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Likely closure of Queen Mary’s Hospital, Sidcup’s A&E is a huge kick in the teeth of the Hospital’s League of Friends

PRESS RELEASE from
Independents to save Queen Mary’s Hospital
Embargoed until 9.00am Monday 29th Oct. 2007

Over the last year £200,000 has been spent on improving the children’s accident and emergency department at Queen Mary’s Hospital. The new unit has round the clock paediatric medical and nursing care on site. With more than 21,000 children being seen each year this busy department would be lost if the main accident and emergency unit closes. This would be a complete waste of the £200,000 spent on this much improved child-friendly environment as well as a complete dereliction of care to these children.

Commenting on this likely closure, party leader of Independents to save Queen Mary’s Hospital, John Hemming-Clark, commented, “This is, at the very least, a slap in the face for the children of the local area who are just getting used to this wonderfully upgraded facility but it’s also a huge kick in the teeth of the Hospital’s extremely active and well regarded League of Friends. An extensive cadre of volunteers meant that they were able to contribute £100,000 towards the project. Money that, if the A & E is closed, has effectively been poured down the drain. It is paramount that the A & E remains open and my party will do all that it can to ensure that it does.”

The fast-disappearing A & Es. From 6 to just 2?

If and when I need the accident and emergency unit of my hospital, I want it to be nearby. I don't want it to be miles away, I want it to be within reach in order to treat me quickly and efficiently. This is slowly but surely turning out not to be the case in the future if nothing is done NOW.

Just a few years ago we had SIX local accident and emergency units in the south-east London area. First of all we lost Orpington Hospital's, then we lost Bromley Hospital's (in fact we lost Bromley Hospital altogether) and now up to two more A&Es are under threat.

The most under threat is Queen Mary's, Sidcup, used by thousands of patients either side of the A20, followed - in no particular order - by Farnborough, Woolwich and Lewisham.

The debate has hardly begun but the sentiment is clear: We do not want to lose any more A&Es and we will not put up with any closures.

The battle has started. It is going to be a long, if not indefinite, battle to ensure that there is NO reduction or closing of hospital services.

Please give us your support. We're going to need it.

A new political party has been formed to fight to keep open Queen Mary’s Hospital, Sidcup’s Accident and Emergency Department

PRESS RELEASE from
Independents to save Queen Mary’s Hospital

Embargoed until 9.00am Monday 22nd Oct. 2007

A new local political party has been formed, based in Chislehurst, with the aim of maintaining and subsequently, improving, services for local people, including the local health provision, for those people who come under the outer S E London hospital Trusts’ area. It will be independent of all national political parties and elected representatives will be free of the constraints imposed by the whips of other parties.

The forming of the new party, named Independents to save Queen Mary’s Hospital, has come about as a result of a recent clinical review that is looking at closing up to two local A&E units, with Queen Mary’s Hospital’s likely to be the first to go.

There will be candidates fielded at the next London Borough and General Elections. John Hemming-Clark, a Chislehurst resident, will be standing in the Chislehurst ward and Bromley & Chislehurst constituency respectively. Candidates are being sought for neighbouring constituencies.

Commenting on the forming of the new party, John Hemming-Clark said,

“This new party is dedicated to the improvement of local services in all areas of concern to the community. It will put people before politics, with loyalties to the local population rather than political parties.

We are all entitled to proper medical care within reasonable reach. The well-respected international peer review journal for health professionals and researchers in emergency medicine Emergency Medical Journal reported in September that, “Increased journey distance to hospital appears to be associated with increased risk of mortality.” For those whose nearest hospital is Queen Mary’s and maybe also another local hospital, they will be at increased risk, in an emergency, if the A&E closes.

This scandalous situation cannot be allowed to happen. We are at real danger of losing our local A&Es yet the local politicians are just not prepared to put their heads over the parapet. They do not live near the hospital(s) at risk (the Chief Executive of Queen Mary’s lives in Surrey), but we do and we are not prepared to see the A&Es close.

My two children were both born at Queen Mary’s and without the A&E back-up neither of them would have received the emergency back-up that they required at their births.

At the next General Election every vote for an Independents to save Queen Mary’s Hospital candidate is a vote to save our local hospitals. If elected, your MP would legitimately be able to demand, on your behalf, that a full review be commissioned by the Health Secretary, enabling steps to be taken to prevent any further deterioration in services in any of the hospitals in or near the Bromley & Chislehurst constituency.”

I WANT A REFERENDUM!

The Government promised a referendum on the original version of the E U Constitutional Treaty, and was elected on this manifesto commitment. Now Gordon Brown intends to go back on his word by denying people a vote on the new version of the Treaty.

I want him to keep his promise.

If adopted, the Constitutional Treaty would mean that, in future, new powers could be transferred to the E U without any need for any more treaties. Further powers could be simply transferred gradually to the E U, with no public debate. In other words - this could be our last chance to have your say on the future of the E U. We must not miss it.

To sign up in support of a referendum on the revised E U Constitution, please go to www.iwantareferendum.com

If elected I would call for a referendum to be held AS SOON AS POSSIBLE. I would vote against the revised E U Constitution as I believe that the E U has more than enough powers. These powers include being able to ignore the corruption that is evident in the E U's own accounts that their auditors feel that they cannot sign off on.

The Scandal of the Payment Processing Fee

We've all heard about the horrors of being charged by the banks to take out OUR money, now read about the horrors of BT taking more of OUR money when we try to pay our 'phone bills! BACS (the automated bank clearing people) call it a discrete charge - I call it DAYLIGHT ROBBERY. From May 2007 you will be charged £4.50 per quarter simply to pay your bill by cheque! As a self-employed person, when someone pays me, whether by cheque, credit / debit card, cash, whatever, I say meekly, "thank you". BT on the other hand say, "not enough". Of course, if you don't pay, you will be disconnected. If you pay late you will also be charged a late payment fee. So much for privatisation opening up the competition.

Queen Mary's Hospital

I was surprised to see Bromley Times having this week to print a correction to a report concerning Ms Kate Grimes, Chief Executive of Queen Mary's Hospital, in which she does not accept that there are any proposals to change the range or calibre of A & E services at Queen Mary's and thus no endangering to life.

Is this the same Ms Kate Grimes who has just told staff that up to 400 jobs are to go across the four S.E. London hospitals? We know where most of them are going to be going from. They won't be executives and managers, they will be specialists, doctors and nurses.

Last month I wrote to Ms Grimes in which I referred to a press release from Queen Mary's which included the following:

"Following discussions between the Chief Executives and Medical Directors of all the four NHS Trusts in outer SE London, it was agreed that the work around the future shape of acute hospital services should progress on a partnership basis."

I asked two questions:

1. Am I right in thinking that, from the above, if a pregnant woman was to report to Queen Mary's for childbirth and, during the delivery, was to have complications that would require "acute hospital services", for example an emergency Caesarian, then this would not be possible at Queen Mary's?

2. Is the special care baby unit at Queen Mary's going to close?

The response I received was:

"I have to tell you that the simple answer to them both is 'no'." One wonders what the complicated answer is!

Queen Mary's own publicity states that 60% of Bexley's residents rely on Queen Mary's Hospital for acute medical services. Its natural catchment population is 300,000, extending to the boroughs of Greenwich, Bromley (especially Chislehurst) and Dartford, although it serves a far wider population. It also states that it is an integral part of Bexley and it aims to be a patient focused hospital for local people with a 24 hour A&E service where you can be treated for major illnesses, have planned surgery, maternity care and paediatric services.

There is only one way to stop any diminution of services at Queen Mary's and that is to protest. Local residents have complained that no one is doing anything...until now. It is difficult to protest until any formal announcement is made, but if and when the announcement to close or scale down services is made then I shall be happy to co-ordinate the largest protest against the loss of a hospital that this country has ever seen. But I need your support. Will you give it?

If elected I would fight to ensure that all Bromley and Chislehurst residents had access to a local hospital offering a full range of services