the average staff score for whether they’d recommend the Trust as a place to work or receive treatment was 3.74.

Owen WIlliams’ email to CHFT staff says these survey results told him that things need to improve at the Trust. Continue reading →

Shadow Health Secretary Andy Burnham backs fight to save Calderdale and Huddersfield A&Es

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Today Halifax MP Linda Riordan welcomed Andy Burnham, Shadow Secretary of State for Health, to a meeting of around 50 Save Calderdale and Huddersfield A&E campaigners.

This was an opportunity for campaigners to hear his views of the proposal to close Calderdale A&E, ask questions about how best to develop the campaign and find out about current Labour health policies.
Continue reading →

Calder ward forum unpicked Calderdale and Huddersfield NHS spin

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Growing disbelief and irritation were evident as around fifty people at yesterday’s Calder ward forum listened to a Calderdale Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) presentation on the Right Care Right Time Right Place (RCRTRP) proposals for the future of the NHS and social care in Calderdale and Huddersfield. Continue reading →

Halifax public meeting fights for our NHS

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Hundreds of people turned up at a public meeting in Halifax today to discuss the possible closure of Calderdale A&E, and it was agreed to fight on to keep it open. Continue reading →