Chorley NHS Campaign Newsletter May2017

Image: Jean Maighread

Our Facebook page: http://bit.ly/AnE008 Email:

CSR.nhs.Campaign@gmail.com

YELLOW RIBBON EVENT – ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY

Show your support by tying a Yellow Ribbon for yourself. Even better, get your neighbours We invited all people of Chorley & involved.... show us your Yellow South Ribble to show their support for Ribboned street... all photos our NHS & it's staff by tying a Yellow welcomed.

Ribbon in their honour.

Here are a few to get you Trees, lamposts, railing, gates, front started. doors .... did you tie your ribbon to show your support?

Image: Jenny Hurley

Image: Frank Moss

Our teams of highly trained Ninjas have been skulking around, under the cover of darkness, to get you all started.

There is, right now, an attack on Our NHS. It's happening now. NOW !

Funding is being cut to record levels and short term savings means mass privatisation and building sell off. It is resulting in fewer services and our NHS staff being thrown to the ends of stress levels.

We're campaigning for an NHS service fit for all, free at the point of use and publicly owned and run. 1

Photo credit: Jenny Hurley

Chorley Town centre, the Borough (including remote areas of Rivington & Belmont), Adlington, Lostock Hall, Leyland, Penwortham – nowhere was safe!

Our Health Our Care: Our say events These public engagement events have been held at various venues, in and around the Chorley and South Ribble communities.

They are supposedly Celebrating the resolve of our staunch designed to inform the campaign supporters, at Week 53 of public of the changes to being without a full time, 24hr A&E, we were also joined (on 22/4/2017) by the National Health our friends from Rivington Barn Bikers Service, painting their with their assortment of 2, 3 and 4 vision of how great things wheeled contrivances, 'entertaining' us with numerous 'slow fly pasts' with could be in the future, unrestrained revving of engines! when in reality nothing could be further from the truth.

The truth is this amounts to nothing more than psychological warfare.

To mislead the public and influence the overall mindset of individuals, the CCG Photo: Andy Humphreys plant seeds in the public’s mind by using reverse The day's antics (including 'choir practice') were also video recorded by psychology, this usually London-based REEL NEWS, so involves the use of keep your eyes (and ears) open on PowerPoint presentations, our Facebook page (or peep here!). and some willing http://bit.ly/csrREEL participants, to get their 2

message across.

to care’ events.

The last event was held at the Civic Centre in Leyland and consisted of a traffic light system. Red meaning the plans would be oppose to, amber demonstrating unsure.

The facilitators try to steer the public to green for go ahead. A lot of the topics are complex - one wrong move and the decision could have serious consequences and this requires specialists in the field of mental health instead of try to get the public to engage and tick a box. When facilitators don’t like the questions that are put to them - that are scripted - they quickly divert and move on and avoid at all cost. There are several members of the audience who have been placed as a plants to provide damage limitation process?

These previously caring and dedicated professionals whose vocation was to serve and look after their patients’ needs without bias or prejudice in a confidential manner. Thankfully there are still many Doctors and nurses who don’t share the aim and objective of their colleagues who have gone down the path of clinical commissioning group in readiness for privatisation of the health service. They have slowly adapted mercenary approach.

Greed has engulfed our health service- a capitalistic programme for profit not care!

At what cost to patients?

Theresa May's (duck) decoy plan thwarted by hospital campaigners Late on the evening of 30 April, 'inside sources' let slip of a visit to Lancashire (Clayton-le-Woods)

These events should be renamed to the ‘let’s pretend 3

by Toxic Tess herself.

Although a strong Tory constituency with Seema Kennedy at the helm, neither the MP nor Mrs May made any attempt to talk to constituents or engage with the public.

To avoid any embarrassing questions and having to deal direct with the public, Theresa May who got wind of a protest at the event, decided at last moment to abort her scheduled visit to the duck race and headed straight to a secret meeting in Mawdesley - her reason for being in Lancashire.

The protesters made their point, loud and clear that once the NHS treatment for all at the point of need, once this vital service has gone, there will be no going back. Young or old we must fight for it, after all, it's our NHS.

This meeting scheduled to held behind closed doors in Mawdesley Community Centre - 5 miles from Chorley where Theresa May was to give a clandestine speech to the local Conservative Party.

MARKET STALL is desperate for volunteers to help staff it! If you CAN spare an hour or two, please contact the Facebook page “chorley A+E Market Stall”

Fortunately, the Chorley Hospital campaigners realised that the PM had rearranged her plans & they quickly moved their protest to Mawdesley.

We have tombola 3 tickets £1 Football card £1 per go [winner £30] Mugs £4 T-shirts £4 Hi-viz £4 Pens £1.50 Donations always welcome.

Photo: Jenny Hurley

The demonstrators stood there for over 2 hours in solidarity, making a peaceful protest which involved flags showing placards. When Mrs May left, the demonstrators shouted: “Shame on you!”

Open every Tuesday and Friday

1000-1430 4

ELECTIONS to the COUNCIL OF GOVERNORS of Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust

Councillor representing the National Health Action Party.

Three candidates, recommended by our campaign for support, were successful in their recent (30th March 2017) election to the Council of Governors of the LTHFTr ... quite commendable, given the pathetic 'turnout' of cast votes (13.6% for Public positions; 4.7% for Staff positions).

Mark continues to volunteer as an Ambulance Service Community First Responder and is also an active volunteer first aider, providing cover for local events and activities.

Dr Margaret France, a member of Chorley Borough Council since 2014, is a retired GP (with 35 years service) and represents Labour for the Wheelton and Withnell Ward.

Janet Miller is a retired Health and Social Care teacher with 40 years experience and was elected, for many years, as the Teacher Governor at the college.

She is Lead Member for Chorley Integrated Community Wellbeing Service and represents CBC on the Lancashire County Council Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee.

She is an active member of the CQC online community and is also a member of the Patient Group affiliated to her local Medical Centre.

We wish them every success.

All will remain in their roles until 31/3/2020.

Mark Jarnell, until recently, was Secretary to our Campaign and is a dedicated NHS campaigner both personally and in his role as a 5

Sadly, we did not get a 'full house' and commiserations have to go to Derrick Nicholson – perhaps next time?

PAY-PER-VIEW No, not your favourite sports team or blockbuster film, but the inside of your GP's consulting room or an A&E cubicle!

Family doctors, in Shropshire, will this week demand that NHS patients must pay for routine appointments. These, and other 'bright' ideas, will be discussed at a major BMA conference in Edinburgh on 18 May. Apparently, the principles of 'supply and demand' should be applied to healthcare, much in the same way as supermarkets inflate the price of broccoli when there is a poor crop you can't increase supply, so you reduce demand by hiking the price.

It has been likened to the 5p bag charge a trifling amount - but saw a reduction of 90+% in the number of disposable plastic shopping bags used, literally overnight.

Would a 5p charge put you off 'wasting' your GP's time? I doubt it.

How about £5? £10?? £20???

Well, in Eire (southern Ireland), the charges are already around £50 to see your GP; £100 to visit A&E. Not quite as cocky now, are you?

And for those "I'm alright. I have insurance" proponents, are you? Really?

Check the small print! Many of these 'affordable' insurance policies have SO many exclusions - long-standing conditions, frequency/number of claims over a period, complications - you perhaps should not be quite so smug.

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You may have seen the TV programme a few months ago, where a Nigerian woman flew to the UK to give birth to twins. With Caesarian section and intensive care costs for her babies the bill came to almost £350,000. Another, delivering triplets, was handed a bill for £320,000. The majority of these costs were for the non-routine care of the babies - certainly NOT covered (to any meaningful extent) by medical insurance! [See http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/201 7/01/16/healthtourism-warning-nhs-chases-350000bill-nigerian-woman/ for more].

Are you ready to sell your home to meet uninsured medical treatment costs? To be declared bankrupt for that heart condition??

Your NHS-subsidised Dental care is already falling by the wayside with a number of NHS Dentists no longer offering NHS appointments. A 6monthly check- up ramping from £20 to £50; a filling or extraction, from £50 to £150.

A list of over 200 medicines have been wiped off those allowed to be prescribed, and a number of surgical procedures are no longer being offered.

We have (or, at least, had until this government came into power) the BEST, most cost effective, healthcare system in the developed World - and the only one FREE (publicly funded) at the point of delivery.

Are you really ready to let this go?

We, as a Campaign, support the Labour Party Manifesto as IT supports our NHS. If YOU want the NHS to be available to you, your children, and grandchildren, you know what to do on the 8th June.

Don't let apathy take away what is rightly yours!

WHAT IS AN STP? STPs - Slashing, Trashing and Privatising our NHS. The NHS is in crisis and desperately needs more money. But the Tory government doesn’t care about public services and is forcing local health chiefs to make plans to cut NHS services - including ward closures, cuts in bed numbers, changes to GP practices and downgrades or closures of A&Es, maternity and children’s wards. Now, more than ever, the NHS needs us to fight for its future. These plans are called Sustainability and Transformation Plans (STPs). They have been prepared in secret and aim to limit NHS spending to £22bn less than is needed to maintain the current service.

The NHS isn’t overspending.

The government is underfunding.

STPs exploit this defunding crisis to shrink the NHS and bring in healthcare models like ACOs (accountable care organisations), from the US, where they base availability of healthcare on insurance and ability to pay, not on need, as it is now. Services will be 7

rationed. People will have to pay for some services or go without. If STPs go through, the NHS will no longer be able to meet all our health needs.

It will become more difficult to access, and a limited service of last resort.

The problem is too few beds, not too many patients!

What can you do to help?

Your right to be consulted, by law, health chiefs must properly consult with the public and patients as these plans involve massive changes to the ways health and social care services are provided. Our voices must be heard and acted upon. Let’s not make the mistake of waiting to be asked for our views the NHS is depending on us.

By choosing just one thing from this list and acting on it, you will be part of the fightback.

• Vote for the party which is supporting ‘Our NHS’ • Ask your councillors to demand that full and proper consultation takes place with the public about your STP. Tell them to oppose the plans and do everything they can to stop them.

Contact them via: https://weownit.org.uk/blog/its-our-nhsdont-slash-trash-and-privatise • Lobby full council meetings, Health & Wellbeing Boards and Scrutiny Committees. Ask them to oppose STPs. • Join up with your local NHS campaign group and be ready to join in demonstrations to defend local services.

• Spread the word amongst your friends and family.

Article from http://www.stopthestps.org.uk/.

DIARY

FACEBOOK PAGES

May/Jun 2017

The Campaign has a couple of public pages on Facebook, with distinct uses.

Please post (on Facebook page) if you can attend any of the day or night events.

This is primarily because of the pure volume of posts of a national nature being posted, and reposted, resulting in local issue messages being pushed further and further down the page, often meaning they get missed.

South Ribble Borough Council Meeting

Wednesday 17th May 6pm

Shield Room, Civic Centre, West Paddock, Leyland, PR25 1DH

If you have the QRcode app on your mobile device, you can scan the codes below for direct access.

Lancashire County Council Thursday, 25th May 2017, 1.30 pm

================== GENERAL ELECTION 8TH June ==================

So, our page for local issues is bit.ly/csrLOCAL

HEALTH SCRUTINY COMMITTEE

Monday, 12th June 2017, 10.30 am Cabinet Room 'C' - The Duke of Lancaster Room, County Hall, Preston.

Lancashire Health and Wellbeing Board Tuesday, 20th June 2017, 10.00 am

and for national press stories is bit.ly/CSRmedia

Cabinet Room 'C' - Duke of Lancaster Room, County Hall, Preston.

Chorley & South Ribble CCG

Wednesday 24th May 2017, 1.30pm The Garden Room, St Catherine’s Hospice, Lostock Lane, Lostock Hall, PR5 5XU Regards - Sue, Andy, Hazel, Jim, Sheila, Brigitte & Jayne.

IF you are going to type the addresses into your device, CAPITALS and lowercase letters make a REAL difference.

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