Lynne Featherstone

Here's my latest column for the Muswell Hill Flyer and the Highgate Handbook:

I sent out an email to my special email list to ask for people's personal stories of when the Whittington Accident & Emergency had been important in their lives – and got a phenomenal response. (If you want to be on this list just email lynne and say so).

I will be presenting these to all the members of all the boards of all the layers of NHS decision makers who are working out our future health services (and there are many of them) and to the government in due course – to try and remind them that this about people's lives – and that we are not just pawns on some management chessboard.

The clue is in the title of the service - ‘emergency’ – and some of the stories tell how the ambulance man or woman has said we must go to the nearest hospital because x won’t make it if we don’t – every second counts.

Now every resident of Muswell Hill and Highgate who has contacted me about this is quite clear about the importance of having a full 24/7 A&E locally. Distance matters both for saving lives but also for ease of access. And quite frankly the Whittington is far better placed for public transport than the Royal Free for us.

The decision makers are arguing that distance isn’t always important and that extra GP hours, NHS Direct and pharmacies can be a viable alternative. But no amount of extra GP hours or even an urgent care centre (which is one of their alternative suggestions) can replace a full A&E service. This is insanity being wrapped up and sold to us under the guise of ‘better clinical outcomes’. Yes – there are people who use A&E who don’t need to – but taking away A&E isn’t the answer – adding a GP walk-in where those people could be diverted to - could be.

If our A&E goes – as sure as night follows day – we will also lose obstetrics and the Intensive Care Unit. There will be no emergency take from GPs and it will compromise the teaching of medical students at the Whittington.

As for the funding, I put it directly to the Minister, Mike O’Brien, in an Adjournment Debate on the Whittington, that there is a fear that this is about cuts and budgets. The Minister assured me, on the record, that there would be no ‘slash and burn’ solutions and that all of this was about better clinical outcomes.

Well – for all those stories where people would have died if there had not been an A&E at the Whittington – seems to me being alive is a pretty good clinical outcome.

Full credit to Rachel Tyndall (Chair of the North London Central Review Panel) for sending me the NCL Strategy Plan for our local health services. I had heard that these had been submitted to NHS London and asked for a copy - and it was given to me virtually immediately. I have circulated the document for information.

The content is of concern. First let me say - this is a long, technical document - in which the arguments are laid out for the configuration of health services across five boroughs and between five hospitals: Barnet, Royal Free, North Mids, UCLH and the Whittington. Ms Tyndall has said that a more accessible version for public consumption will be provided in due course.

In the appendix, are laid out, seven 'scenarios'. This is where the fight to Save the Whittington A&E will come - if these are the 'options' that come for public consultation next autumn.

The seven 'scenarios'  demonstrate different configurations between the five hospitals as to what services will be provided from each hospital. It is about a total provision - obviously - not just A&E. Suffice to say that four out of the seven 'scenarios' show an end to 24/7 A&E at the Whittington. Three show retention of 24/7 A&E.

Interestingly two of the 'scenarios' show a reduction to 16 hours A&E - however - from the minutes of the Board Meeting of the Council of Governors of the Whittington it is quite clear that the the 16 hour A&E is not a real option. The actual wording from the minutes of the meeting of the Council of Governors of the Whittington reads (and I quote directly):

Very importantly NCL and the Whittington have ruled out an option where the Whittington has an A&E with reduced opening time eg 16hours per day. This leaves options where either the full 24 hour A&E is retained or there is no A&E at all. The Whittington might then have an urgent care centre.

So - I don't know why NCL have included two options showing a 16 hour A&E as clearly that has already been ruled out. This makes me wonder if options have been put in that are not really and truly under consideration but are there to make two of the options look better than they are - as they seem to offer some A&E rather than none. I will seek clarification on this seemingly conflicting evidence.

The greater problem for all of us fighting to save the Whittington A&E - is that as long as there are any 'scenarios' that don't retain 24 hour A&E - we are in jeopardy. So - we need the public consultation next autumn to simply ask those who use the Whittington whether we want to retain the 24 A&E service or whether we would prefer the alternative range of provision at the polyclinic, GP extra hours, urgent care centre etc favoured by NCL and the Trusts.

Anything else opens the way to closure of A&E at the Whittington.

At this point - it is a battle to make sure whatever options finally come forward for consultation- that if local people want to retain a 24 hour A&E at the Whittington - it is retained!

Young students from Fortismere School came to Muswell Hill Synagogue for Holocaust Memorial Day. Rabbi Mason welcomed them. I spoke to them about the current relevance of the Holocaust - about how hatred and discrimination goes on day in day out - even in our playgrounds. And how, when you hear anyone say something derogatory and disgusting about others - be that about being gay, disabled, black, whatever - if you didn't speak up then you are complicit. And how important this is - and how - under pressure, a whole nation can change and become frightened into silence virtually.

Then came Joan Salter, whose own children had gone to Fortismere, and whose name was changed long ago by the American family she was placed with after the war. Whenever you hear a Holocaust Survivor's story - you are moved to tears and you cannot believe man's inhumanity to man.

Joan's story was a bit different. For a start - she, her half-sister and both her mother and father survived the Holocaust - just. The tale is one of fear, hiding, danger, hardship, separation and endurance. But shining out in that story of survival really against all odds and a journey from Poland, to Paris, to Belgium, to Spain, to Portugal and to the USA, are those in those countries who risked their lives to shelter, hide, feed or help the individuals in this family.

They did risk their own lives to speak out and say that what Hitler was doing was hideous, evil and despite danger to their own lives, they would not be cowed and frightened and complicit - but stood full square to help those Jews that they could.

A wonderful story - and I have no doubt that the Fortismere students who heard it - will remember the lesson that is taught by the example of this one brave survivor.

A huge thank you to Tamara Broido and the Muswell Hill Holocaust Memorial Day Committee, Rabbi Mason and all who made this really valuable event possible.

Jeremy Corbyn - MP for Islington North - managed to get an adjournment debate last night on the future of the Whittington - and he very kindly let me speak. For him and I, the most affected constituencies, we are joining forces to ensure that NHS health bosses get the message loud and clear BEFORE decisions are made - that local people are madder than hell at even the suggestion of closure or reduction.

Interestingly, and I will look at Hansard later today, the Minister seemed pretty ticked off with the North London sector and the PCTs and the way they have gone about this. So - hopefully - between an ear-wigging from the minister and the wrath of the local people and MPs we will frighten them off.

They now speak in whispers about how nothing is decided and they are just looking at options. Don't be fooled - it is quite clear to me that was an option they were considering and without a public rumpus - they would have continued sweetly on that path!

Rumours are emerging that the planned merger of the Whittington and Royal Free Hospitals will not be enough to satisfy NHS bosses and that there may instead be a forced marriage between the Whittington, Royal Free and UCLH Hospitals.

This raises interesting questions, because UCLH is a Foundation Trust. I believe this may mean that the proposed 'merger' will be nothing of the sort, but will instead be a take-over by UCLH of the other two hospitals - a wonderful Xmas present for UCLH, which has been dreaming of this for years.... This disaster just goes on and on...."

Meanwhile, lots of denials by NHS bosses about intentions to close or reduce A&E departments at the Whittington and North Mid.

Having now been in elected politics for over ten years - one thing I am sure of - when there are budget cuts demanded and letters showing closure sent out and then denied - is that the sooner and the louder that local people let their views be known the better!

Otherwise - heaven forfend - we could find that none of the options that come to public consultation next September contain anything that bears any relationship to what local people actually want!

Families in Fortis Green have been short-changed by Haringey Council, local Liberal Democrats have said, after it has emerged that Haringey Council will only provide £5,000 to fund a new Children’s Centre in the ward.

Whilst the announcement of further funding for children’s centres in Haringey was welcomed, local councillors have criticised Haringey Council for failing to provide universal cover for families, despite the need and deprivation in the area.

Similar phase three spending on children’s centres includes £495,500 for Highgate, £300,000 for Crouch End, £85,000 for Stroud Green and £150,000 for West Green.

Cllr Martin Newton (Fortis Green) comments:

“Despite being the only ward in the borough not to have a Children’s Centre, Haringey Council has once again overlooked the families of Fortis Green. Five thousand is a pitiful amount to provide a key service for local residents.”

Lynne Featherstone MP adds:

“This is a bitter blow to Fortis Green. It has taken Haringey Council years to wake up to the fact that there is a need and now, this low-level of funding is almost derisory. Labour needs to end the East/West divide and wake up the real need to fight deprivation across the entire borough.”

A busy local car park in Muswell Hill looks set to receive long overdue safety improvements, after a sustained eight year campaign by local Liberal Democrats and residents.

Haringey Council has agreed that plans will be drawn up soon for the car park in Summerland Gardens, behind Marks and Spencer in Muswell Hill Broadway.

The car park is often used by parents and young children as a route to local schools and the Community Centre. The proposed scheme should include an entire pedestrian safety audit of the car park and two-way vehicle access.

In February this year fears for the safety of local families and children using the car park were heightened after Haringey Council agreed that the local Community Centre would provide additional services, meaning that more people would be using the route through the car park. Residents were concerned that, due to the lack of pedestrian access and pavements, the increased number of residents using the area was an accident waiting to happen.

The news that plans are due to be published at the end of November has been welcomed by local Liberal Democrats.

Cllr Gail Engert (Muswell Hill) comments:

“This is great news and testament to persistence by local residents. The increasing concern for the safety of young families using this car park, meant that Haringey Council needed to do something soon. I am glad that they have, after eight years campaigning, finally taken note and I hope plans are forthcoming and are fully funded sooner, rather than later.”

Lynne Featherstone MP adds:

“Finally, after a long fight, it seems that local residents will be safer when using this car park.”

Cllr Martin Newton, Liberal Democrat transport spokesperson, added:

“Fundamental to improving safety for pedestrians in the car park, was to provide a two-way vehicle access. This will help to alleviate daily road rage incidents and will mean that local residents will not have cars exiting the car park, into their streets.”

Here's my latest column for the Muswell Hill Flyer and Highgate Handbook:

Finally I managed to get Transport for London (TfL), Haringey Primary Care Trust (part of the NHS) and me together in the same place to bang heads together about the need for better bus links to the new Community Health Centre on the old Hornsey Central Hospital site.

We have this wonderful new facility but, despite the transport issues being raised as a key issue at every public and private meeting (literally for years) by many people, nothing has been properly planned, delivered - or even promised for the future.

And of course now the new Health Centre is here - and operational - but not a new bus in sight. Loads of people joined in my campaign for a new bus to enable them to access the new centre when referred there from wherever they live in Highgate, Crouch End, Muswell Hill, Fortis Green or Alexandra wards by their own GP.

Imagine my shock when TfL said they had no idea that there were services were already being provided (with lots more to come) which would bring people from all over the west of Hornsey & Wood Green to the new facility. TfL seemed to be under the illusion that the only thing happening was that two GP practices had moved in and only they would need transport.

To be honest - I couldn't believe it!

Given the promises on transport, the supposed discussions on transport - to be sitting there listening to the two key agencies basically saying that there was such a gap in communication that TfL didn't know that there was an ongoing and expanding need for access to the site from provision of new services on the site was truly shocking.

From this 'discovery' TfL have now agreed to take away the issue and look at it properly. At least they now both seem to understand there is a problem with providing a major new health facility with no extra transport provision.

I have been contacted by many local people on the back of our campaign giving examples of problems they have encountered. One example is a team who have already moved into the new facility and whose clients will commonly have reduced mobility - albeit still very capable of getting on a bus if it can deliver them near to the health centre - are concerned about how their patients will get to them.

Another example is that of one local health worker who has contact with people with very differing needs in the borough who wrote to me to say that a number of people she is in contact with through her work have mentioned their concerns about the lack of usable transport links to the new site.

I don't know what on earth has been going on - but you can bet my language to both the Chair of Haringey PCT and Peter Hendy (Commissioner of Transport in London) will be pretty strong as I bring this smartly to their attention.

Clearly this is a mess - and I just hope that both Haringey PCT and TfL sort it out now they have acknowledged that they haven't even been looking at the right problem.

I was shocked by the leaked letter (see my earlier post) that showed the Whittington would lose it’s A & E department under all four options being put forward for the reorganisation of health services in what is called London North Central (LNC) Sector of the Strategic Health Authority (Islington, Camden, Barnet, Enfield and Haringey).

I had not been reassured by the hasty press release by LNC saying that the first letter had been confusing and re-issuing a version which changed the Whittington’s fate to being designated a ‘local hospital’ in the options rather than mentioning A& E at all.

‘Local Hospital’ if you look up its meaning on the Department of Health website means that A& E would be reduced to effectively ‘urgent care’ for between 8 and 16 hours per day with no emergency surgery on site. Given the level of need locally – the idea of people having to travel to the Royal Free which has appalling public transport access – does not seem to be designed with local people in mind at all.

Moreover, Haringey which doesn’t actually have a hospital, relies on both the Whittington and The North Middlesex for A & E – and the North Middlesex' A & E is also under threat in one of the current four options.
Anyway – today I had urgent meetings with both LNC (Stephen Conroy) and the Chief Exec of the Whittington (Rob Larkman) - separately. In terms of LNC – Mr Conroy was very keen to emphasise that nothing was final, that options were still being discussed and drawn up, that no decisions had been taken – and that the options (whatever they ended up as) would go to the Review Panel in December and pre-consultation in January. To avoid the elections – the public consultation on the options would be in September 2010. So if the letter hadn't been leaked - local people would not have had any say before the election.

The proposals are all around what should be provided where and which of UCH, The Royal Free, Barnet, North Midds, The Whittington and Chase Farm would become ‘major acute’ hospitals and which local.
When I pushed for assurance that the 24 hour A & E service at the Whittington would not be terminated – Mr Conroy could not and would not give that assurance.

I also asked him what autonomy and status the Whittington Board had in all of this. From his answer it is quite clear that whilst the Whittington Board’s opinions are important, they are considered ‘organisationally loyal’ and when looking at the bigger picture of service needs in the ‘sector’ it would be the LCN who would take the decisions.

We also pushed (I was accompanied by Cllr Nigel Scott, LibDem local health spokesperson and Ed Butcher, my Head of Office) for openness and transparency about the processes. We are concerned that by the time there is a wide public consultation (as I said - after the election) – the basic decisions will have been made. That first letter stating that the Whittington would have no A & E even though withdrawn – has left its mark – and I can’t help thinking that where there’s smoke….

It has also been pointed out to me that the Whittington sits on top value land – and that letting the hospital wither on the vine of ever reducing services might at some point enable land sales to a cash-strapped Strategic Health Authority – I hope not!

At the subsequent meeting at the Whittington Hospital, Rob Larkman (CEO) said that they had been shocked too by the letter stating that A & E would not be provided in any of the options and that it was his challenge on that letter that had forced LCN to put out the second letter.

In fact I think the Whittington Board may, to an extent, be an ally of local people in the fight to retain A & E and maternity and obstetrics. The Chair of the Board was also in attendance at this meeting and he said that the Board also fought for what the local community wanted and needed.

So to me, the crucial issues are not the labels that LNC may wish to give their new configurations of major acute, acute, local and so on – the key is still keeping important services like 24 hour A & E and maternity and obstetrics local at the Whittington - whatever the configuration.

I made it quite clear that I would, apart from keeping in close contact with what is happening, make sure that local people are kept informed about what is going on and about what I regard as a real threat to both the 24 hour A & E and the continued provision of maternity and obstetrics at the Whittington – and that I would be campaigning along with my Liberal Democrat colleagues in Haringey and Islington for what local people want and need.

It's Mitzvah Day today. Mitzvah is the Hebrew word for 'good deed' and Muswell Hill Synagogue had about one hundred of its congregation out doing those good deeds today.

The Rabbi, David Mason, joined parents and children at Stationer's Park planting tulips, daffodils and crocus bulbs around the base of the trees. In February - it will be awash with blooms! There were also lots of other activities such as outside Sainsbury in Muswell Hill where more volunteers asked those going into shop to buy one extra thing to give to a local charity. Last year - when I helped with this activity - people were so generous we could hardly keep up with the volume of stuff being donated.

What is so fantastic is that it is about giving time not money - and that makes people feel good about themselves too! And given the storms and the downpour - the sun actually came out for the day's planting. They say the sun shines on the righteous.

Well done to Muswell Hill Synagogue and all those volunteers across the country who have given up their time for Mitzvah Day.