Members of the public protested outside the August 13th meeting of Calderdale Clinical Commissioning Group’s Governing Body, as the NHS bosses met to consider “evidence” of their “engagement” with the public about plans to cut acute and emergency hospital services and replace them with care the community, aka Care Closer to Home. Continue reading
Calderdale Council has unanimously agreed a motion that calls on their NHS commissioning partner, Calderdale Clinical Commissioning Group, to delay the public consultation on proposals that are more than likely to cut Calderdale Royal Hospital acute and emergency services, until there is evidence that taking community services out of the hospital and transferring them to GP hubs reduces acute and emergency hospital admissions.
The Council’s motion sidesteps the fact that the Care Closer to Home scheme (transferring community services from the hospital to GP hubs) is a big change to Calderdale NHS and we need to be consulted on this too – not just on the hospital cuts.
What kind of patient care and NHS staff working conditions will come with Care Closer to Home? We know the community hubs will employ less qualified staff like physician associates and there will be big reliance on voluntary carers, family and friends. Continue reading
Several members of Calderdale 38 Degrees NHS attended the Health and Wellbeing Board meeting at Halifax Town Hall on Thursday 2nd July.
This Board is a statutory body set up by the Health and Social Care Act 2012, with the intention that the local authority should plan strategically to integrate health and social care services. It has little statutory power.
Rosemary Hedges, Secretary of Calderdale 38 Degrees, reports on Councillors’ challenges to the NHS bosses’ cost-cutting plans for Calderdale hospital and community health care services.
But do these challenges have much substance, given the Board’s lack of statutory powers? These lie with the Adults Health and Social Care Scrutiny Panel. Continue reading
Dr Matt Walsh, Chief Officer of Calderdale Clinical Commissioning Group (CCC), will update the CCG governing Body this afternoon about the latest plans for the “transformation” of Calderdale NHS and social care. The meeting is public and takes place at 2pm, in a Function Room at Shay Stadium, Halifax.
The Calderdale NHS and social care shake up has been carried out somewhat under the radar since last August, when the Calderdale and Greater Huddersfield Clinical Commissioning Groups backed off from their scheduled autumn 2014 public consultation, in the face of a loud and determined public “No” to their proposals.
These proposals included the closure of Calderdale A&E and other acute hospital services at Calderdale Royal Hospital, such as acute children’s services and complex maternity services, and the transfer of many hospital-based services into the “community,” with the aim of cutting acute and emergency hospital admissions. Continue reading
Before this evening’s Calderdale Council meeting on the People’s Commission Report, two oddly assorted demonstrations took place on the Halifax Town Hall steps.
Calderdale 38 Degrees NHS campaigners huddled together with a placard proclaiming the People’s Commission as whitewash – not what the public wanted.
The so-called People’s Commission was meant to identify and present the views of the people of Calderdale about the kind of future NHS and social care in the area that will be best for us.
It has now published its Report, which Calderdale Council will discuss on 9th February at 6pm in Halifax Town Hall.
The proof of the pudding is in the eating – so what does the Report propose?
The Report gets the Plain Speaker red herring award for misleading the public. Continue reading
Yesterday a number of Save Calderdale Royal Hospital campaigners attended Calderdale Council’s Adults Health and Social Care Scrutiny Panel, to find out what Calderdale NHS commissioners are planning for Phase 1 of the Right Care Right Place Right Time NHS shake up (which they’ve re-branded as Care Closer to Home.)
After the meeting, those of us who attended were clear that the Scrutiny Panel must use its powers now to stop the the implementation of Phase 1 Care Closer to Home and tell the Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) to formally consult the public on the Care Closer to Home proposals.
This is what happened Continue reading
Save Calderdale Royal Hospital campaign is calling on Calderdale and Kirklees Councillors to do their job of protecting our local NHS from damage.
If you want your Councillors to do their job of protecting our local NHS, please consider getting in touch with them to tell them about this. On this webpage you’ll find template emails to send to Councillors as well as live links to Councillors’ email addresses.
Councillors have the power – and the duty to use that power – to:
Jenny Shepherd spoke about the Save Calderdale Royal Hospital campaign at the Morning Star benefit at Hebden Bridge Trades Club today. Here is her report.
Thanks to Pete Lazenby and John Mooney for asking me to talk about the Save Calderdale Royal Hospital campaign at today’s Hebden Bridge Trades Club benefit for the Morning Star.
Phillip Allott, Tory Parliamentary Candidate for Halifax, has sent Halifax voters a letter containing the unfounded claim that Calderdale Clinical Commissioning Group has rejected the hospitals Trust proposal to turn one of our hospitals into a small planned care hospital with a Minor Injuries Unit and the other into a specialised acute hospital with an A&E Department.
Calderdale Clinical Commissioning Group’s Governing Body Chair, Dr Alan Brook, told the 30th October 2014 Calderdale Health and Wellbeing Board that the CCG had decided not to consult the public about proposals in the hospital Trust’s Outline Business Case – because “it needs more work”.
But the CCG has at no time said that this means it has rejected the Trust’s proposals. Continue reading
