Defend Our NHS report : Theresa May’s launch of the NHS Long Term Plan should fool no-one

 

Dear friends of the NHS

Please read and share widely.

This email is based on press releases by Merseyside KONP and national KONP/Health Campaigns Together (to whom thanks) and information from the Defend Our NHS team.  The photograph is from the Guardian web site and the cartoon from the Times.

On Monday Theresa May was welcomed to Liverpool by Merseyside KONP, Save Liverpool Women’s Hospital campaign, Defend Our NHS and a hundred protestors who gave her a very clear message on her plan.

Protestors know the reality – and how things are getting worse. At Arrowe Park Hospital bed occupancy has been 99.3% against a safe level of 85%. And last year ambulances had to wait more than an hour to hand over their patient to the hospital 2,477 times, up from just 80 in 2013/14.

The Royal Liverpool Hospital has been on ‘Red Alert’ at least 25 times since 1 December. Bed occupancy is 92.3%, In December, 495 ambulances waited over 30 minutes to discharge their patients, and 135 of these waited over 60 minutes. Last week, some patients waited over 3 hours to be seen in A&E, and some in A&E waited 24 hours for a hospital bed.

In Liverpool a major problem is that the half-built Carillion PFI hospital was designed with fewer beds; capacity at the Royal was cut to match the plans. The Trust justified the cuts, claiming that Care in the Community would reduce demand.

And in Wirral the CCG’s proposals to slash services at walk-in centres will compound the problem.

May’s plan, written by NHS England Chief Exec Simon Stevens*, will replicate this all over England, shifting resources out of hospital, promoting digital technology (with the secretary of state Matt ‘Appcock’ anxious to replace GP consultations) and telling patients to look after themselves.

Rationing

Last winter, former Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt suddenly postponed all elective (planned) operations to ease the pressure on hospitals. Now, an NHS England document Preparing for 2019/20 Operational Planning and Contracting intends to ensure that ‘as much of [sic] inpatient elective activity occurs in the first half of the year, before winter’.

The document also includes a rationing plan for 17 NHS treatments no longer to be commissioned by CCGs. Trusts are also urged to ‘grow their external (non-NHS) income’ and ‘work towards securing the benchmarked potential for commercial income growth’. Hence the ward at Clatterbridge Hospital recently handed over to Four Seasons Health.

Trusts must set up systems to raise money by charging patients for treatment (‘overseas visitor cost recovery’) – a policy recently denounced by several medical Royal Colleges because of its impact on individual and public health.

Long term agenda

The 44 discredited Sustainability and Transformation Plans, re-branded as Integrated Care Systems, will hold the regional budgets to control NHS Trusts. ‘Planning assumptions’ in each STP area are to be agreed by 14 January. Neither the STPs, nor the ICSs, nor the Long Term Plan have been mandated by an Act of Parliament, let alone by patients or health workers. Yet, despite protests and clear evidence of the dangers, Wirral Council has charged at full speed into the STP and an ‘integrated’ partnership with the local clinical commissioning group. (We will be writing again soon about the ongoing legal challenge to this.)

The private sector could gain control of individual ICSs through long term contracts to manage the entire health system within one region.

Real integration of health and social care can only take place when the profit motive is taken out, with care fully-staffed and resourced, publicly accountable, funded through general taxation, and provided free at the point of need.

John Lister, editor of Health Campaigns Together said:

All of the main lines of what has been published or leaked about the Plan are a depressing re-run of previous plans and gimmicks: the only novel proposals are for more central control and less accountability, for trusts to run more like and with private businesses seeking profits, and to raise money by undermining the principles and values of the NHS through charging overseas visitors – a government policy widely condemned by NHS professional staff and campaigners as discriminatory and a step backwards from prevention and public health.

There is no reason to believe this plan, with even less local accountability and no serious plans for public consultation, will prove any more acceptable to the public or successful in implementation than the secretive STPs in 2016 or other previous failed efforts.

Campaigners have yet to see anything to recommend the new plans, or any indication NHS England is willing to come to grips with the crisis fuelled by chronic austerity limits on funding – or demand an end to chaos and fragmentation of the Health & Social Care Act.”

Dr Tony O’Sullivan, KONP Co-chair and retired consultant paediatrician, said:

The government has cut £7bn to social care and has underfunded the NHS by £20bn in annual funding over the last 9 years. There is no plan to repair the damage done. Platitudes about prevention and better health are exposed by the £1bn cuts to the public health budget responsible for prevention.

After 9 years undermining mental health, the ‘extra’ now committed is not new money but comes from elsewhere within NHS funding. Theresa May’s assertion that the NHS has never received higher funding is simply not true in relation to NHS funding required to meet need.

Over 210,000 vacancies in NHS and social care and unacceptable stress carried by staff, dangerous waits for A&E, cancer care and surgery, all tell the true story. And the fact that private health providers get 50% of their funds from treating patients diverted from an NHS deprived of the resources to treat them itself exposes the policy direction of government. We cannot accept this situation.’

Watch out for some further analysis of the NHS Long Term Plan which we’ll share by email to this list and on our Facebook page.

DONHS on Facebook

* Mr Stevens’ previous job? “His responsibilities include leading UnitedHealth’s strategy for, and engagement with, national health reform, ensuring its businesses are positioned for changes in the market and regulatory environment.”

 

Defend Our NHS: Tomorrow! Monday! The NHS ‘STP-ers’ are in town!

An opportunity to give a warm welcome to those responsible for the demise of our NHS, now dressed up as a ‘long term plan’.

There’s lots of other local and national NHS news to share but this event (details have only leaked out late today – Sunday) takes priority for now.

Best wishes – and Happy New Year!

On behalf of Defend Our NHS

 

 

Defend Our NHS: Thank You and Happy Christmas!

Dear friends of the NHS

Thank you! In fact 32,000 thank-yous. That’s the number (still rising) who signed petitions protesting against Wirral CCG’s plans for our walk-in and minor injuries services.

The petitions (from Defend Our NHS, all the centres and a number of patient groups) were collected at street stalls and in Wirral GP practices and hospitals and on-line.

They not only call for a total rethink of the CCG’s urgent care proposals but also demand a meeting in every single Wirral council ward. This is so that the CCG (and Wirral councillors) can explain just what they think they are doing to our NHS. There has never been any meaningful public engagement or consultation on the massive changes – as the Borough first became part of the ‘sustainability and transformation partnership’, then adopted ‘accountable care’, and then sneaked in ‘integrated care’.

Even councillors on the important scrutiny committee were kept in the dark. (We are challenging the legality of that.) And last week, at the packed meeting when the boxes and boxes full of petitions were presented, all the CCG could offer was ten minutes for protesters to have their say – and then promise to ‘listen’.

Who has the CCG’s ear? 32,000 Wirral residents? Or the few hundred (they can’t be specific) who they claim were ‘confused’ by current arrangements? In fact it’s the boss of NHS England. The man who has famously said, “The worldwide need for healthcare in ageing populations will lead to a demand for goods and services that can drive sales of American insurance, medical devices, and record-keeping technology.” (US health corporations already operate in Wirral. Did you know?)

Meanwhile Wirral Council (in the month when it has fulminated without any obvious effect against the CCG walk-in plans) has effectively amalgamated our health and care services and budgets with the same CCG. Without any of the required scrutiny (merely bombastic speeches) they have confirmed their acquiescence to the notorious ‘Section 75’. A minority of councillors stood on our side but they were outvoted by a majority coalition from three parties.

All of this means we will have our work cut out to DEFEND OUR NHS in 2019. There will be no let-up in our campaigning and we hope we can count on your active support. Tens of thousands of Wirral residents are with you.

Stay in touch.

AND have a very happy Christmas and a peaceful New Year.

On behalf of Defend Our NHS

Find all the information you need on Facebook

A festive message from Defend Our NHS : one last effort before Christmas (then celebrate with us!)

Dear friends of the NHS

Here are some reminders of events which really need as much support as possible. Please attend and/or share this information.

Wednesday 21st November 7:00pm St Albans Parish Centre, Liscard. Public meeting to save our walk-in centres AND other public services. DONHS will be speaking.

Tuesday 27 November 4:00pm: Wallasey Town Hall. Wirral councillors meeting to decide how/whether to untangle the mess into which local decisions have put the NHS. In officialese it’s the ‘Section 75 call-in’ meeting. We are organising a mass lobby because Wirral Council really does need to throw into reverse its collaboration with government plans. Its scrutiny committee has rightly condemned the plans for our walk-in centres. But these are only a part of the overall strategy of STP (‘slash, trash and privatise’) and ‘[un]accountability’ and ‘[dis]integration’.

Thursday 6 December 6:30-8:30pm: Wallasey Town Hall. Wirral CCG (the local arm of NHS England) is holding its final public meeting of the year – the first since it said it would ignore the Council’s demand to halt the walk-in process. We’ll be there.

Saturday 8 December 11:00am: rally supported by local GPs (90% of whom oppose the CCG’s plans) at the Miriam Health Centre, Laird St, Birkenhead.  Following the rally we will march to Hamilton Square.

Tuesday 11 Dec 1:00-4:00pm: Birkenhead Town Hall. CCG Governing Body meeting. All campaign petitions will be handed in at this meeting. There should be lots of media interest and GPs and campaigners will be attending in large numbers.

Later that evening is the DONHS informal Christmas get-together. We’ve cancelled the event for which you’ve already received an invitation because of problems with the venue. Instead from around 7.00pm we’ll be in ‘The Shrew’ pub in Oxton, Birkenhead:

Best wishes and thanks for all your support

On behalf of Defend Our NHS

https://www.facebook.com/groups/defendournhs/

DEFEND OUR NHS WIRRAL

#DefendOurNHS

Facebook and Twitter: Defend Our NHS

Email: defendournhswirral@gmail.com

Defend Our NHS News Update

Our friends at Defend Our NHS (DONHS) have been very prolific this week. Here are their 3 latest missives in chronological order . Number 3 is of particular interest to Wirralian NHS defenders:

1

Dear friends of the NHS

There is so much to tell you! Many developments are affecting our health service – most making the crisis worse – and it is difficult to know where to start.

1. But first, can I introduce myself? DONHS held its AGM last month, the constitution was approved, and a new ‘executive team’ were elected. I am the chair this year and am looking forward to the challenge; the full list of team members is below*. Rest assured that DONHS will continue to operate as a democratic collective organisation.
2. Our aims were agreed at the AGM. They are:
3. To campaign to maintain or reinstate the National Health Service as a universal comprehensive service,publicly owned, publicly funded and publicly accountable, free at the point of need and funded from general taxation.
4. To campaign for this aim particularly in Wirral, Merseyside.
5. To do this in collaboration with other similar campaigns locally and nationally.
6. To educate and inform to this end.
7. TheAGM and a social event were held on the 70^th birthday of the NHS. They followed a wonderful ‘picnic in the park’ in New Brighton when hundreds of people, young and old, spent a happy sunny day together, listened to lovely music, and shared a giant birthday cake. First in the queue for a slice were people born in 1948.
8. Following the introduction of new data protection arrangements we emailed everyone on our list and asked people to positively subscribe to our aims and agree to remain in our database. You are one of 312 (at the time of writing) who chose to do so.All email communications will continue to be as ‘blind’ copies. There are also more than 2900 Facebook ‘friends’.
9. That has been the good news. The remainder is rather bleak: nationally – and here in Wirral where most of our supporters live. Unbelievably Wirral Council, despite having resolved less than two years ago, to oppose the ‘STP’ and ‘accountable care’ system is now operating jointly with Wirral CCG to implement both. The names have been changed as part of the whole process of stealth and obfuscation. But ‘integrated care’ and ’place-based care’ still amount to the same: slash, trash and privatise.
10. We are doing two things locally to oppose this betrayal and blatant ‘official’ disintegration of the NHS. In October there will be a crucial meeting of the Council/CCG Joint Strategic Commissioning Board. We will be there to make our views very clear. Please join us. (Unbelievably they locked us out of a recent Cheshire & Merseyside STP Board meeting so we picketed outside.) And please come to our next public meeting also in October when we will hear much more about this – and continue to discuss the local crisis in general practice.Details will be on Facebook and circulated nearer the time.
11. Did you know about what was happening in Wirral? Unless you are expert in mining the various web sites you would have no idea about what they were doing to OUR health service. There has been no meaningful public engagement or consultation. We try to inform councillors and will continue to do so but too many have been compliant with their ‘leadership’.
12. Talking of consultation… NHSE and the Secretary of State have been challenged legally about aspects of their changes and have finally got round to involving the public. The announcement of a consultation was sneaked out on the day that Parliament and the courts closed for the summer. Make your voice heard. How?https://www.events.england.nhs.uk/search/30/Icps and https://www.engage.england.nhs.uk/consultation/proposed-contracting-arrangements-for-icps/ And watch out for further communications from us and other campaigns.
13. How to keep up with the changes and how to fight back? Here are just some of the excellent sources of information and ideas:
14. https://www.facebook.com/groups/defendournhs/
15. http://999callfornhs.org.uk/999-blog/4583982961/tags/Integrated%20Care%20Systems
16. https://calderdaleandkirklees999callforthenhs.wordpress.com/tag/calderdale-integrated-care-system/
17. https://www.healthcampaignstogether.com/
18. https://keepournhspublic.com/

Thank you.

Best wishes

Frank McEntaggart, Chair, Defend Our NHS

* Executive team 2018/19:

.    Chair: Frank McEntaggart

• Secretary: Kevin Donovan
• Treasurer: Joe Kelly
• External relations officer: Judith Varley
• Research and policy officer: Celia Kelly
• Media officer: vacancy
• Members: Derek Timmins, Tim Watson, Gordon Keegan, Sue Keegan

2

Dear friends of the NHS

Apologies for another email so soon but this from 999 Call for the NHS deserves our support AND action.

Please help with this very important spanner we need to throw in the works.

NHS England is hoping that the consultation silly season will go un-noticed. We’ve noticed – and we want campaigners around the country to band together in fighting back.

Friends in Yorkshire at CK999 have responded to a consultation on the first SEVENTEEN treatments to be de-funded as of April 2019. No coincidence that these are all “elective care” treatments and will be readily available as fee-paying treatments…

(These are in addition to the cuts in Wirral about which we raised the alarm two years ago.)

Please visit this link CK99917 Treatments NHSE plan to cut

The link takes you to more information and you can read the CK999 response which has been prepared with the help of NHS staff.

If you agree with the responses given you can use them as a template for your own response to this travesty of a consultation.

Please encourage others in your network, family and friends to do the same.

Then we need letters to papers, radio shows, and posts on social media.

We will also be producing responses for the other current NHS England secret consultations.

Thank you. We really appreciate it.

Best wishes on behalf of DONHS

https://calderdaleandkirklees999callforthenhs.wordpress.com/2018/08/10/nhs-england-can-stuff-its-plan-to-cut-17-vital-treatments/

3

Dear friends of the NHS

Yes, a third email this week but we just had to share some VERY good news BUT also alert you to developments in the disturbing ‘integrated care’ saga affecting Wirral and many other places besides.

1. This is the good news. PLEASE share it widely.

You will remember that we have been supporting two attempts to secure judicial reviews of the ongoing damage being done to our NHS.

We have been disappointed at rebuffs in the courts, including on seven distinct legal grounds in one case brought by our friends 999 Call for the NHS.

BUT this week the Court of Appeal has granted permission to appeal on ALL SEVEN GROUNDS, with capped costs. This is despite NHS England’s dismissive claim to the Court of Appeal that there was no merit in any of the seven grounds for the appeal.

The immediate impact of this ruling is that NHS England’s consultation on the Accountable Care Organisation contract (rebranded as the Integrated Care Provider contract) is taking place about a contract that may not even be lawful.

Court of Appeal grants NHS campaign group permission to appeal against NHS England’s new Integrated Care Provider contract

2. This brings us to the second issue.

Wirral Council and the local clinical commissioning group are steaming ahead with their integrated care plans when their fundamental basis may not be lawful.

There has been no meaningful public engagement or consultation about any of this yet they proceed. It could all go horribly wrong – and NHS staff and patients will be the victims of the mess.

That’s why we’ll be at their ‘joint commissioning’ meeting on TUESDAY at 2.00pm in BIRKENHEAD Town Hall.

Yet again this item appears at the bottom of their agenda: “That, under section 100 (A) (4) of the Local Government Act 1972, the public be excluded from the meeting during consideration of the following items of business on the grounds that they involve the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined by the relevant paragraphs of Part 1 of Schedule 12A (as amended) to that Act. The Public Interest test has been applied and favours exclusion.”

Please try to be there.

Best wishes on behalf of Defend Our NHS

PS We have begun a crowd-funding appeal to raise money for our campaign. See this link.

April Fools

Whilst we’re familiar with the old refrain – ” April fool is past and gone , so you’re the fool for carrying on….”  we felt that the following leak was too significant to be included in our  Wirral Leaks Weekly Dispatch #10 and have instead chosen to post separately, if belatedly , today :

“I’m not in the Labour Party and have no wish to be drawn into their internal rows. However I notice that the final item in the screenshot in your post below refers to  Cllr Phil Davies vowing  “that Wirral council are doing all they can to stop ACS’s in the NHS…..  

Some people might say he’s a fool. Others less charitable might say he’s a liar. Some would use stronger language.

He’s opposed to the ‘STP’ (Sustainability and Transformation Partnerships), he’s opposed to the  ACS (Accountable Care System)  , so how does he explain his own Council’s policy to implement both – from 1st April 2018 ?

See the screen shot above from a presentation to staff by Wirral’s  Director of Adult Social Services Graham Hodkinson (who by the way, also from 1st April 2018 , becomes the deputy at Wirral Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) , thus committing  Wirral Council into NHS England’s plans to ‘slash, trash and privatise’ the hand that feeds them very well indeed).”

Perhaps Pip can feed this back to the Birkenhead Constituency Labour Party (CLP) at their next meeting or is he quite happy to continue to make fools of both his Labour colleagues and Wirral’s constituents?

 

Defend Our NHS – Latest News

Launched just over an hour ago is a Crowdfund appeal to fund a Judicial Review against NHS England’s Accountable Care Organisation contract. Set out below is everything you need to know courtesy of Leaky Awards 2017 winners Defend Our NHS – Wirral.

Also note : On SATURDAY 3RD FEBRUARY there will be a national day of action in support of the NHS with various local activities. In WIRRAL this will involve a gathering outside ARROWE PARK HOSPITAL from 1.00pm to show DONHS solidarity with NHS staff, to alert the public to what’s happening to our health service, and to continue to #DefendOurNHS.

The next PUBLIC MEETING  will be in Birkenhead on Friday 2nd March from 7.00pm. More details soon. PLEASE put the date in your diary now.

 

Defending the NHS nationally and in Wirral

A judge has granted permission for national campaign group 999 Call for the NHS to bring a Judicial Review of NHS England’s draft Accountable Care Organisation contract. The group believe this is not only unlawful under current NHS legislation, but would threaten patient safety standards and limit the range of available treatments. The case will be held in Leeds High Court at some date after 16 February.

Wirral’s NHS campaign group Defend Our NHS support the Judicial Review; they recognise that the legal challenge affects everyone – patients, public and NHS Staff.

Kevin Donovan from Defend Our NHS urged people to support the appeal to fund the Judicial Review. He noted that, “The leader of Wirral Council, Councillor Phil Davies, says he opposes the government’s so-called ‘sustainability and transformation’ plans which are the framework for the Accountable Care Systems and Organisations. Yet, behind closed doors he has been supporting the development of the whole apparatus. The documented policy of Wirral Council – in collaboration with the local clinical commissioning group (and quoting from Council papers) – is now ‘the development of a single ‘Accountable Care System’’. Wirral Council acknowledges that, ‘The STP will operate at Cheshire and Merseyside level’.”

“Defend Our NHS members are yet to find anybody in Wirral outside of a campaign group who has heard the initials ‘STP’ or ‘ACO’ or ‘ACS’, let alone understands what they will mean for our beloved National Health Service. The issue is that Accountable Care Systems and Organisations are being planned secretively, including right here in Wirral. They are a new form of local NHS and social care organisation; the intention is to cut costs by managing demand for health and social care. This will speed up the creation of a two-tier system – where those with money will use private providers and the rest will be left with reduced health and social care services.  Protecting the NHS as a fully funded public service of comprehensive healthcare is vital for us all.”

The Judicial Review and the national campaign

999 Call for the NHS and internationally recognised public law firm Leigh Day are launching the third and final stage of their ‘crowdfund’ on 12 January, in order to cover all the costs of bringing the Judicial Review, and are appealing for £12,000. This amount, when added to existing funds donated by hundreds of generous members of the public in 2017, will cover the £37,000 cost of the Judicial Review.

The link to crowdfund is: Crowd Justice Healthcare4All Stage 3

Recognising that it is in the public interest to establish if the Accountable Care Organisation contract is lawful or not, the Judge has awarded 999 Call for the NHS a capped costs order of £25K. This limits the costs that the campaign group would have to pay NHS England, were they to lose the case.

999 Call for the NHS were originally well known as the Darlo Mums who organised a 300 mile Jarrow to London People’s March for the NHS in 2014. This culminated in a rally in Trafalgar Square attended by 20,000 people.

Jo Land, one of the original Darlo Mums who marched from Jarrow to London, said,

“In 2014, 20,000 people felt so strongly about the devastating effects of marketisation on the NHS that they joined us at the end of our 300 mile march to London to take a stand against it and spread the word.

Please join us again, in marching on the courts to challenge the Accountable Care Organisations contact.  This is a big step for us and we need your support. We believe it is vital to determine if the new contract is lawful or not. We all have to fight this together for the sake of the nation’s health and democracy.”

What is an ACO?

The Judicial Review is a direct challenge to NHS England’s introduction of a model contract for use by new local NHS and Social Care organisations, known as Accountable Care Organisations (ACO).

ACOs are based on the business model used by the USA’s Medicare/Medicaid system, which only provides state-funded “managed care” for the elderly and people who are too poor to pay for private health insurance. “Managed care” involves a variety of mechanisms used by managers of American healthcare companies to get doctors to avoid expensive forms of treatment.

In granting permission for the Judicial Review, the Judge commented that it would not consider the merits or demerits of the ACO model, but would focus on the lawfulness of the method for paying Accountable Care Organisations. 

The group say that the current lack of a legal framework for Accountable Care Organisations – and in particular the way they would be paid to provide local NHS and social care services – is simply not compatible with democratic control and oversight of the resources and future of our biggest public service. And the government has backtracked from its 2017 Manifesto promise of new legislation for this radical shake up of the NHS and social care.

The Wirral campaign

Defend Our NHS has existed for seven years. It was formed in January 2011 by a small group of people concerned about the changes to the NHS proposed by the then Tory Health Secretary Andrew Lansley. The warnings given by the Group’s founder members (who included Margaret Greenwood, now MP for Wirral West) about the likely damage to the NHS have sadly come true.

Since 2011 the group has been active in informing the public about the growing local and national crisis in the NHS. It has a large mailing list and massive support for its Facebook page. Scores of people attend its public meetings and demonstrations.

In recent years Defend Our NHS in Wirral has:

• Joined the junior doctors on their picket lines as they campaigned for safe conditions for patients;
• Uncovered the hidden involvement of Richard Branson in Wirral general practice;
• Challenged Wirral Clinical Commissioning group over its implementation of government health cuts;
• Identified the now public crisis at Arrowe Park Hospital;
• Supported the community campaign to re-open the Eastham Walk-In Clinic;
• Revealed (in 2015) Wirral’s invitation to and involvement with Advocate Health Care, a US organisation well known for its ACO dealings; and now:
• Exposed the secretive plans by the leaders of Wirral Council to defy their own party’s policy by implementing the STP/ACO.

Email: defendournhswirral@gmail.com 
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Notes 

1. 999 Call for the NHS is a grassroots, volunteer-run campaign organisation. It has been actively campaigning since 2014 to restore the NHS as a properly funded, publicly owned, managed and provided comprehensive health service that is free at the point of need for everyone with a clinical need. www.999callfornhs.org.uk

2. Defend Our NHS was established in Wirral in 2011 and is also entirely volunteer-run. It has attracted a large and active group of supporters. As well as concerned local residents its supporters now include a significant and growing number of doctors and nurses, outraged by what is being done to the NHS. Its Facebook page is at https://www.facebook.com/groups/defendournhs/

3. From 6pm on 12th January, the crowdfund will be live at: Crowd Justice Healthcare4All Stage 3

4. Campaign groups are concerned that the contract, if implemented, would threaten patient safety and force hospitals and doctors to restrict treatment, making decisions based on money not clinical judgement. They believe that this new contract is unlawful under current NHS legislation.

This is because the new ACO contract does not link payment to the number of patients treated and/or the complexity of the medical treatment they need, as required by the 2012 Health and Social Care Act,  but is based on a fixed budget for an area’s population.  This budget would be  geared to helping to meet the £22bn+ funding shortfall by 2021 that the government is imposing on the NHS in England.

5. As well as bringing this Judicial Review, 999 Call for the NHS – all unpaid volunteers – is also campaigning with other grassroots groups across England for the passage of the NHS Reinstatement Bill, the restoration of proper levels of NHS and social care funding and the protection of NHS healthcare for all – not the fragmentation and downgrade of our NHS to something resembling the USA’s Medicare.

6. A Judicial Review is a process of examining in court whether the government and/or its agencies are acting lawfully.

7. CrowdJustice is the only platform dedicated to raising funds and awareness for legal cases. CrowdJustice has established legal crowdfunding as a powerful tool for citizens to access justice and lawyers take cases that otherwise would not be heard. CrowdJustice is democratising the justice system by empowering people and communities to champion and build support for legal issues that matter to them. CrowdJustice has raised more than £4 million from over 100,000 backers to support legal action in the courts.

 

The Leaky Awards 2017 – the Grand Finale

And so we finally reach the grand finale of the Leaky Awards 2017 and taking our cue from the #TimesUp  contingent at the Golden Globes we’ll be wearing black. The clock may been ticking down for us but may it also do the same on the abuse of power – wherever it takes place and in whatever form.

However we’ll spare you the dreary , self-righteous speeches – it’s on with the show and our first award of the evening…….

Campaign of the Year

Winner – Defend Our NHS (Wirral)

The local branch of the DONHS have throughout the year provided us with information about future plans for the NHS  and particularly about Sustainability and Transformation Plans (STP) that should concern us all  , especially as Wirral Council are a key strategic player via the Clinical Commissioning Group.

Runner Up – Wirral Needs

If only for the chant ” Labour Council listen to the people”. Our advice to them after  7 years of banging our head against a brick wall is that they won’t so you’ll  have to make them ! The only way they will be forced to listen is at your local constituency party meetings and in the run up to the local elections this May.  After that it’ll be the same old,same old – personal interest and political ambition taking precedence over the public interest. Don’t say we didn’t tell you!

Campaign Fail of the Year

Winner – Wirral Labour ‘Keep Wirral Green’ campaign

How Wirral Labour reconciled this campaign with proposals and developments for assaults on the Green Belt at Saughall Massie, Hoylake and Thornton Hough etc; we can only hazard a guess but full marks for the sheer PR chutzpah .

Runner up  – Frank Field/Wirral Globe nurses car parking charges at Arrowe Park Hospital (aka Wirral University Teaching Hospital – WUTH )

Whilst it was undoubtedly a worthy campaign we noted how  WUTH CEO David Allison received the petition from Field, gave some bland assurances and then promptly disappeared in a cloud of controversy.We suspect that any incoming CEO will have their work cut-out just keeping WUTH afloat and car parking charges won’t be a priority . Meanwhile  we note that Field is strangely silent about more wide reaching proposals for car parking charges across Wirral that are set to be introduced by Wirral Council. And once again we have to ask is this the only income generation scheme that Wirral Council can come up with and is it even legal?

 

David Allison : Yeah whatevs Frank I don’t need this right now. But love your tank top .

Comeback of the Year

Winner Esther McVey, MP for Tatton

Back from the dead

The former MP for Wirral West returns to high office as Work and Pensions Secretary in this week’s Cabinet reshuffle . Somehow this cat on a hot tin roof always manages to land on her kitten heels . And for all her talk of female empowerment we think that McVey is the quintessential beneficiary of modern day political nepotism , where ambition exceeds talent .  The only contribution of note to the local political scene when she was a Wirral West MP was when she hijacked the Martin Morton whistleblowing case for personal and political advantage at Prime Minister’s Questions (apparently Morton knew nothing about it) . What happened after she raised the issue with David Cameron is a particularly worrying episode but alas we won’t be able to do it justice here. Perhaps one day the full shameful tale will be told. 

Runner Up  Stewart Halliday – the economic migrant/consultant from York who crossed the Pennines escaping infamy to make his fortune on Wirral with his two consultancy stints earning him circa £200K. So will Wirral Council kindly tell us whether he’s still around and what exactly we got for our money?

This man can do a powerpoint presentation and bullshit at the same time ! Therefore Wirral Council must give him as much money as they can.

Comrades of the Year – Cllr Louise Reecejones (LRJ) and Cllr Steve Foulkes (Foulkesy)

 

Were LRJ and Foulkesy separated at birth? Whilst they share so many characteristics none of them can be found in the Nolan Principles! See for yourself :

LRJ Standards Panel investigation report : The  Panel found the evidence of Cllr Louise Reecejones to be inconsistent,vague and misleading. The Panel did not therefore find Cllr Reecejones to be credible.

Foulkesy Standards Panel investigation report : I found it difficult to get Cllr Foulkes to be precise or detailed . His responses were vague,inclined to be evasive and I found them ‘economical with the truth ‘ and unconvincing. 

Yes, just the kind of low lifes we want making decisions about our lives,eh?

Accessories of the Year  –

Winner – Paula Basnett ,CEO Wirral Chamber of Commerce for those shoes.

These understated little numbers were considered suitable daywear to shortlist nominees for yet another awards ceremony and did not in anyway reinforce our perception that Ms Basnett and her organisation are all about flash presentation and very little else.

Runner up All Wirral councillors wielding ‘Show Racism the Red Card’placards as a virtue signalling accessory. But especially the local Labour group who tolerate  racists in their midst. But can anyone spot Deputy Leader Cllr George Davies in the picture?

Best Picture of Unwanted Copies of Wirral View

Winner 

Runner Up

Whilst appropriately enough both pictures position copies of woeful Wirral View next to their final destination –  a bin – we’d like to think the winner of this category contributed to the dumping (no pun intended) of the original Liverpool -based distributor of Wirral View. Unfortunately a £750,000 3 year print deal with Trinity Mirror means we’re burdened with this lumbering white elephant for the forseeable future. Compare and contrast with Wirral Leaks which has cost council taxpayers of Wirral £0 and we would argue has been more effective in addressing the ‘information deficit’ of local people, particularly when we’ve been providing information that Wirral Council don’t want you to know about!

Wirral’s annual entry in Rotten Boroughs Awards 2017

Winner  Ex- Wirral councillor Jim Crabtree

Included in Private Eye’s  Rotten Boroughs 2017 ‘Quotes of the Year’ is this fine example of ‘doublespeak’ from former Wirral Councillor Jim ‘Crabby’ Crabtree. It’s a year to the day that Crabtree pleading guilty to offences under the Communications Act 2003 and it’s frightening to think that his well deserved fall from grace might never have happened if his increasingly appalling conduct hadn’t been reported on Wirral Leaks. As a quote from one of our Labour sources testifies when they raised concerns about Crabtree’s fitness to be a councillor    – “The comment from George Davies was ‘better the devil you know’ while Frank (Field) thinks he’s the best thing since sliced bread” –  the local Labour group were reluctant to rein him in . Furthermore we understand that they failed to address allegations made by a whistleblower about grant monies which Crabtree allegedly should have paid back to Wirral Council.

  

 

Leaky Awards 2017 – Quotes of the Year Part Two

Join us for the second part of our journey down the red carpet to hell.

JULY

“Five years ago, we were a local authority in crisis: focused on cuts and on the verge of government intervention. Since then, we’ve been recognised as the Local Government Chronicle’s ‘Most Improved Council’, experiencing the fastest turnaround of any council in the UK. So what’s changed? In a nutshell, we refuse to give up; we never stop moving. Our pragmatic, innovative and bold plan, ‘2020 Vision’ will ensure that we’re getting the basics right; that we’re achieving more; that we’re changing the way we do things. In this role, you’ll take us to the next level and create a legacy for yourself in the process.” – Wirral Council advert to recruit a new Director of Finance will make you laugh , vomit or both.

Full story : A LACK OF DISCRETION

“They don’t seem to realise I’m at the top of the pecking order ” and referring to the investigator : “She doesn’t scare me and a little councillor involved might just shut her up.” – Cllr Louise Reecejones (LRJ) texts used as evidence against her during Standards Panel Code of Conduct investigation. LRJ describing herself as top of the pecking order brings visions of an Animal Farm hen coop in desperate need of a cock. The cock in question being Foghorn Leghorn!

Full story : AN LRJ REACTION

AUGUST

”  ‘Sustainable’ = slashed budgets and services.·   ‘Transformed’ = cut, demoralised and damaged beyond recognition. ‘Partnership’ = developed in secret, operating in secret, condemned by local councils, a total lack of public/patient consultation, and the only happy partners are Richard Branson and a series of US ‘healthcos’. ”  Defend Our NHS provide a definition of STP (Sustainability & Transformation Plans)

Full story : BANK HOLIDAY BULLETIN BOARD

SEPTEMBER

“An economic value below the legal minimum wage……..(would help employers) to take on low-productivity disabled workers.”  – Frank Field ,Birkenhead MP demonstrates his deep understanding of disability and equality rights .

“For anyone in this day and age to hold those views, and especially someone in Frank Field’s position, is abominable. It is exactly the same sort of thinking as the Nazi ‘useless eaters’ rhetoric.” Linda Burnip from Disabled People Against Cuts (DPAC) responds to Field’s comments

“The right to equal treatment and equality are human rights. Human rights are not privileges. That’s why they are called rights. I suggest Mr Field goes back to the drawing board. His comments are a disgrace and he should now apologise. Furthermore, if the Labour Party wishes to prove that it has truly changed its tune, it will need to demonstrate that the New Labour old guard are no longer calling the shots and put the voices of disabled people first.The last time we looked, Mr Field was not a spokesperson for disabled people.” – John McArdle from campaign group Black Triangle also responds to Field’s comments. By the way people from Birkenhead , just a reminder, you are allowed to disagree with your MP.

Full story : THE SKWARKING CANARY COMES HOME TO ROOST

“It had adversely affected the staff morale and the reputation of the authority and rebuilding trust and transparency is still ongoing”   –  Simon Cuerden – Corporate Business Support Manager, Wirral Council comments on the conviction of Wallasey Town Hall petty cash thief  who would have evaded justice if an attempted cover up by officials hadn’t been uncovered by Wirral Leaks

Full story : EXCLUSIVE : THICK AS THIEVES UPDATE

OCTOBER

” Wirral is officially the happiest place to live in the North West” – Cllr Phil ‘Power Boy Pip’ Davies , ‘Leader’ of Wirral Council in peak Pollyanna mode latches onto a bogus Rightmove survey as if it somehow negates an Ofsted report deeming Children’s Services ‘inadequate’ and a Care Quality Commission assessment that over half of care homes on Wirral are inadequate or require improvement. Yeah, Pip, whatevs.

Full story : HAPPY TALK

Hotel Prestige ,Sorrento try to apologise to holidaymakers for alleged conduct unbecoming a former Wirral Council Mayor and his consort. 

Full story : SORRENTO SHAME 2 : NO LAUGHING MATTER

Comrades, “Now is the time” to stop acting like a “Party within a party” – and even like a “Momentum within Momentum”.

It is time to grasp that the mainstream (often called the “Left”) has won back the heart and soul of the Labour Party.  I do not know of a single member of the Seacombe Branch who has not fully supported my own declarations for Corbyn on the two websites or who does not support him now.  So why introduce friction where there need be none? Let’s try now to be a single Labour Party in Seacombe Ward.

Some comrades will remember that we also, for a while, held “Songs of the Labour Movement” musical evenings in the Park View Social Club – an opportunity for comrades to perform – or just listen and rub shoulders informally.  But, since then, we have had the difficulty of the Party being suspended so long that many of us don’t even know each other. – Cllr Adrian Jones keeps the red flag flying and addresses Wallasey CLP members seemingly in denial about the circumstances that led to the local branch being suspended by the Labour Party. 

Full story : SONGS OF THE LABOUR MOVEMENT – TWO TRIBES

NOVEMBER

“To ensure the promotion of “professional curiosity” when vulnerable children seek advice” – The final recommendation made following the (unpublished) Serious Care Review report following the Rajenthiram Brothers Child Sexual Exploitation case. It comes to something when you have to ask those who get paid to protect vulnerable children to actually try and do their jobs properly!

Full story :  A REPULSIVE EXCLUSIVE 

“Wirral Council has to ensure every pound spent is wisely invested and we get the best value for our residents.This decision is the right decision at the right moment – the contract with BAM Nuttall was coming to an end and we believe we can deliver this service more effectively by taking direct control.” – Council ‘leader’ Cllr Phil ‘Power Boy Pip’ Davies announces the surprise return of highways services to council control which is in the opposite direction of all other council services. There are suggestions this decision was influenced not by best value but by personal and political interests.

Full story : WHAM! BAM! THANK YOU SCAM

” Just goes to show what’s going on out there . We live in a sheltered world . We’re all too good for our own  good“  – Cllr Ron Abbey comments on the conduct of councillors in other councils clearly demonstrating he’s in denial and utterly deluded.

Full story : APOLOGIES AND APOLOGISTS

” I’ve always bought my houses, I’ve never inherited them……”   Frank Field , MP bitch slaps fellow Labour MP Hilary Benn and manages to unite all members of the House of Commons in condemnation of his comment.   

Full story : BIRKENHEAD MP’S BREXIT BITCHFEST BACKFIRES

“The darkness around us is very deep” – Cllr Tony ‘Tight-fit’ Norbury reads a poem urging elected members to ‘Show Racism the Red Card’ whilst every single Wirral councillor appears to be oblivious to the darkness around them.

Full story : SHOW INAPPROPRIATE COMMENTS THE RED CARD

“Basically, it is the same thing over and over and over: incompetence, very poor communication (with me, but also with other agencies and between themselves), rudeness, poor or non-existent note-taking, people leaving at short notice and with no proper explanation, etc etc. It just goes on and on.

When the Klonowski enquiry produced its damning report, I briefly hoped that the people found to be grossly incompetent (and, in some cases, corrupt) would be removed. Disheartening, to say the least, to see people like Steve Foulkes still in place. Where is the accountability? There simply is none.

It beggars belief that Wirral Council has not been placed in special measures. I daresay the reasons behind that are political. The Tories asking for it are being hypocritical because part of the problem is chronic underfunding from central govt but I do think that being placed in special measures would be the best thing. The only thing, actually, that would give people like me and my son the chance at least of a semi-decent service. I know special measures are not a panacea but they would be our best chance.” – A Carer contacts us to describe her experience of trying to get a much needed service for her disabled son.

Full story : THE NEVER-ENDING STORY

Private Eye report of Wirral Leaks exclusive featuring some choice quotes.

Full story : INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS

“As the Labour  member on the (Standards) Panel it was very difficult for me  to hear that a Labour councillor had used her position as a councillor to damage the reputation and the livelihoods of other people. It goes without saying that people who come into this council were elected to serve the residents of the borough and not to use our position to do damage to them………” Cllr Moira ‘Matron’ McLaughlin proves to be another councillor in denial and conveniently forgets her role and that of other Labour councillors in damaging reputations and livelihoods of various former council officers who dared challenge them.

Full story : IT HAS TO STOP

DECEMBER

“Phil’s Folly “– Cllr Gerry Ellis proving there’s life in the old dog yet at a standing room only public meeting where he described  Wirral Council ‘leader’ Cllr Phil Davies and his plans for development of the Hoylake Golf Resort.

Full story : ADVENT FAREWELL 10 – QUESTION EVERYTHING

“LABOUR COUNCIL LISTEN TO THE PUBLIC!” – Wirral Needs campaigners repeated chant in the public gallery during last full Council meeting of 2017.

Full story : ADVENT FAREWELL 14 – WHY WIRRAL LEAKS SPEAKS IN PARABLES

A New Year Message from ‘Defend Our NHS’

 

Dear Friends,

Happy 2018!

Thank you for signing – if you have – the petition to STOP the new plans to dismantle our NHS. https://you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/stop-the-plans-to-dismantle-our-nhs

If you haven’t, please do!

Now NHS campaigners have got together with the University of Brighton and the NHS Support Federation to bring you this short survey about NHS changes in YOUR area. The results of the petition will be sent to your local decision makers.

This is a chance for you to make your views known at a local area level at last, whether the council or NHS have asked you or not!!! (Certainly, if you live in Wirral – like many other places, the Council and CCG have been conniving in total secrecy to dismantle our NHS and implement the so-called STP, while hypocritically claiming opposition. Nobody, except those in the conspiracy and those attempting to expose it, are aware.)

A tip would be to strongly disagree with the statements which indicate some sort of cut AND that prioritise financial savings over patient care.

https://healthcheck.nhsfunding.info/survey/

Please take a few minutes to fill it in. Carl Walker from the School of Applied Social Science, University of Brighton, says: “I’d be grateful if you could share as widely as possible to friends around the country. We are aiming for 10,000 people around the UK to complete it. Thanks”

https://healthcheck.nhsfunding.info/survey/

And remember to share the petition, which is an important indicator of the public’s feeling towards this completely unacceptable, top-down reorganisation involving £22bn of cuts, to the NHS. ONE BILLION in Cheshire and Merseyside alone (as recommended by the infamous PWC).

https://you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/stop-the-plans-to-dismantle-our-nhs

Here’s to a successful 2018. On 23rd December the lawyers for the campaign group 999 Call for the NHS told them that “a judge had considered our papers and those of NHS England… and granted permission for our JUDICIAL REVIEW to go ahead – some time after 16th February 2018! ”

Another good reason to sign and share this: https://you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/stop-the-plans-to-dismantle-our-nhs

Happy New Year everyone and THANK YOU!

Best wishes on behalf of Defend Our NHS