News just in from London Lib Dems… 

 

Dear Hamish, Wow – Sarah Olney is the new MP for Richmond Park !   A wonderful candidate, skilful campaign leadership and hordes of dedicated volunteers came together to make this result happen – a real triumph. Pete Dollimore London Campaigns Chair http://www.londonlibdems.org.uk/

Cllr. Jill Whitehead was out helping in the Richmond Park by-election last week. The photo is courtesy of The Guardian newspaper. https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/davehillblog/2016/nov/25/richmond-park-byelection-what-exactly-is-it-for

Jill Whitehead (in blue coat) out and about with Lib Dem candidate Sarah Olney in the Richmond Park by-election

Care Quality Commission has published their annual ‘State of Care’ report

The Care Quality Commission has published their annual ‘State of Care’ report, this is an annual report on the quality of health and social care in England.

The CQC have seen services providing good and outstanding care and making improvements by collaborating outside traditional organisational boundaries – hospitals working with GPs; GPs working with social care and all services working with people who use services.

They are also seeing some deterioration in quality, and some services are struggling to improve. The CQC have raise concerns that the sustainability of the adult social care market is approaching a tipping point. The fragility of the market is now beginning to impact both on the people who rely on these services and on the performance of NHS care. The combination of a growing and ageing population, more people with long-term conditions, and a challenging economic climate means greater demand on services and more problems for people in accessing care.

Download the Full Report here

Download the Summary Report here

Download the Easy Read version here

Do you have questions about a prostate problem? Would you like to speak to someone in your own language? Whether you have concerns about a prostate problem or have been diagnosed with prostate cancer; Specialist Nurses are available to support you over the phone, in your own language, via an interpreter. Prostate Cancer UK can offer support in over 200 languages, through a confidential three-way conversation with an interpreter, including: • Welsh • Arabic • Polish • Hindi • Russian • Portuguese • Bengali • Punjabi • Chinese • Gujarati • and French. Call 0800 074 8383 and state in English, the language you want to use or ask a family member or friend to call and start the conversation on your behalf. It takes a few minutes to connect you with an interpreter. Specialist Nurses can also speak to partners, family members and friends. To speak to a Specialist Nurses call 0800 074 8383 – Monday to Friday between 9am and 6pm, Wednesday between 10am and 8pm. (Calls are recorded for training purposes only. Confidentiality is maintained between callers and Prostate Cancer UK) Download the leaflet here  or visit www.prostatecanceruk.org for more information.

Dear Hamish Pollock
 
You may have seen the BBC website report on 15th November about threatened cuts to health services across the UK, including the possible closure of St Helier Hospital in Carshalton and Wallington.
 
Full details of 44 reviews of services around the country – part of the government’s sustainability and transformation plans – which involve closing some A&Es or, in South West London, a whole hospital or, in the worst case scenario, two, had not been made public until some local Councils, including Lib Dem run Sutton Council, rebelled and released NHS plans recently. They can be read here http://www.swlccgs.nhs.uk/our-plan/.

A report by The King’s Fund suggests that NHS England had told local managers to keep the plans “out of the public domain” and avoid requests for information, whilst managers were even taught how to reject freedom of information requests.

Changes are being explored which may see the closure of one or more hospitals in South West London, including StHelier in Carshalton. Nothing has been decided. What we currently know for certain is that last year Epsom and StHelier NHS Trust launched their five year strategy which gave a commitment that both Epsom Hospital and St HelierHospital will continue to provide consultant led, 24/7 A&E, maternity and inpatient paediatric services for five years.

It is clear that there has to be major investment in Epsom and St Helier hospitals. There are issues with the buildings and facilities within Epsom and St Helier Trust which need to be addressed. It is not appropriate that patients are being treated in buildings that are unable to offer infection free care, where there are so few side rooms, where privacy and dignity for patients is poor, where the hospital is spending so much to keep patients safe instead of on medical equipment.

The hospital Trust has a great staff team and it isn’t fair that they are required to provide care in unsuitable buildings. Simon Stephens, Chief Executive of NHS England, has written about wanting an infrastructure fund for the NHS as part of the Brexit NHS settlement to replace ‘clapped out hospitals and GP surgeries’. I think St Helier meets that criteria and I will fight to ensure that St Helier Hospital receives some of the £350 million a week which is apparently going to be available to the NHS when the UK leaves the EU. I wrote to Jeremy Hunt urging him to ensure that this happens, perhaps unsurprisingly, he refused to commit to extra funding. So did the Prime Minister when I raised the matter directly with her, in Prime Minister’s Questions recently.

In the meantime, I am reassured from my contact with the CEO at the Trust that the Trust is working hard to ensure that they continue to provide an acute hospital for the 500,000 people who live in the Sutton and Epsom areas. As ever, I will support the Trust in their bid to do so. Any attempts to remove our A&E, maternity and inpatient services from the borough will be met by the stiffest possible community resistance.

Yours sincerely

Tom Brake
Liberal Democrat MP for Carshalton and Wallington
0208 255 8155

PS. Why not follow me on Facebook www.facebook.com/brake or Twitter www.twitter.com/thomasbrake to find out more about the work I do on your behalf.

Hamish —

This weekend, Sutton Council is offering residents and businesses in Sutton Borough the opportunity to collect 10kg of free grit per household/business to use on their drives, paths and nearby pavements.

The free grit is available from the following locations:

I hope you’ll join me in checking in with vulnerable neighbours to see if they need grit – and if at all possible collecting some for them.

Please note that proof of residency/business in the London Borough of Sutton will be required for yourself and any other household/business you are collecting grit for. A council tax, business rates or utility bill will do. You can find out more here.

Best wishes,

Ruth

Councillor Ruth Dombey
Lib Dem Leader of Sutton Council

PS. Please forward this email onto friends, family and neighbours in Sutton Borough who may need the information.

It’s that time of year again! The Wallington Christmas Lights Switch-on is back — bigger and better than ever! The event will start at 5pm on Friday 25th November, with the switch on at 7pm by the Mayor of Sutton Councillor Richard Clifton.

There will be choirs and two bands until 8pm plus food supplied by local businesses, including Chef RF and The Woodcote Flying Club. Local Lib Dem Councillors have been working with the organising committee to make the 2016 Christmas lights switch-on event even better. The committee has received a neighbourhood grant from the Beddington and Wallington Local Committee, to help fund street food stalls and a bigger PA system. Look forward to seeing you there.

Best wishes, Steve

Cllr Steve Cook Deputy Mayor and Lib Dem Councillor for Wallington South

PS. Please forward this email onto friends, family and neighbours who may be interested.

Dear Stakeholder

As part of our commitment to improve London’s bus services, we sometimes need to adjust our timetables to ensure that services are as reliable as possible.

On Saturday 12 November we are changing the timetable of route X26 which runs with limited stops between West Croydon bus station and Heathrow Airport, Central Bus Station.

The route will continue to run about every 30 minutes throughout the day and evening, seven days per week. However some journeys will leave earlier or later, and will be scheduled to take longer, than they do now. This will more closely match the planned timetable to expected traffic levels and improve reliability on the route.

For details of the new times please see timetables on display at route X26 bus stops from 12 November or use our Journey Planner.

Yours faithfully

Stephen Hosking

Consultation Team

Transport for London