Health Care Changes in Acton

Packed Acton Central ward meeting hears from Ealing CCG

Acton residents and campaigners have voiced their concerns over changes to the local service at a meeting with health bosses.

The ward forum was turned over to Tessa Sandall, Chief Executive of Ealing Clinical Commissioning Group to outline proposals for changing health provision in Acton, and to hear residents views.

Tessa Sanderson

Cllr. Abdullah Gulaid, chaired the forum, and Cllr. Daniel Crawford, the current chair of Health Scrutiny, reiterated the Council's opposition to the North West London Sustainability and Transformation Plan.

Maire Lowe reports on the meeting:

The most important fact to come from this meeting is that its not a consultation. That happened back in 2012. 

The proposals will be implemented whatever we think. The closures of A&Es at Hammersmith and Central Middlesex was one of the first changes.  The move of Maternity and Pediatric units from Ealing was another. The remaining proposals are now being explained to us, and our views will be useful in shaping the detail of the various services.

The most contentious issue was the proposed closure of A&Es at Ealing & Charing Cross hospitals. Residents don't understand the replacement of A&Es with specialist units, urgent care centres, local hubs and the rest.  More explanation with live examples & less management jargon would have helped. If there are savings to be had from this further plan, then how much has been saved already and where has the money been spent? 

No one was impressed by vague references to preventitive care. I guess we all know that if we eat & drink less & exercise more, we might live longer but the healthiest people get cancer, fall down the stairs, have poorly babies. What then?

Residents from Acton Central,  North Acton and Park Royal area raised the use of Central Middlesex again. Much of their opposition to the closure of the A&E there has to do with accessibility in an emergency. Were Tessa & her colleagues able to show they had genuinely examined the distance time to get to St. Mary's or Northwick Park from Acton in rush hour, it would have been helpful.

Ealing is a long thin borough with differing health issues and preferences. We know how jammed the A40 and the Uxbridge Road can get. Is it safe for us, our children and our older frailer citizens we ask? How will we know?

We asked about the consultation. 1000 people over the whole of North West London were interviewed 500 of them in Ealing. Acton central ward alone has 3000 residents and rising. Was 1000 enough over such a huge area? They were all found through GP surgeries and apparently said they were most concerned with access to GPs. Apparently that raised no query in the minds of the clinicians. Residents last night did not agree.

 
We spent most of the time discussing Ealing hospital when Acton residents are usually treated at Charing X or St. Mary's We have our babies at Queen Charlotte's and are dependant on Ealing clinicians continuing to pay for our beds in these hospitals. I was curious why Tessa didnt mention this Acton specific preference.

Finally one resident asked why the top floor of Acton Care home in Gunnersby Avenue was empty given the pressure on beds from frail elderly unable to return to their homes. The Care home is commissioned by Ealing Council and paid for by the CCG. Yet neither party could tell us why. Perhaps they should find out and let us know.


Id like to thank Tessa and her colleagues for coming along to what was always going to be a hostile audience. It cannot have been easy and I hope there will be many more meetings with the ordinary folk who are after all the most important. here. 

Maire Lowe

 

24th February 2017

 

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