Please take the time to register here. Your doing this will help us to build a contacts list for interested parties. Many thanks.
We are hoping that Andrew Lansley will help Ealing SOS to try and reverse this decision before it is too late.
You can help Ealing SOS save the stroke unit before July 19th this year (we can’t do it without you and we don’t have much time). The way to do this is to ask Robert Creighton (Chief Executive of Ealing PCT- ( Robert.Creighton@nhs.net ) – to review the decision and tell him why you think this is important. It can just be one line if you wish, but it’s important it comes from you as an individual. You can copy the email to Ruth Carnall at NHS London ( ruth.carnall@london.nhs.uk ) if you wish as well as Andrew Lansley ( DHMail@dh.gsi.gov.uk ) so his office knows just how important this issue is to local people. *** Please scroll further re Andrew Lansley ***
Mr Andrew Lansley MP
Secretary of State for Health
House of Commons
London SW1A 0AA
Dear Minister,
Re: The Stroke Unit at Ealing Hospital – Urgent reply needed
I am writing as Chair of Ealing Hospital SOS, the campaign to preserve acute services at the Hospital, and should first like to thank you for your early intervention to stop the closure of A&E units and your specific mention of Ealing Hospital in your announcement, as reported in The Evening Standard a month ago.
We are very concerned that, unless we can persuade you to intervene, the Stroke Unit at Ealing will close on the 19th July 2010. We are asking for your intervention for the following reasons:
1) The goalposts have moved & the consultation has been ignored: : The original proposal by Healthcare for London have changed and treatment and transfer now will be dependent on what time after the stroke the patient comes to hospital and other medical factors. In Ealing, the consultation by Healthcare for London was widely and unanimously rejected by both local healthcare professionals and residents, not least because our local stroke unit was rated in the top 25% nationally on overall performance. This was ignored by health bosses at Healthcare for London.
2) The proposal puts stroke patients at greater risk: We have real concerns that anyone who is not immediately diagnosed with a stroke in the community and presents to Ealing Hospital more than 24 hours after it has happened will then be subject to the lottery of a transit lounge. London Ambulance Service will not automatically take these patients to Imperial and Northwick Park Hospitals. We are particularly concerned with those patients whose condition evolves into a severe stroke and who may be too clinically unstable to be moved, and the elderly who have often more complex social and medical needs.
3) Despite the advance of clot-busting therapy overall, the equity of stroke care for Ealing residents will be more adversely affected, risking a worse outcome overall. We fully support the presence of HASUs (Hyperacute Stroke Units offering clot busting stroke therapy) so that those appropriate patients from Ealing can have access to this treatment, but we are concerned for the greater number of stroke patients who will lose out on specialist care, if our local stroke unit closes.
4) Local people, councillors, MPs and healthcare professionals have rejected the decision by a clear majority. How can a decision which has been rejected by local people, local health professionals and local ELECTED councillors via a properly appointed scrutiny panel and the sitting MP still go ahead?
This decision is totally against your stated views that local healthcare professionals and residents should have the major say in what happens to local services. The closure of a unit which was actually out-performing many of the other units who have been left with stroke units makes absolutely no sense. We ask you to intervene directly, as we would like this decision carefully reviewed before it is too late. The 3,000 people who have signed up to our website will be a small percentage of those who, like myself, will be particularly grateful.
Yours faithfully,
Colin Standfield
Chair, Ealing Hospital SOS
If we don’t stop them, NHS London are planning to downgrade Ealing Hospital so much they have plans to take away virtually all of its acute services and leave it to become an 8 am-8pm polyclinic. If this goes through unchallenged it will mean the loss of services such as Maternity, Pediatrics and A&E-accident and emergency). These services have not been lost from the hospital (yet) but we need your support to keep them.
Ealing Hospital is one of the highest performing hospitals in the North West London Sector and was given a 4/5 Patient Safety rating by drfosterhealth.co.uk.. In April 2010 Ealing Hospital is set to become one of the first Integrated Care Organisation (ICO) in the country and apply for a FOundation status. Staff were looking forward to the new challenges this opportunity will offer before the recent leaked reports to the BBC (see NWLP Sector Report and NHS London Response). These reports have shown what NHS London was really up to although currently they are saying that none of these plans have been fully decided and that a consultation will take place in the autumn. The fact that this takes place after the upcoming general election won’t have escaped anyone’s notice. Also the majority of local residents, staff and GPs all voted to keep Ealing Hospital Stroke unit last year….but it is due to be closed on the 6th April 2010, so ealinghospitalSOS have no confidence that they will listen when these plans are challenged. It is only a smokescreen for cuts for the people of Ealing, Southall and beyond and we all know it.
NHS London have tried to hide these proposals by saying they will roll out a load polyclinics but what they are proposing is likely to be more expensive (ie yet further wasting of tax payers money) and polyclinics simply won’t be able to deal with many of the complex needs acutely unwell patients have. This is a betrayal and will lead to local people being denied access to the services they need in their area and having to travel miles and miles to get them. It has been disguised as a “service improvement” but it’s actually about trying save millions of pounds (which in all probability, it won’t at all) at the expense of the local community.
Please join the vital community campaign to stop these proposed plans and ensure that the services local people most need stay at Ealing. Join the EalinghospitalSOS campaign. This site is non political and is run by those who live and work in the area. Your views will be greatly appreciated and we will update this site regularly with campaign details and any public meetings as it will be the local community who will put a stop to this.”
Get in touch to offer any help you can by contacting us (see contact link):
Do let us know: ealingsos@googlemail.com
