* identify and prevent further incidents;
* ensure that victims and potential victims receive the response and support they need; and
* provide a step-by-step practical guide to sensitively handling cases of FGM

The guidelines have been developed across government departments in partnership with the Royal Colleges, FGM experts, charitable organisations and the Association of Chief Police Officers.

This is part of my Home Office domestic violence portfolio. FGM is a most brutal crime and has the most terrible and long lasting effects on women and girls. One of the challenges we face in putting an end to this practice is the lack of knowledge about how to recognise the signs and what to do when you do recognise the signs.

I attended a recent round table on FGM as a pre-launch event to set out just how – local teachers, nursing staff, police officers, community leaders and survivors of FGM can work together to end such a cruel practice.

If a teacher had a pupil come into class with a black eye – that teacher would surely and rightly be concerned and ask questions. We need teachers to be equally concerned if, for example, a girl keeps taking abnormally long times when she goes to the toilet (one of the signs of FGM).

This is what Hagir Ahmed, survivor of FGM and Manor Gardens advocate said:

“I had the experience at the age of five or six. When you are a child you usually don’t remember things at that age but I remember. I remember being at a party and the people holding me down. My legs. My hands. My knees. And then I remember the practitioner with the knife.

“I don’t remember any anaesthetic. I just remember crying, crying and pleading. I was completely shattered, emotionally and physically.”

Joy Clarke, Lead Specialist Midwife at Whittington Hospital:

“When people migrate they take their customs with them and FGM is practiced in communities to keep those communities together. Because they love their children they continue to do it.

“Organisations like the Manor Gardens Advocacy Project are already doing good work to educate communities. I work with Manor Gardens to go out and run workshops with social workers and teachers in practising communities so they can recognise if a child is at risk. And I talk to parents about the physical and mental health implications and the law. In 99 per cent of cases this makes a difference but we need to revisit the families to make sure they have understood.”

This latest initiative follows a successful drive in February by the Hornsey and Wood Green MP to get the local Whittington Hospital to agree to produce information about their services in formats accessible to blind and partially sighted people. But to ensure the whole local healthcare system offers accessible formats, as required under law, and for the information to be included in referrals to the hospital, GPs need to follow suit too.

Lynne Featherstone MP comments:

“It’s great that the Whittington is continuing to extend the service of providing health information in accessible formats, but for the local health system to be fully accessible, GPs need to do the same.

“That’s why I am calling on them to act now to provide details of their services in Braille and audio formats. We all have the right to keep health information private, and I will continue fighting to make sure that is the reality for blind and partially sighted people locally too.”

To this end I met with the Minister, Simon Burns (hospital finance and performance) yesterday to make sure we all know what’s happening. The Minister had brought in all the key players from the Chair of GP commissioning to Rachel Tyndall (who chaired the review and was key at the public meeting I organised during the campaign to save the A&E).

Ok – so the key things are that – phew – the review has started! The Minister assured me (and Cllrs Winskill and Butcher who accompanied me) that unlike under the last government who claimed closing the A&E was a local decision (whereas we know it had nothing to do with local peoples’ wishes) this time it would be genuinely local as the Government edict imposed that as a duty on the North London Sector Review panel. And there are clear lines of accountability.

For the first time I heard with my own ears North London Sector admit that there had been faults in the previous process – which is a start – given the continual denial of all the issues local people raised. The litany was clear: accessibility (no one can get to the Royal Free), the out of hours GP services to take the non-A&E cases that currently go to A&E don’t exist; the Royal Free couldn’t cope with an extra 35,000 people (even if they could get there) and so on and so on, no clinical evidence, etc - all the very good cases local people made.

Watch this space – and if you hear anything too – let me know immediately! 

“This is fantastic news, and such a brilliant testament to the fact that the power of local people and our campaign has worked!

“This is the right decision for local residents. I have been fighting tooth and nail together with my Liberal Democrat colleagues and local residents to keep our vital health services open since the disastrous plans were leaked to me last October.

“I am ecstatic that we have been successful in forcing faceless health bureaucrats to back down.

“Nick Clegg has given cast iron guarantees that he will not close the Whittington, and I will certainly be holding Labour to their last minute promise – and make sure this is not just a hollow election pledge.

“Thanks so much to all local residents, campaigners and activists who have given so much to help save the Whittington.”

Robert Gorrie, Leader of Haringey Liberal Democrats adds:

“Local residents have forced the Labour Government to listen to them, but let’s not forget that it was a Labour government that let the faceless bureaucrats put these plans on the table in the first place.

“The plans to change health services in north London are still ongoing – NHS London need to come clean on what the remaining plans will mean for people in Haringey.”

Liberal Democrat candidate Lynne Featherstone has condemned the reported remarks by Labour Health Secretary Andy Burnham, and has said the revelation unmasks local Labour claims that they back the campaign to save the Whittington A&E.

In reality, Mr Burnham’s remarks show that it is Labour that is threatening these vital services.

Lynne Featherstone, who has campaigned tirelessly against the closure for the past six months, comments:

“These comments from the Labour minister in charge of our Health Service unmask the grim reality of Labour’s policies. This is what is threatening our local A&E at the Whittington.

“Local Labour politicians can hide behind a local campaign, just as they did with the closure of our Post Offices. The truth is that Labour cannot be relied on to fight for these vital local services.”

My eldest son stumbled, aged 5, into a rose branch which resulted in a deep cut millimetres from his eye – we rushed him to the Whittington A&E department and they dealt within him within minutes of this serious accident. He was terrified so having an A&E close at hand made a huge difference.

My husband is a diabetic and has been taken to the A&E department unconscious on several occasions over many years. He recently had a severe fit and the ambulance arrived within 5-10 minutes only because it was at the Whittington Hospital A&E having delivered a patient there. The ambulance was based in Enfield so imagine how long we would have waited had it not been there. It took almost an hour to completely revive him, including the use of oxygen.

I am very very unhappy to think we might not have a nearby A&E department. I have also been rushed to A&E at the Whittington with a severe allergic reaction and breathing difficulties about 10 years ago. I will never forget the feeling of distress and panic and the fact that we arrived at the hospital within minutes was hugely important. If we then factor in all the accidents and broken bones that my children and my friend’s and neighbour’s children have experienced as they grow up, it simply beggars belief that this vital hospital department is under threat.

Are they totally insane?

Oscar, our first baby, was born at UCLH beginning of December.

As new parents, you rely strongly on a visit from the mid-wife to make sure all is well with the little one.
We waited 3 long days and nobody came to see us despite numerous phone calls to all services concerned.

We did not sleep for 3 days and Oscar cried at night and during the day while he required to be breastfed non-stop. We felt helpless and did not understand what was going on. Every day we were hopeful that someone might visit us, but this did not happen. One evening, we’d had enough and decided to take our baby to Whittington A&E.

We were right to be concerned as Oscar had lost considerable weight and had turned yellow (beginning of jaundice).

Someone saw us around 2am and Oscar was admitted to hospital for 4 days.

We will always be grateful to the Whittington and especially to the A&E. This was the ONLY service that was willing to have a look at what was wrong with Oscar. Nobody else cared at the time.

The Liberal Democrat MP presented Mike O’Brien, Minster for Health, with a collection of over 200 personal stories, written by local residents, who are horrified by the threat to the Archway hospital.

The Liberal Democrats are committed to stopping this process dead in its tracks. They will replace health quangos with directly elected health boards, accountable to local residents for the decisions they make.

Nick Clegg, Liberal Democrat Leader, says:

“I support the campaign to save Whittington A&E. Decisions about local services should be taken by locally accountable bodies. I would not let North London Central NHS close this A&E. I oppose all proposals made by unaccountable bureaucrats which threaten local services.”

Lynne Featherstone MP comments:

“I welcome Nick’s unequivocal support of this campaign. But thanks also to the many personal and moving stories sent to me by local
residents, I feel we’ve made a powerful case for why the Whittington needs to stay open.

“This is about real people’s lives not paper solutions.

“The many intimate and touching stories really help show why having a hospital close-by is so vital. Many residents praise the hard working staff at the Whittington, who have helped them deal with really difficult and life-altering situations.

“I hope this will help tip the balance, and send a strong message to the Government from the people of Hornsey and Wood Green – hands off our A&E!”

I have used Whittington A&E since 1983, when my son was born. He had bronchial asthma and we often had to rush there when he was two or three years old. It’s hard to put into words how reassuring it was to know that he would be seen by a doctor after he’d been unable to stop coughing for hours. Recently he used it again when he needed stitches in his hand on Christmas Eve: he was given antibiotics and a tetanus shot and his hand is healing well. I can’t believe that such a valuable institution could face closure.

When my son was approximately 6 months old he had a bad cough and he produced some spots of blood as he was coughing. I took him to my GP who referred me immediately to the A & E at the Whittington.

As this is my local hospital my child was born there so I was familiar with the place and I felt comfortable going there. We drove ourselves to the hospital. The journey took no more than 10 mins which meant I did not have to worry for an unnecessarily long time.

We were seen quite quickly and reassured that the problem was not serious and were home within approx 3 hours. I feel so lucky to live near to a hospital with an A & E facilty.

I have used the A & E at the North Mid for my child also as he had “pulled elbow” but the only reason I used this hospital was because we were shopping nearby at Ikea. It would take us at least 20 mins to get to the North Mid from my home, this would be massively increased if there were traffic on the very busy A10.

I actually feel a real sense of security being so close to the A & E at the Whittington, and would be very concerned if it were to close or run under reduced services.