Ealing Notes (Neighbours Paper #87)

from Neighbours’ Paper | Issue 87 | Winter 2018/19

by npweb

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Ealing Notes

Compiled by Judy Breens

Latest figures show community care can't replace hospital beds

Six years ago, plans by a body called Shaping a Health Future were put in place to downgrade Ealing and Charing Cross Hospitals to ‘local hospitals’, losing their A&Es and up to 600 beds. But first they would have to drastically cut the number of emergency admissions to North West London hospitals by 99,000 per year, supposedly by treating people in the community. So how well is this going? Not well at all, according to latest figures revealed by Freedom of Information requests. In the last 5 years, emergency admissions to Ealing Hospital increased from 33,000 to 34,000 and across North West London, they increased from 167,000 to 181,000. Demand for beds is now so great that NW London NHS bosses say no beds will be lost at Ealing and Charing Cross until at least 2023. None of this

though has stopped Ealing CCG from pressing ahead with their extremely risky tendering out of our community health services. Their 10 year, £1.3 bn contract is supposed to magically reduce emergency admissions by tens of thousands by ‘transforming’ community health care. More cuts seem inevitable. Likely contract winners - a consortium led by West London NHS Trust - are expected to deliver community health services within a budget so tight that two other NHS Trusts pulled out. These include London North West, who run Ealing Hospital and provide most community health services now. They thought they couldn’t deliver safe, quality services for the money.Ealing Save Our NHS will continue to oppose the rundown of services every step of the way. For more campaigning news from Ealing Save Our NHS please sign up for our newsletter at www.ealingsaveournhs.org.uk.

West Ealing CentreNeighbourhood Forum(WECNF)

Sadly this has been wound up. Formed in 2013, the forum spent four years and over £30,000 of public money in creating a Neighbourhood Plan for West Ealing centre. In 2017, however, Ealing Council re-wrote the plan and then adopted this changed plan as its own.

Pigeon Wars

Shoppers at Sainsbury’s West Ealing may notice flocks of pigeons descending on an area adjacent to the store in Melbourne Avenue. A similar sight greets visitors to Dean Gardens. The unsightly droppings left also bring disease risks. This problem is recent and is the result of pigeons being fed on an industrial scale. Residents have pressed Councillors for action but the £10,000 the Council spent on landscaping the Melbourne Avenue area has failed

to deter the pigeon feeders. Similarly, notices explaining that an Ealing by-law prohibits pigeon feeding are ignored or even obliterated by spray-painters. Cleaning the signs fails because they are swiftly resprayed! There are only two solutions. One is a drastic pigeon cull. The other is a pigeon feeder "cull", which would require CCTV cameras and prosecutions to succeed. More on: www.getwestlondon.co.uk /ealingpigeons

4 Putting the People of Ealing First

Ealing Notes continueD

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Selling Ealing’s Family Silver

Recent editions of Neighbour’s Paper have described the Council’s asset sales programme and the blow dealt to it this summer when a High Court Judge declared its agreed sale of Southall Town Hall was unlawful. In his written ruling, the Judge has now explained why he agrees with the Southall Community Alliance that by simply accepting the highest bid for the town hall the Council failed in its duty to consider the wider social value of a building that is heavily used by the diverse community, many from disadvantaged minorities. The judge went on to say that Ealing had been ‘grossly deficient’ - strong words for a judge - in not doing a proper Equality Impact Assessment of the sale. Campaign leaders are waiting to hear what happens next, but four months after the court ruling there’s been no word. The High Court’s decision is

important. It confirms that councils like Ealing must put the interests and needs of the community at the centre of their decisions. It shows Councils must examine the case for selling assets like its surplus town halls at less than the highest price. The Judge’s ruling will no doubt affect other Council asset sales in Ealing. What will it mean for instance to the disposal of Ealing Town Hall? Four months after the public consultation into Mastcraft’s ambitious plans for a hotel (see NP 86) laboured negotiations with the charity commission over the status of the charitable trust continue. Still, this means function rooms remain open for hire. See www.saveealingscentre.com. And what about Acton where the winning tender for the Old Library will be announced in December? Will it help the Acton Arts Centre community bid to transform the library into a cinema and cafe-restaurant: see www.actonartsproject.com.

Calls are growing for a pause to these asset sales which cause so many rows for relatively little money. Furthermore, Ealing’s population is set to rise steeply. The services community buildings provide will be essential in helping new residents to integrate in the borough.

Ealing Over 60 Network (EON)

By Androulla Kyriacou

Having enjoyed a supportive network while raising her children, Andrée thought retired people might enjoy a more comfortable alternative to the school gates for keeping in touch. This brainchild, now EON, is run by the members, who agree the activities and hire Ealing Quaker Meeting House on Mondays, excluding bank holidays. It started in 20 February 2017 with invitations to pop in and share ideas. Now, there are about

100 people on the e-mailing list and about 25 dip in and out throughout the day. All are welcome, no need to book. There are no membership fees; instead there’s a basket for donations to subsidise activities. We’ve contacted Ealing Age UK to combine resources on combating social isolation and the programme reflects members’ interests. We’ve tried most things suggested at that first meeting: art appreciation, circle dancing, crafts, creative writing for well-being, croquet, demonstrations, discussions,

films, games, meditation, Nordic walking, parties, play readings, poetry appreciation, presentations on books/ writers/members’ special interests, singing, story-telling, table tennis, talks, visits, water colour painting and yoga. The programme usually starts with a strength and balance exercise class, there’s a ‘bring and share’ lunch; and activities at 2 and 4pm. For the latest programme contact: ealingover60network@gmail.com or phone Andree on 0776 1104609.

O’Dwyer

Independent Funeral Directors