Health & Social Care Bill

Well dear Friends and NHS supporters.... the Health Bill is soon to be passed.
I feel we have been betrayed by Politicians, especially the all evil Tories and their sidekick Liberal Democrats and finally the Queen.

Now Is the time to fight back and at the next election the NHS will be the main topic and voting material.
Labour, no I am not a supporter have nailed their intentions to the mast that they will repeal this rotten bill, I believe the Green Party will also support this too.

The Greens have also been full supporters of the NHS and would do the decent thing in government and tax the rich and we would not be in the austerity mess the Tories have taken us into.
The Health Bill will be very difficult to implement, you need staff on board, the will to implement and EU competition rules will make things very drawn out too, in fact it won't be implemented by the next General Election.
As Campaigners we can assist the delay by challenging local decisions, being involved in Health Watch, Patient events at G.P's and challenge CCG's
Hunts Health CCG leader says he would like the Health Bill dropped as per G.P's and the majority consensus. But will as all Health professionals try to make the best of this until the reorganisation is done again in 2-3 years time.

The biggest issue is the NHS Risk Register has not been published although it has been leaked that it contains the facts that 50 NHS Hospitals WILL close under the Tories evil plans. With an ageing population this is stupid and like the Tory PFI idea crass too.
We are "lucky" to still have Hinchingbrooke NHS Trust still with us, Stephen Dunn has brokered a "deal" with Circle for 10 years(although this could be finished at anytime) so we can I guess we are "safe". I have said in previous posts the "deal" will give Circle £100m more than Hinchingbrooke would have had over the 10 year period and Circle will get 5000 more patients too.
This shows what I said all along, the Circle "deal" is not the same as Hinchingbrooke NHS would have had and NOT the level playing field that Stephen Dunn claimed it would be, like the Government....he Lied.

The next challenge too is Acer Ward and also Hinchingbrooke's staff canteen.
Acer Ward, has a campaign on Facebook and Petition to stop this valuable ward from being closed for good. The awful run "virtual" NHS Trust, Cambridge & Peterborough Mental Health Trust, Farms out much their work rather than dealing with it in house, to charities and voluntary groups while the directors get fat and the trust loses cash and is underfunded.
If Acer Ward is allowed to close and I believe that the local MP is NOT behind the campaign then this will leave Acer Ward building to be empty.
I have information that Circle have no plans yet to use the facility, but then under rules would not be able to for at least 6 months.
It then could become a PRIVATE ward or wing....... One hopes that isn't the case.

The next issue is the Staff canteen. Since Circle started the menu has changed, the new chef serves hardly any meat dishes and usual favourites and numbers using the canteen have dropped dramatically, seriously lower numbers.
Staff now visit the front cafe or the country park for normal lunches and dinners rather than eat the new menu
I see this as being done on purpose as Circle had identified this area as a place to expand for offices.... yes offices....
It looks like Circle are gunning to move Welbeck St their HQ to Hinchingbrooke which would save a fortune....

Enough from me at this time.....BUT

THE SAVE ACER WARD PETITION MONSTER ROADSHOW

Starting 10.00am in St Ives at the Oliver Cromwell Statue, Market Place, St Ives.

Members of the Save Acer Ward campaign team including campaign creator and spokesperson, Liz Stokes, will be hitting the streets, markets and pubs on Saturday 24th March to Monster the good people of St Ives, Huntingdon and St Neots into signing our petition to Save Acer Ward,

We will be available for interview and photo opportunities on Saturday 24th March - starting 10.00am in St Ives at the Oliver Cromwell Statue, Market Place, St Ives.

The Petition was started in St Ives by Save Acer ward campaigner, Anita Whateley and we will be also visiting the other market towns of St Neots and Huntingdon,

With the NHS Cambridgeshire & NHS Peterborough board meeting on Wednesday 28th March, where the ward's fate will be decided fast approaching collecting petition signatures will demonstrate the strength of public opposition to the closure of Acer ward, Huntingdonshire's only inpatient mental health facility (over 1500 signatures already collected).

Or to sign the online petition visit our website www.saveacerward.wordpress.com and follow the link

Debt and more debt... Blame it on PFI

I get very cross when Peterborough City Hospital's CEO bleats about their £46m of debt.
Putting this into perspective of course, this was accrued over an 18 month period, unlike Hinchingbrooke's which was accrued over 15 YEARS

Stewart Jackson the MP for Peterborough blames PFI for the City Hospital Debt, however this PFI deal was signed when the PFI shortcomings were already on the table and exposed for all to see. The blame surely lies with the City Hospital Board and the PFI contract managers.

In my view, the City hospital should suffer the same indignity as Hinchingbrooke and be put out to tender to see if another NHS or a company like Circle would propose to manage the trust...... Oh No .... La La Lansley gives them a Bail Out, £8M more than the Hinchingbrooke Debt too....

The biggest issue for Peterborough City is the parasitic contractor Serco, who are their partners and PFI Facilities managers.
Serco were "lined" up alongside Circle to manage Hinchingbrooke and I bet they are circling to take over the Hospital.

Circle also have some issues coming up soon,with the Special Care Baby Unit and the Childrens Unit. The issue is..... they are used and run by the soon to be defunct Primary Care Trust and NOBODY yet has announced what is to happen to these units. I see an Acer Ward coming up, with out of Touch local councillors, satisfying their own needs and conning voters for the May elections, getting caught with their trousers down yet again
You see there are NO councillors who are really Health Service Aware.....
The other issues are the Transforming Pathology where the East of England SHA or rather it is now merged and called NHS MidlandsEast.... privatisation of blood services.
The Pathology Labs are seen as a prime candidate to be run by a single Trust and a centralised service. This idea is fine on a purchasing type of scenario to purchase consumables and Lab supplies..... BUT not for management.
This Centralisation is merely to process "cold" lab bloods from GP's and it was proposed in 2007.
However....the 2007 proposal was by the biggest predator in the East of England....Addenbrookes....who had done a deal with HFL labs, the Racehorse Lab to take on their allocated staff at this new unit but it was exposed and it was withdrawn at the time.
It has reared it's ugly head again of course as the great predator is pushing to be the Central Lab...and with that will go the HFL deal ,,,but it will only get in place AFTER the SHA is defunct....dodgy deal done dirt cheap....
The last issue is MHRA....they inspected Hinchingbrooke late last year and the Labs were told they needed more staff to be operating at a safe level, however the "old" management didn't commit to new staff due to the imminent Circle rip off deal. Circle now are saying NO to more staff.....BUT MHRA are coming back next week.....so will Circle get their arses kicked....you bet they will

A NEW DAY DAWNING....

One has to wonder how Hinchingbrooke staff will greet patients, one tweeter has suggested "tongue in cheek" .....Welcome to Circle Hinchingbrooke Ltd... but who knows.

My inside sources as well as my meeting attendance keeps me "ahead of the game" when it comes to news and news to me comes easier than in 2006 when Hinchingbrooke was threatened with closure.....
Many people now use Twitter and I follow @NHSspy and @circlebrooke who I am led to believe work "within the walls".
If Twitter was about in 2006....things at Hinchingbrooke would not have got this far....twitter pushes news and campaigns in real time, mostly faster than BBC/SKY etc.
We could have stopped this nonsense on 21st September 2006 if twitter was born back then.... but it wasn't so we are here....

I still continue to get emails from staff and patients and letters stuffed through my letter box......

I shall not say my job as campaigner is done here....because it isn't.....

I promise to blog at least weekly even if not much is happening at the Hospital and even if it is commenting on the local health economy such as the PFI doomed Peterborough Hospital which has more debt than Hinchingbrooke yet only open for 18 months......

One thing staff at Hinchingbrooke can be well assured..... they have worked 110% over all the years and the debt was NOT their fault....
If successive Political meddling had not got in the way then they would not have the debt, Tories have their Neo Liberal Private good, Public bad views and Labour wanted to be seen to be doing something....
We all know that Hinchingbrooke has had a tough life, Locals donate much time etc. and even the land it is built upon was donated and hence why the 2006 sell off and ideas to sell land to the rear where scuppered.
You see D0H and SHA number crunchers only care about what they can make or cut in budgets NOT about Patients.....sadly

We have suffered 50% per capita funding since 1982 due to Baroness Blatch and the Tyrant Thatcher's "deal" which deemed the area as not requiring a 100% funding ratio.
We have suffered Health Rationing on a massive scale and it has shaped the Health care map locally. Failures in Tory Councils to provide infrastructure have helped Hinchingbrooke stay open as the road network locally is appalling.

Recently as Christmas 2011, Hinchingbrooke's activity for A&E has been running sky high, good for Hinchingbrooke of course but you have to wonder why that is.....

In the main it is down to the Private Run "Urgent Care Cambridgeshire" who are responsible for Out of Hours GP.....they tend and personal experience confirms this to tick the box take the money and A&E pick up the case....hence why many just opt to go straight to A&E....and the SHA/PCT as now and DOH wonder why we do that...
Private companies like UCC and Harmoni making cash for doing little...

It's a new dawn today for Hinchingbrooke, staff and buildings and ALL building work and facilities are NHS.... the pen pushers at the top taking the financial risk are Circle Health....they are sadly "doing a tory" and shifting responsibility to staff for Profit & Loss,which means when it fails and it surely will...the Staff are at fault and Circle walk away unscathed and with knowledge of the NHS for another assault somewhere else a little easier


Thanks to all Hinchingbrooke supporters....The Fight Goes On Until Hinchingbrooke is finally back in the NHS .....AND run by a true Social Enterprise....The People of Huntingdonshire.....

Goodbye NHS

Today is Hinchingbrooke's Last Day as an NHS run hospital, for now anyway.

It is a sad day for Campaigners who fought not just to keep Hinchingbrooke from closing but indeed fought to get the hospital built and moved away from the old County hospital on Brampton Road. Locals remember that the land Hinchingbrooke is built on was DONATED to enable the facility to be built, but that's for another day as the foundations to the NHS to Andrew Lansley mean nothing as all that matters to him is lining his pocket from Tory health care donors

It was revealed by Circle yesterday that the Circle Health Hinchingbrooke will be run as 20 or so "Clinical Units" of 50 to 100 staff and ALL Staff members are responsible for Profit & Loss of those units......see I WAS correct PROFIT before patients and staff are Coerced into this scam too.
Building works are being done too, new windows and now frontage and atrium roof as well as the new rear car park carved up to make way for a new back up generator..... Customers of Hinchingbrooke will obviously think these are being paid for by Circle.....WRONG...paid for by the Taxpayer and yes ....all these items were identified by Hinchingbrooke long ago, the windows 15 years ago.....Circle arrive and get what they want, when they want it.....

"Magic" Ali Parsa has sorted some Near Patient blood machines for quick testing, they don't do it all but it makes a good show, what he forgets is the Lab staff will spend 90% of their days quality controlling these machines....

I end this post albeit a brief one, with some thoughts......

Now Circle Health have announced that Staff are responsible for Profit and Loss, you have to ask a) What actually are Circle Health doing?...not managing that's for sure b) Will they finally admit their LIE that they are a Social Enterprise as Profits don't go with non profit Social Enterprises c) the Treatment Centre and Hospital have a recruitment campaign as of tomorrow....yes because the activity will be up by 100% to what the Treatment centre was designed for.....

Today at Hinchingbrooke NHS you are a Patient....as of Tomorrow you are a Circle Hinchingbrooke Ltd Customer with a Price on your head.....

Ironic how....in 2006 they were going to run down and close the Hospital...we campaigned and kept it open....so they hand the "management" to Circle Health in the private sector and they throw money at it.....and it will be a bottomless pit.....as this ROTTEN TORY Government will do their worst to make this "work", well on paper anyway......

The Staff will be the ones who are blamed....when it all goes wrong...but we know different, don't we.....

THE REVELATIONS KEEP COMING

Since the announcement of the Circle Health Hinchingbrooke NHS "deal" it seems that more comes out daily to show my warnings have been vindicated.

One local Tory biased propaganda weekly paper call me a scaremonger and fall just short of calling me a liar, but as they dine and meet with our local and "dodgy" MP, who has been berrated for his expenses claims and recently brought to book over share dealing and a possible conflict of interest with his government office.

I warned that this "deal" was Profits before Patients and today it is revealed just that they are not a social enterprise
One thing you will notice is the debts that Circle Health made a pre-tax loss last year of £44.3m and yet they claim to be able to pay off Hinchingbrooke's historic,government induced debt of £38m. This does sound dubious as with this years £10m losses in 10 months added then the prospect for this to fail are high

On top of this we find that Patient Care is to fall this was again, Highlighted by me and again I was brandished a scaremonger and all but a liar and yet again I will be vindicated.

The other issue is the motives of Circle and how they can manage to turn a profit, even a small one.
One of the largest liabilities for a Hospital is staff pay and lets be fair we are paying for highly skilled people here,from x-ray, blood testing,porters and the like right up through Nursing staff to Consultants. All are trained to high standards to provide there service to the patient.

Under the Circle "deal" all the staff are to be retained using the Retention of Employment model, which means they are seconded from the NHS to the new company while retaining their NHS employment status, terms and conditions.
However, I know what Circle are going to do, they are going to, through slick presentations, going to offer to staff the chance to opt out of the NHS ROE model and choose to TUPE to their Terms & Conditions with an offer of shares that will never be worth the paper they are written on.

The outcome for those who choose the TUPE route will be devastating as Circle will not bat an eyelid when it comes to culling staff as these poor souls will be cast to the wilderness without a care and yes the shares will be worth nothing.

Under the current management team, Hinchingbrooke makes a small surplus, enough to keep it in the black but not enough to eat into the Historic debt that was caused over the years by successive governments and their relentless top down reorganisations.
So, who will Circle make any more cash to really eat into the debt and as the architect of this dubious deal the non clinical "Dr" Dunn claims?....they wont.

Unless the PCT and the forthcoming CCG's favour Hinchingbrooke Hospital for treatment,(I hazard a guess DOH "guidance" will "encourage" this) and the upcoming health bill's "Bung Tariff" (higher than normal payment)used then they wont make any more surplus than they currently do.
If this happens, having more activity(patients through the door) and a higher tariff(payment for work) then this is unfair and again I said this would happen if/when Circle or anyone else was handed the Hinchingbrooke Management to make it work,or seen to work.

The only other means to save cash is for staff numbers, already cut to the bone, to be further reduced.
I know of managers who have already been "encouraged" to consider early retirement and the TUPE crowd as I have already explained will also be fair game for the Circle axeman.

I also wonder, not as so much as to who pays, but should something go wrong in the hospital that requires repair. I ask this as the back up generator at Hinchingbrooke is now a little suspect and was noticed during last Friday's power cut. We all know the NHS will have to pay for this to be repaired or replaced BUT how will Circle react to a failure like this and what procedures are in place for such an occurance?....

There will be more to follow on from this but remember......under the terms of the "deal".... Circle Health can get out of the contract at any time.....

My words to them is.... Get out now, while you can or you will regret it...

Remembrance Day

Today we remember our Troops that have given the ultimate sacrifice at 11:00 please spend a minute to remember them......

Sadly we need to apply the same to the NHS in England,as of yesterday...the ultimate treason took place.... RIP..

The Day After.....

Yesterday was very busy, I did a quick interview on the radio and said that I think the Circle Health "deal" will be a Flash in the Pan.

My reason....they won't make cash out of it under the Health & Social Care Bill structure, if it gets passed along with the huge NHS cuts that the CCG (commissioning groups that take over from the NHS Cambs PCT) face.

CCG's will ration Hospital referrals and our healthcare locally, way more than was forced upon the local Health Board in the 80's.

As the majority of patients know,especially the elderly ones, how their Health Care has been rationed over the last 30 years with us have 50% of national funding instead of being afforded the full funding other areas get and now we are going to get even less and with an expanding and ageing population....is that fair?..NO
But then is this rotten government fair.....NO..and the 80's Government who reduced the health care funding was of the same ideology as today's

Pre 2006 Hunts PCT had a deal with Hinchingbrooke where the Hospital got paid under tariff, so more patients were referred and referred earlier.
The result being balanced books everywhere and Patients conditions were treated at an earlier stage and better outcomes achieved.

Post 2006 and Labour's top down creation of Cambs PCT and EoESHA things got tougher, especially because the Treatment centre was to handle referrals from a large area yet during the build the goal posts changed....and hence Hinchingbrooke's debt...likewise PBR was introduced too compounding the debt.
Post 2006 led to the SHA suggesting the hospital may close.....well that's history as we kept it open......however, the number of "interim" Chief executives of the local trusts came and went and took their £1000 + per day and nowt changed.

Cambs PCT as it was before renaming to NHS Cambridgehire, said that Hinchingbrooke would have 25% less activity and more will be done in the community.
They built Oak Tree Centre a Darzi type unit, where minor procedures could be done and grandstanded a £2m investment in community services.
I said that £2m was only enough to provide vehicles and phones and maybe offices but not services....and I was correct.
Over the past few years NHS Cambs was formed and Cambs Community Services formed and CCC is funded by PCT and Cambs County Council and this is where things get complicated.
Social care is allocated by the County council and Community Services has taken on that service with some former county employees now in community services and they are house.....in the Oak Tree Centre...the Darzi type unit where the treatment rooms (still with sinks and cupboards etc are used as meeting rooms and offices)and not providing healthcare.

It's all in a mess really but then things have got more stable where you visit your GP and he may or may not refer you to a hospital of your choice, in the main with the rubbish road network we choose Hinchingbrooke as it is close by.

Out of Hours care is another story and post Dr Ubani scandal,most go straight to Hinchingbrooke and bypass the GP route. This is being discouraged but the 2004 choices made post GP contract led to Private companies running OOH GP's and failed.

Is Circle the answer or retribution for keeping Hinchingbrooke open?

Circle is just payback for keeping the hospital open, and a political opportunity to get the Private Sector parasites into the NHS, nothing more.
When you see the local political structure and how it got to this then you have the answer to why Hinchingbrooke was a soft target.

In the post Marching and Save Hinchingbrooke fall out, the Hospital restructured and has made annual surplus's and the hospital has been refurbished too.
Everything has been done to make the Hospital run efficiently and Circle wont make anything like the changes they want to without sacking staff...

Magic Ali said yesterday they they want to reduce red tape etc....that is a DOH issue and about data collection, any clinical procedures have parameters that cannot be changed to prevent errors, although Addenbrookes the wonderful have made grave surgical errors recently.

Circle Health take over next February, in my last post I said January but there you go.....and how will they make money...they wont unless there is more activity (bodies through the door) I do know the intention is to run the Theatres 24/7 and I would hazard a guess many will be shipped from Circle's other units to keep throughput up.

Under the Health Bill, this is a failed and old model that is not sustainable.

Magic Ali is going to use Hinchingbrooke's Support services, for FREE,for his other units....sterile services, Blood Labs,Catering and X-ray to save cash at the other units and we pay for it.....

Only Transparency will show that this is not going to happen and his other business's will pay the going rates,but of course we know that we will never find out....but yes I will...an insider who tweets,as well as staff members who send me anonymously information to share.

Circle will also be getting rid of middle managers, in fact I know of 3 who have been "encouraged" to retire early so that they then will not be replaced.
Circle have had their "pink and fluffy" orchestrated stunt filled staff meetings all this week, before the announcement yesterday and they only like sessions which do not question their motives.

Lastly, the contract is watertight in Circle's favour....they can get out whenever they want.... so that gives me and the community no faith in the deal which in fact isn't worth the paper it is written on

The time has finally come

It has been a while since I have posted here, mainly due to Hinchingbrooke NHS being
still run as well as ever by the current efficient board and staff members.

However, things have moved on for the NHS, with the Secretary of State, Mr Lansley froma neighbouring constituency pushing to part privatise the system,well he claims different but we all know that is far from the truth.

He and his rotten politics want to allow "Any Willing Provider" to be able to do NHS work.

We all know Hinchingbrooke NHS Trust...OUR...Local hospital, many of us marched to keep open in October 2006, has been gifted by the Stakeholder panel of 40, no member properly representing the public and any public events being held at awkward times so non one attended as well as NO public consultation.

Mr Lansley, yes the Secretary of State for Health was a panel member when Circle Health were chosen to manage Hinchingbrooke in November 2010. As yet, this contract has not been signed and Mr Lansley has now distanced himself from the process, even though he was part of the selection process. I believe he should have restarted the process as soon as he was placed in office as Secretary of State for Health as being part of the selection process makes it a conflict of interest.

Needless to say, the Contract for the so called "Franchise" is signed on 1st November as a Transition period takes place until Circle Health get their grubby, parasitic hands on OUR hospital on January 1st 2012

Circle Health claim to be a Social Enterprise, when in fact they are a Hedge fund bankrolled, for profit, offshore company which in fact is a totally different definition and they have mislead the public and been economical with the truth
Circle Heath are also £38m in debt and so far for 2011 they are £9m in debt...for me not a good basis for someone to run Hinchingbrooke Hospital.

One bonus with this "deal" is that Hinchingbrooke will be afforded some protection, protection from A&E closure and Maternity Closure as well as keeping the Hospital fully functional.

During the next couple of years Andrew Lansley is making ALL NHS Trusts into Foundation Trusts or close, Hinchingbrooke is exempt from that process due to the Circle Health "franchise".
My other concern, although not as large for this area as others in the UK is GP commissioning, for us and our 30 year of Healthcare rationing we will see little change yet for those areas who have been afforded 100% funding, unlike our 50% funding they will find rationing of care difficult to deal with.

I have been informed that there are proposals for each GP to only refer 4 patients per week to secondary care (Hospital) which is outrageous and should be stopped.
The largest issue, and this has been ongoing again for 30 years, is social care.
Social Care budgets are provided at Local Council level and they then place the care to the elderly population that is in need.

In recent years the Primary Care Trust, as it has been, and the County Council have merged 2 budgets to get a fund that is somewhere near the bottom of the need requirement for Cambridgeshire. This fund really needs to be 200% larger today and rising 10% each year to cope with the elderly population alone.

Currently we hear horror stories that the NHS Nurses in hospital are not caring for our parents and grandparents properly. In reality the Council & PCT are not doing their jobs due to funding and the NHS is picking up the pieces.

Community Care as outlined in the PCT's Hinchingbrooke plan and agreed by the now Commisioning groups Chair Maureen Donnelly has failed and failed miserably as I predicted in 2007. The 25% less activity for Hinchingbrooke, also part of the plan has failed and failed miserably due to patient choice and of course Fuel costs and the awful A14.

As I write this, Addenbrookes, the Rosie and Hinchingbrooke are at full capacity and winter is not yet upon us. I for see that we will be having to make do or haul up to the struggling Peterborough City Hospital.

Cambridge & Peterborough Mental Health Trust are also in huge financial trouble, recently the excellent Acer ward at Hinchingbrooke has been closed to a huge outcry. The Mental Health Trust has recently become a satellite employer where in the main their services are provided a more expensive way by other organisations and charities. If you feel you are able please take part in their consultation


I can see a reasonably "settled" future for Hinchingbrooke NHS Trust as Circle Health will have to maintain services there and we really should not see too much difference to healthcare and staff. Staff are still NHS employees but will be seconded to Circle during the "franchise" period, however long this ends up being.
Current projections are that Circle Health will not make any profit from the Hinchingbrooke management "deal" and will end up funding the payments themselves to reduce the Hinchingbrooke historic government induced debt. Again this will not be good for Circle Health as they have also recently lost 2 big NHS contracts worth £54m.
I predict this "franchise" will last a maximum of 2 years, the timescale for all NHS Hospitals to become Foundation Trusts, then the Government will fund Hinchingrooke to Comply with this system upon Circle's exit from the contract.

My prediction is based upon the lack of profits to be made by Circle and the poor option for Hospital expansion as well as the PFI Treatment centre and the need to meet the repayments for that building.

I will be posting more frequently from now on, keeping you up to speed with what is happening at Hinchingbrooke, in fact I am there tomorrow too....

There is another plan afoot as I raised in 2007, this pertaining to the Blood test service. GP's currently have blood tests done at a local hospital and Huntingdonshire GP's are afforded the excellent 24hr blood test turnaround by Hinchingbrooke.

In fact all the days bloods from all the surgeries are processed by 20:30 each day and are available by GP's the following start of the day.

This is now in crisis as the stupid Strategic Health Authority, once East of England and now Its MidlandsEast, have decided that a "Hub" & "Spoke" system is way to go.

The Hub is a central lab and each hospital has a "hot" lab on site to process Hospital bloods. GP bloods will go to the Hub and be processed over 3 days...not within the 24 hrs they currently enjoy....

The A14 and Fuel costs won't help the scheme and the proposed PFI/NHS funded building is proposed on the Addenbrookes site, what a surprise.

Rearing it's head too is the Horse Blood lab again as it is rumoured that they will be running and taking over the spoke within 2 years and taking the service out of the NHS....for good.
Something for us to monitor and put to media.

Conflict Of Interests

It now is shown clearly that "Dr" Lansley has a conflict of Interest, he and his Tory government have recieved "donations" from Care UK and as if by magic.....Care UK "win" an NHS contract for the Prison service in the North West. Even though the NHS was the best Value and Clinical, the "responsible" adjudicators for the tendering process awarded the work to Care UK. So it was on Price alone.....?.... YES... Cheaper bid...the result will be ....Profits before Prisoners....Who cares they are only prisoners you say.....but those prisoners will soon be NHS patients....if this sham of a white paper is implemented.
Locally, we have suffered the indignity of have 50% less capitation budget and as such our health care is compromised and many services are simply, either not there or only just provided. Local G.P's and hospitals just manage to cope with this shameful level of funding they recieve and everything is cut to the bone and offices run very lean.
The same applies to Local Councils too with their grant.....shamefully and not surprisingly the Coucillors and Health Chiefs have done nothing about these funding issues and been good little tories and got on with it. My reasons for the last comment is due to the fact that the Tories introduced the 2 tier funding in the 80's which is often called the "Post Code Lottery", when in fact it's full funding or half funding.
Our Local Tory MP does not give a hoot for his constituents as he lives in London all the time apart from odd days when he stays at his country investment up here, so no good writing to him as he will sit on the fence and tow the party line and support "Dr" Lansleys Evil English Experiment.

My main issue with Lansley's plans are that the inequalities of the captitation figures and the PCT debts need to be in balance, we need FULL funding and then the PCT's leave the GP consortia with an in balance account.....while we are at it, Mr Lansley.....Make sure the NHS has the extra 14% payment for services like the sweetner that the Private sector enjoy.....lets have the level playing field and not one based on "You drop me some cash and I will see you alright" deals
Circle Health will be managing Hinchingbrooke Hospital from June, so in effect will be "safer" from much of this meddling, they will be 14% better off before they even do any work, the staff will be NHS as will the buildings....for now...
I read that Circle are applying to be listed on the stock market as they have now had some £120m of investment from Hedge funds and venture capitalists, you don't invest like that unless your expecting to get a return....a huge one...Parasites

A little bird also tells me that Circle have declared that they will be running the Hinchingbrooke Treament Centre 24/7 and running the Theatres tight too....maximising slots....Hinchingbrooke have been denied this level of activity, and when challenged the PCT/SHA claimed that "if a preferred bidder managed Hinchingbrooke, they would not be treated more favorably".....indeed they will be....as to achieve this "Factory" healthcare, you will need a) to be guaranteed the work and b) be able to cherry pick the proceedures to suit your business model....
It is a shame that the Current Excellent Hinchingbrooke management were not afforded the same status and access to this activity.
It is also a pity to see that the No 1 Maternity unit in East Anglia (achieved by NHS management and staff with low capitation funding)is to be handed over to the private sector to manage, I watch with interest.

This is outrageous for all Patients and tax payers and the level playing field will not be there........it will be okay to a degree for NHS staff members as they will have a continuous cycle of work and the support services like Sterile services and Pathology will be running at full capacity...

If Mr Lansley wants his Great experiment to work properly with no bias and no conflicts of interest, then Mr Lansley needs to fund all areas equally, clear any PCT debts, and have equal funding for NHS/Private treatment....and then we will see which is the winner.....and it won't be the Private Sector.....

NHS REFORM

NHS “reform” or rather back door privatisation is being proposed by the government, and we all know that Hinchingbrooke hospital is to be run by a private company from June this year for a set number of years. Many of us know this is a privatisation and will be proved correct as time goes on unless it fails miserably
The government are new expecting our own G.P's to run the NHS from local level and include in that the commissioning of service, or buy treatment for you and me. Up to now this has been done by PCT's but they will cease by 2013 and many of them will leave huge debts like NHS Cambridgeshire. Needless to say this debt will be passed onto the G.P consortium’s who will have to operate with the debt, which will obviously mean that they are behind before they start, rather that starting with a fresh start and balanced accounts.

The government also will keep the unfair price per head of capita, which was meddled with by Lady Blatch & Mrs Thatcher and reduced Huntingdonshire,Cambridgeshire and a few other unfortunate areas to a shocking £1000 per person, yet leaving other parts of the UK at £2000 per person for their health care.
This needs to be equalised to remove health inequalities and give our local G.P's a fair chance along with any PCT's debt also to be absorbed and written off too, to make the NHS reforms work fairly for all.
Mr Cameron says we are all in it together, well lets see shall we and please contact your MP or local councillor and candidates to make sure this is fair. I know the local MP will tow the party line and sit on the fence but you can all write to him or do something to save your healthcare locally and stop it's erosion any further. We are a poor relation as it is, same applies to local councils too, please don't sit on your bottoms and let them get away with it, do something. There will be some local meetings and other activities to save the NHS run by ordinary people and open to all. If you have visited a doctor,dentist or optician in the last 60 years then you need to be involved, maybe it should be the NHS society, please join in before your saddled with a huge Healthcare Insurance policy or no healthcare.

P.M on back foot

Cameron was on the back foot at PMQ's, he cound not answer questions on the NHS

He could not answer whether the "reforms" oops Privatisation, would reduce waiting times, well WE all know the answer to that..... NO... all there will be will be a reduction in treatment and Private firms cherry picking the easy work from the NHS and charging top whack after a year into any contract they negotiate with the G.P commisioners who will be "roughed" up by these scum....all they want is Profits before patients.
I asked my G.P yesterday about his views, in principle, like me....he thinks it is okay, what is missing is the "link" between G.P and Secondary Hospital care......
I guess we are lucky locally as the G.P's have a good relationship with Hinchingbrooke, but I fear for others where the releationship is not there as there will be a void, a void in which the G.P will be like a fish out of water.....then a "kind" company will come along to "assist" with his commissioning.....to their Hospital/medical unit...under a sewn up tight contract....

Well...... we have 2 choices......

Fight back

or

Accept this and buy Health Insurance as we will be like the U.S in 5 years if we don't fight for the NHS....OUR NHS.....

Been just a Summer and Autumn

but I am back, the Tories have left me little choice but to start up my campaign again

As many of you know Circle Health have been "gifted" the Management or rather "ownership" of Hinchingbrooke hospital from June 2011. I for one are not happy with this but as I was not invited to be one of the 40 members of the Stakeholder Panel then the blame for this fiasco lies soley with the 28 MP's and local authority members plus the Union representatives from the regions and the groups that were supposed to have been the voice of the people ........ NOT

I guess you know why I was kept out of the discussions.....

The Tory Local Press Rag, the Hunts Post, has done nothing for this and in fact is merely a voice and free press for the Local Tory paper and the MP
While on the subject of the local multi millionare MP..... Anyone seen him recently?
The last time I recall was at the Huntingdon Rememberance Day service, mind you that was the 1st time for 5 years.......shameful

SO......where do we go from here..........?
We ramp up and support all NHS campaigns, we inform the public,Patients etc about what is happening..........and join in...it works.
This will be Lansley & Cameron's poll tax and we can bring them down.......

I like the idea of G.P's being involved with mu care...BUT and a big BUT is how much involvement and the relentless speed the Secretary of State and Prime Minister are going to try and push this through.
Their(and Thatcher's - see a theme build) Policy Maker........Oliver Letwin, did, as you now prime U.S healthcare firms at the very same time as Cameron told the millions watching the election debate thaat the NHS is protected. I think if you scroll down this blog you will find that I have already covered that and a link to the news article too. The main issue with handing the commissioning to G.P's is the huge pressure this will place on them, then the result will be that they will need some "assistance".....but the PCT won't be there....but the U.S healthcare vultures will be to offer "help" and they will obviously commission their companies to care for the G.Ps patients......in comes the privatisation...... Letwin's Baby...

All I can say is (and using today's Mirror headline) BLOOD MONEY.....

especially as you must recall Lansley's £21,000 donation from a health company...

WATCH THIS SPACE........ THE FIGHT GOES ON.....

Franchise......

Under the Lansley plans this should be dead and buried by now.....it is a project that has NOT been signed off, so is dead in water under the Laansley announcements in May 2010.

I guess they have to let due process take it's course and the 3 provider to 1 provider choice has been postponed from September 2010 to February 2011......
This means that it WILL not start from April 2011 but I would think that by then the last bidder will have withdrawn from the process....
The SHA dies from 31 March 2012, so if any Franchise is put into place to begin 1st April 2012 (due to delays) then WHO will police this..... No One.......

The best way forward is to scrap the process NOW, and when the SHA/PCT are sorted any balance can pay off the Historic debt that was induced by these 2 bodies in the 1st place......what goes around....comes around....

PCT's....... You Die Today



The SHA's are dead, Now (Thankfully) the PCT's die from today......

I can see the idea of a GP link with local hospital's and surgeons, but can the GP's cope with commisioning?.....

I guess that they will need to employ some commissioning admin folks from the PCT's when they are made redundant, but what if they cant cope........ I can see the PRIVATE heathcare providers "offering" commissioning services and choosing their own private hospitals and medical units to perform proceedures and ignore local NHS hospitals.....which is corupt.....

The "NEW" idea....not really....back to old health board days and use local hospitals, should work.....The Market has NO place in UK healthcare...

Thanks

Well I have been campaigning since 2006 and now is the time to say goodbye.....

I have Saved Hinchingbrooke from closing, with the help of colleagues and also YOU the public.
What we need to make sure is the we KEEP this Jewel in the Crown ....the only way is to use YOUR choice as a patient and go there for treatment.....Plus keep speaking out even at GP level.....

I am now taking a back seat.....my work is done.....You CAN all have a say and make people accountable.....go out there and do it.....

Goodbye All & will take a rest from Campaigning......for good....

Mike

Mr Lansley Says...

IT IS ALL HERE.......

Mr Lansley Says......

Of course, the NHS has to make changes as opportunities arise and new technologies and medicines emerge. But we cannot have change for change's sake.

Some of these closures, or reconfigurations, of local services are based on disputed or flawed evidence, and do not pay due attention to clinical opinion. Some have lacked real public engagement beyond a cursory consultation. Most do not reflect the choices that patients or GPs would make if they were in control.

Unfortunately, I cannot re-open previously concluded processes nor halt those that have passed the point of no return, with contracts signed or building work started. But the majority of cases are ongoing and we have an opportunity for a new approach.

As of today, I am calling a halt to the current process. I have asked Sir David Nicholson, the chief executive of the NHS, to inform the service of this immediately and to signal a complete change to the way we deal with these issues. This moratorium will provide a chance to reset every proposal, to reconsider every decision and to ensure that in each case they are consistent with the following key criteria.

First, there must be clarity about the clinical evidence base underpinning the proposals. Second, they must have the support of the GP commissioners involved. Third, they must genuinely promote choice for their patients. Fourth, the process must have genuinely engaged the public, patients and local authorities.

This will not merely be another tick-box exercise – it will be a tough test, which every proposal must pass if it is to proceed.

WE SAY>>>>> TELL THE SHA TO END THE PROCESS AT THIS WEEKS STAKEHOLDER PANEL>>>>

TIME TO PUT THIS PRIVATISATION PROCESS TO BED>>>>
IT HAS NOT BEEN SIGNED>>>> IT HAS NOT BEEN PROPERLY CONSULTED WITH THE PUBLIC>>>>
AND IT IS NOT CLINICALLY BASED>>>

Leaflets

Mr Salt the Independent candidate is looking for help with leaflet delivery - if you can help in St Neots or St Ives area feel free to phone me 07984 413839

Hustings

Well it's the Hunts Post hustings tomorrow and how it has all changed....

It is not a Tory rally to put down Labour and Lib Dems as originally planned, poor ticket take up has led for the organisers to invite the other candidates along.

Perhaps now we will get a proper debate and also get the answers we need about the Privatisation of Hinchingbrooke and where the Candidates stand, before you vote.

The doorstep visits have highlighted the Peoples disgust and outrage at the process to Privatise Hinchingbrooke and the NHS , they are disgusted at Labour for instigating it under their watch and the Tories as it is their Policy too.

Please try and go to the Hustings tomorrow.....

We say Thanks.... We WILL run the hospital..... AND kick out the Private Sector...We will put the current management in charge and go forth and run Hinchingbrooke for Huntingdonshire... Bring It On