Report on North Halifax public drop in session on future of Calderdale and Huddersfield NHS

Janet Bertola attended the  public “engagement” drop in session about the future of Calderdale & Huddersfield NHS and social care at New Beginnings, North Halifax on 10th June.  This is Janet’s report:

I got there at about 2.30pm and by the open door there was a large 2 metre free-standing poster advertising the event. The hall was laid out in areas with posters and staff from the Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG), the Hospitals Trust and Locala available to talk.  It would have been better if the staff wore name tags so you could see who you were talking to and what organisation they represented, although the Locala staff member was clearly identifiable since she wore a uniform. Continue reading

Calderdale Clinical Commissioning Group no-show, not roadshow

Calderdale Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) has failed to turn up to hold its roadshow to “engage” with the public about the so-called “Right Care Right Place Right Time” proposals. These aim to reconfigure the NHS and social care in Calderdale and Greater Huddersfield.

At least three members of the public went to the Halifax North Bridge Leisure Centre car boot sale to attend the roadshow, which Calderdale Clinical Commissioning Group listed as one of its engagement events in its Strategic Review Engagement Plan. Continue reading

Untested £1m Calderdale NHS scheme hopes to improve people’s health by ending loneliness

Calderdale Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) has coughed up £1m out of its non-recurrent budget in order to fund an as-yet ill defined project to end loneliness in Calderdale.

This £1m NHS money complements the Council’s existing neighbourhood schemes, which cost £0.25m a year. Continue reading

Future of Calderdale A&E on agenda for 1st April Calder Ward Forum

The future of Calderdale A&E is on the agenda for the 1st April Calder Ward Forum.

Lorna Denton, Project Support for Calderdale Commissioning Group is due to attend – although Jae Campbell, Upper Valley Neighbourhood Co-ordinator at Calderdale Council’s Neighbourhoods & Community Engagement team, says that may change on the night. Continue reading

In which the myth that Calderdale NHS is unsustainable is demolished

An NHS funding shortfall is driving proposals to close Calderdale A&E and “transform” Calderdale and Huddersfield NHS and social care system.

At the March 2014 Calderdale Clinical Commissioning Group Governing Body Meeting, it was clear that “austerity” politics is driving the proposed closure of Calderdale A&E, and related moves to totally change the whole NHS and social care system. Continue reading

“Serious risk” identified in Calderdale NHS commissioning groups’s relationship with regional Support Unit

First posted on 21 November, this article is now updated to include a reply from Calderdale Clinical Commissioning Group’s Chief Finance Officer and a small amount of information from West and South Yorkshire and Bassetlaw Commissioning Support Unit.

“Serious risk” is the highest category of risk in the NHS Calderdale Clinical Commissioning Group’s risk register.

This is the level of risk that the Calderdale Clinical Commissioning Group (CCCG) has identified in its relationship with the organisation that’s meant to be supporting it – the West and South Yorkshire and Bassetlaw Commissioning Support Unit (WSYBCSU).
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National crisis in A&E is being felt in Calderdale and Huddersfield hospitals

At its meeting on Thursday 14th November, Calderdale Clinical Commissioning Group’s Governing Body faced questions from the public about A&E.

Presenting his Report, the Chief Officer, Dr Matt Walsh, said that the national crisis in Accident and Emergency (A&E) is being felt in the Calderdale and Huddersfield NHS Foundation Trust (CHFT).
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Public Meeting of NHS Calderdale Clinical Commissioning Group 2pm, Weds 14th November.

Calderdale Clinical Commissioning Group’s Governing Body will meet will in public, 2-4pm on Wednesday 14th November at Dean Clough,  Shibden Meeting Room.

This is on the 5th floor of F Mill, Dean Clough, Halifax HX3 5AX.

Members of Calderdale NHS 38 Degrees will attend, as usual. Calderdale NHS 38 Degrees are meeting at 1pm on Thursday 14th November, one hour before the CCG meeting, in the little cafe next to the the NHS headquarters at Dean Clough.

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NHS land grab by private companies slices further into Calderdale

Calderdale NHS has stumbled further down the stealth privatisation road by awarding a 12 month, £364K contract for telehealth and telecare to Tunstall Healthcare, a company largely owned by vulture fund Charterhouse Capital Partners.

Private equity company Bridgepoint sold Tunstall to Charterhouse in 2008 for more than double the £225m it paid for it in 2005. Bridgepoint, which acquired Care UK  in early 2010 for £423m, retains a minority share in Tunstall.
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