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6 Mar 2017

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Builder lied to become unqualified chief of two south-west NHS trusts

“John Andrewes admitted fraud and gaining financial advantage when he appeared at Exeter Crown Court on Monday. He lied on his CV, claiming he had a PhD to become a chief of two NHS trusts.

Jon Andrewes, 63, admitted fraud and gaining a financial advantage when he appeared at Exeter Crown Court, where he is being sentenced today.

The Walter Mitty style health chief said he had a PhD which meant he could call himself a doctor.

He chaired the Torbay NHS Care Trust for nearly ten years, and was a former chairman of the Royal Cornwall Hospital Trust.

He also earned nearly £100,000 a year as chief executive of a Taunton hospice in Somerset.

On CVs Andrewes claimed to have a management PhD from Heriot-Watt University in Scotland, as well as a ‘first degree in PPE’ and an MBA ‘with a financial specialism’ from Bristol University. All these claims are untrue. He also claimed to have been a partner in a technology firm before retiring early.
Andrewes, from Totnes, Devon, had worked as a social worker, probation officer and builder before using his fake CV to start his healthcare career in 2004.

In January, a senior NHS source said: ‘It took investigators a couple of days to discover the truth about Andrewes. Once they started looking at his claims closely everything started to unravel.

During one court appearance, the prosecutor called him a Walter Mitty. That is exactly what he was. It is amazing he managed to reach such top jobs built on a CV made up of lies.

‘It beggars belief that no due diligence was carried out when he was appointed to these NHS trust roles.’

Andrewes pleaded guilty to dishonestly making a false representation over his qualifications to make a gain as chairman of Torbay NHS Care Trust in July 2007.

He admitted a second charge of false representation over his qualifications to make a gain as chairman of the Royal Cornwall Hospital Trust in Truro, Cornwall, in April 2015.

He also admitted making a financial gain for his role as chief executive of St Margaret’s Hospice in Taunton, Somerset, by deception in 2004.
He pleaded not guilty to a fourth charge of having a false degree certificate from the University of London which he is accused of using in connection with a fraud.

He will be sentenced today.”

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4286080/Walter-Mitty-NHS-chief-63-lied-having-PhD.htm

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East Devon Watch

Posted on

3 Mar 2017

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Accountability, Austerity cuts, Consultation, Democracy, Health and Social Care (local), Neil Parish, NHS (local)

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Seaton GP slams hospital bed cuts

Today Dr Mark Welland, chairman of Seaton hospital’s League of Friends told The Herald: “A very unfortunate decision has been taken by the NEW Devon CCG, to press ahead with the further closures of community hospital beds in East Devon.

“The culling of 71 more beds out of a current total of 143 is devastating for the whole area, and especially sad for those towns to be left with no inpatient services at all.

“Seaton has been singled out for the particularly cruel act of only being informed at the eleventh hour that the CCG had changed their mind on the initial proposal, and decided to close Seaton beds in favour of Sidmouth.

“Whilst there is no appetite for wishing to see beds shut in Sidmouth, it is right to question the process taken to arrive at this decision.

“The CCG governing body were given at their meeting a presentation covering the feedback from the 13 week consultation process. This concluded that there was general support for the planned new model of care (care at home), although no detail was given to support this.

“The public responses showing clear majority support for the option to maintain beds in Tiverton, Exmouth, and Seaton was apparently ignored, as was the feedback that Axminster needed to be taken into consideration when siting the beds. This latter point was reiterated by the East Devon subcommittee of the CCG, who made particular mention of Axminster, but with no discernible effect.

“The reason given for the change from the initial plan of having beds in Seaton was the slightly larger and older population of Sidmouth. This again takes no account of the fact that Seaton Hospital has been very effectively serving the populations of Seaton and Axminster since the Axminster beds were closed. If such is the genuine basis for the decision, it is entirely baffling why this was not presented initially. What is clear is that the impact of the consultation exercise was precisely zero.

“The CCG are moving forwards with their new model of care, planning to deliver more effective health and social support in a timely fashion to prevent the need for patients to be in hospital. We wish them every success with this part of their plan.

“However, they have chosen to resource this by raiding the local hospitals for funds and staff. The Seaton and District Hospital League of Friends will again be seeking the support of Neil Parish MP to apply political pressure to reverse this tragic decision on hospital beds in East Devon. We would encourage all those similarly minded to do likewise.

“The Seaton and District Hospital League of Friends, with the generous support of its volunteers and donors, will continue its work supporting all the services in our hospital, which include outpatient clinics, physiotherapy, and acting as the centre of operations for community nursing, community therapies, and the complex care team. In addition the League has an ongoing commitment to community projects, including Friends in the Community, and the outstanding Seaton Friends Hospiscare at Home team.”

http://www.midweekherald.co.uk/news/seaton_gp_slams_hospital_beds_cull_1_4915186

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East Devon Watch

Posted on

2 Mar 2017

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Austerity cuts, Honiton/ Gittisham, NHS (local), Seaton/ Colyford / Colyton

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Seaton and Honiton community hospitals to close

“Exeter and Seaton have been chosen as the areas in Devon which will lose their community hospitals, along with prior confirmed closures in Honiton and Okehampton.

It will see the number of community hospital beds in Eastern Devon – including Exeter, East and Mid Devon districts – reduce from 143 to 72, equating to a loss of 71 inpatient beds.

The decision was made this afternoon at a publicly held meeting of the governing body of NHS Northern, Eastern and Western Devon Clinical Commissioning Group (NEW Devon CCG) at Exeter Racecourse.

Members voted in favour of option B – 32 beds in Tiverton, 24 beds in Sidmouth and 16 beds in Exmouth. No confirmation was given over when the four community hospitals affected by the changes will lose their beds or the future of those buildings and its services. Instead reassurances were made by NEW Devon CGG that it would be doing everything it can to implement safely and effectively its decision, and it will now be working on its implementation plans.

The bed closures are expected to achieve savings of £200 to £300 per bed day, with the figure more likely to be at the lower end initially because of the reinvestment required to deliver the new model of care. …”

http://www.devonlive.com/exeter-seaton-honiton-and-okehampton-community-hospital-s-will-lose-their-beds/story-30175357-detail/story.html

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East Devon Watch

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2 Mar 2017

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Accountability, Claire Wright, Democracy, EDDC, Health and Social Care (local), Independent Councillors, NHS (local), Paul Diviani, Spin

Hypocrisy of EDDC Leader and the disgrace of whipping

From the blog of Claire Wright.

The moral of this story: believe nothing a Tory councillor says, draw your views from what they do and vote Independent if you want the best for your town or village!

“Honiton councillor attempts to defend his silence over hospital bed closures

Yesterday’s front page of the Ottery/Honiton View From Series caught my eye – http://edition.pagesuite-professional.co.uk/Launch.aspx?PBID=03a901df-0b77-4e35-90e6-93ca8d117094

It features Honiton Conservative Devon County Councillor (and EDDC leader) Paul Diviani attempting to defend his silence over plans to close all Honiton Hospital’s beds.

A town campaign group – Save Hospital Services Honiton – has asked a series of questions of him, including why he voted down two of my proposals at health scrutiny, which would have helped Honiton Hospital’s case.

Unable to deny he hasn’t attended a single meeting in the town about the bed closures, spoken out against them, or voted down my two proposals at health scrutiny in November and January, Cllr Diviani cites a whipped vote at Devon County Council full council meeting, where he voted in favour of two motions that opposed health cuts, in his defence.

But this admission simply raises more questions. Why, if Cllr Diviani was concerned enough to vote in favour of a motion in December, objecting to health service cuts, did he not also vote consistently at the November and January health scrutiny meetings?

Cllr Diviani claims the committee has no power to dictate to the NHS. Of course, we do not have the power to order things to be done, but the committee is the only legal check on health services in Devon and it definitely does have the power to make recommendations which the NHS would be unwise to ignore.

Finally, Cllr Diviani says he “fully supports” the Devon County Council budget which provides more money for social care.

What he doesn’t say is that this budget has been massively cut every year for seven years due to government austerity measures and if you read the smallprint of the January joint budget scrutiny papers any increase in funding is a drop in the ocean and fewer people will be entitled to receive social care. Pretending otherwise is disingenuous.“

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East Devon Watch

Posted on

28 Feb 2017

Posted under

Accountability, Austerity cuts, Consultation, Democracy, Health and Social Care (local), NHS (local)

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Community Hospital bed cuts: public consultation doesn’t give answers CCG wanted

Public consultation – ok for Brexit, not ok for NHS!

“A public consultation over which community beds health commissioners will axe in Exeter or East Devon has seen the majority of people vote for different oppositions, rather than the four being proposed.

NHS Northern, Eastern and Western (NEW) Devon Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) is planning to close 72 community hospital beds in Devon, and is due to make its decision this Thursday. In the options Tiverton hospital will definitely remain open, and Honiton and Okehampton will close. The fate of beds in Seaton, Exmouth, Sidmouth and Whipton remains uncertain.

The aim of the consultation document called Your Future Care is to provide care and support at home and in the community for the elderly and frail, where the various providers of services work together to promote the health and wellbeing of residents, preventing unnecessary hospital admissions and supporting a faster return home.

The Your Future Care survey results show 624 people voted for other options such as suggesting different three site hospitals such as Okehampton, Tiverton and Exmouth; having four site options such as Tiverton, Sidmouth, Seaton, and Exmouth; and retaining all existing beds which accounted for 168 of responses.

The second most popular choice was option A – 32 beds in Tiverton, 24 beds in Seaton and 16 beds in Exmouth – with 554 votes, followed by option B with 159 votes, and option C – 32 beds in Tiverton, 24 beds in Seaton and 16 beds in Whipton – with 65 votes. The least popular was option D – 32 beds in Tiverton, 24 in Sidmouth and 16 beds in Whipton – with 50 votes.

During the consultation, the CCG’s governing body received five petitions. They included one from Sidmouth Victoria Hospital Comforts Fund which was signed by 5,497 to prevent the closure of Sidmouth Hospital’s inpatient ward; a petition signed by 3,579 people to save Okehampton Hospital beds, and 3,227 people signed a Hands off Honiton Hospital petition.

Also opposing proposals to reduce community beds is Community Hospitals Association (CHA), and Devon County Council has called for a halt in the plans while it calls on the government and NHS England to provide fair funding for health services in Devon.

Hard to reach groups were consulted during focus groups organised by Healthwatch Devon. No one option was most preferred, and people said they wanted services to be as close to home as possible. Many people felt enabling patients to remain at home and avoid a hospital stay is a good thing.

During the consultation a significant number of questions relating to how the New Model of Integrated Care (NMOC) will work in practice was raised, including concerns about a possible decline in patient safety for vulnerable groups such as the frail, elderly, and dementia patients.

While there was noticeable support for the principle of care at home, many correspondents felt the NMOC had not been suitably or clearly explained, so they were unable to support the proposal.

A high number of people raised topics such as fear of isolation, strain on carers and worsening patient outcomes for individuals with more seriousness illness.

The final decision will be made by NEW Devon CCG’s governing body at a publicly held meeting of NEW Devon CCG’s governing body at Exeter Racecourse at 1pm. It has previously stated its preferred choice as being option A.

More changes are also on the way. Devon’s acute hospital stroke, maternity and urgent care services are the latest to come under scrutiny as part of ongoing plans to transform the regions health care. By this summer, NEW Devon CCG and South Devon and Torbay CCG aims to have drawn up proposals for the future delivery of the three services.”

http://www.devonlive.com/devon-residents-vote-for-other-options-than-those-proposed-over-community-beds-cuts/story-30168539-detail/story.html

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East Devon Watch

Posted on

28 Feb 2017

Posted under

Accountability, Audit (EDDC), Knowle/Honiton/Exmouth relocation, NHS (local), Spin

Why employ consultants?

After the Oscars fiasco, laid firmly at the door of management consultants PriceWaterhouseCooper, the Guardian has this to say:

“These big companies and the legions of highly paid experts are supposed to be delivering measurable results, yet it seems most of what they touch runs worse than before.

So it’s worth asking what it is they are actually selling that is worth so much.

The first, obvious answer is plausible deniability. If a management wants to slash its workforce then it is obviously better that the bad news be delivered by outsiders who can be blamed later.

This evasion of responsibility may well be worth a great deal to the managers concerned, if not to the other stakeholders of the enterprise.

This motive overlaps or shades into another, more interesting one. The one thing that consultancies and even accountants are meant to deliver is objectivity – and from that springs authority, which is what they’re really selling.

Someone who comes along with an air of confident command will always find followers even if they know nothing about their subject, providing the followers are more painfully confident of their own ignorance.

The vocational education of the English ruling classes taught the art of bluffing at the speed of thought – and though this skill is indispensable at the bar, and still more in the House of Commons, unfortunately it’s not the best way to make really important decisions, as the career of David Cameron so catastrophically demonstrates. …”

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/feb/27/the-guardian-view-on-management-consultants-the-trick-is-confidence

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East Devon Watch

Posted on

21 Feb 2017

Posted under

Austerity cuts, Health and Social Care (local), NHS (local), Ottery St Mary

Ottery St Mary hospital to lose stroke unit

“Health bosses say the move will benefit patients, who will be able to access more ‘joined-up’ care, 24-hour medical cover and a range of specialist staff.

But it presents a further blow to Ottery’s community-funded hospital – that has hosted eastern Devon’s stroke unit on a temporary basis since November 2014 – following the decision to cuts all of the town’s inpatient beds in July 2015.

The move back to the RD&E is the final stage in completing recommendations from a 2013 consultation led by Northern, Eastern and Western Devon Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) and the Stroke Association.

RD&E stroke consultant Martin James said: “Moving the stroke rehabilitation unit onto the same site as our acute stroke unit is a key part of plans to improve stroke services for all people in Exeter and eastern Devon.

“The move will see a range of specialists – including nurses, physiotherapists, occupational therapists, dieticians, and speech and language therapists – working closely together to provide seamless care for people with stroke. Patients will benefit from greater continuity in care and 24-hour medical cover on site and staff will form part of a bigger specialist team, with increased opportunities to develop skills and gain input from a range of stroke specialists.”

The stroke rehabilitation facility will be transferred to the RD&E’s Yealm Ward and hospital rehabilitation services currently sited there are due to relocate into the community as part of a move towards caring for people in their own homes.

The RD&E NHS Foundation Trust says this is part of efforts to improve outcomes for frail and older people by reducing reliance on inpatient hospital care which, it says, can impact negatively on people’s rehabilitation.

In addition to the new facility on Yealm Ward, stroke patients will continue to benefit from the ‘Early Supported Discharge (ESD)’ initiative across eastern Devon.

This service enables people to return home as soon as possible after a stroke by providing support, specialist care and rehabilitation in patients’ own houses.

The trust says evidence shows that patients who receive ESD spend less time in hospital and can have better outcomes.

Adel Jones, the RD&E’s integration director, said: “These changes will help improve clinical outcomes for our patients and ensure that services are delivered where they are most effective. This means providing the best acute care possible for the critically ill in hospital and helping people who are able to be discharged rehabilitate in their own homes with the right support and interventions.”

http://www.midweekherald.co.uk/news/ottery_st_mary_hospital_to_lose_stroke_unit_1_4897659

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East Devon Watch

Posted on

17 Feb 2017

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Accountability, Austerity cuts, Claire Wright, Council tax, DCC, Health and Social Care (local), NHS (local)

Claire Wright (DCC Independent) on budget cuts and council tax rise

“More services and backroom functions are being cut, including road maintenance, community composting payments, as well as funding for vulnerable children and adults services – see here for more:

http://www.claire-wright.org/index.php/post/fewer_devon_people_to_receive_social_care_as_23m_is_slashed_from_budgets

Government ministers, who have forced councils, and as a consequence, citizens (mainly vulnerable ones and those on low incomes) across the country into austerity have this year allowed councils to increase tax to higher levels, to offset in a very small way the massive cuts they have made to council budgets.

This year the government has slashed £23m from Devon County Council’s budgets – a 15 per cent cut in the seventh year of austerity.

According to the scrutiny budget papers of 30 January, fewer people will be eligible for social care, due to budgetary pressures. Page 88 states: “This (budget) requires an overall reduction in the number of clients to achieve budget levels.”

It goes on to state on page 89: “The scale of change is likely to severely test the capacity of managers at different levels, especially where pressures of essential work cannot be reprioritised without risk to those who receive services.”

Over half of Devon County Council’s budget has now been cut since 2010. More than £267 million over the last seven years.

The council tax rise will cost the average Band D council taxpayer £1.16 a week extra. Devon County Council leader, John Hart said in a press release: “I believe we are justified in asking for that to help protect and support some of the most vulnerable people in society.”

Of course, he really has no choice with the crisis in social care in Devon. This year’s social care budget was around £5m overspent due to increasing costs of care and massive government budget cuts.

While £1.16 a week extra might be shrugged off by people who are comfortably off. Others on a tight budget, those who are struggling to pay debts and bills, will regard it as yet another burden..

Yesterday both the Libdems and the Labour groups amended the budget with their own versions. The conservative majority voted through their budget, with the Labour, Libdems and Independents voting against.

The government claims it can’t afford to look after its sick, its vulnerable and its elderly, so it encourages councils to increase council tax instead so pushing a double burden onto residents.

Charging the taxpayer ever increasing sums of money for poorer and fewer services. Not only do residents have to pay more but they have to undertake more care themselves.

And of course, this isn’t the only council tax rise that people will have to swallow. The likelihood is that district councils will hike their tax, Devon and Cornwall Police has already announced it is increasing its council tax and the fire authority will also surely, like they did last year.

That’s a massive year on year increase in council tax, for fewer and poorer services. Each year as the cost to taxpayers rise, the services get sparser and poorer.

According to a report out this week almost a third of the population of Britain is living on an ‘inadequate’ income. More people than ever are using foodbanks and homelessness has rocketed since the beginning of austerity.

How do ministers sleep at night knowing that it is their policies, their ideology, their own selfish version of how they believe a society should operate, that are causing this awful hardship? And we are the fifth or sixth largest economy in the world.

Hugo Swire MP has expressed concern about social care funding and the closure of hospital beds last autumn.

But if Hugo Swire was REALLY concerned and REALLY serious about these issues, he would vote AGAINST the council budget cuts in the House of Commons next Wednesday afternoon (23 February).

I wrote to him earlier this month – see

http://www.claire-wright.org/index.php/post/hugo_swire_urged_to_speak_and_vote_against_local_government_settlement

But so far, each year he, along with his conservative colleagues have quietly voted in favour, hoping no one will notice.

Once again this year, I will notice. And I will sure everyone notices – how he and his colleagues vote.

Because this vote surely goes to the heart of whether Mr Swire really cares about his constituents or is little more than a party yes man.”

We will see.

Here’s the webcast of yesterday’s budget meeting – https://devoncc.public-i.tv/core/portal/webcast_interactive/244712

http://www.claire-wright.org/index.php/post/devon_countys_council_tax_to_rise_by_almost_five_per_cent_as_services_slash

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East Devon Watch

Posted on

17 Feb 2017

Posted under

Accountability, Asset sweating, Austerity cuts, Health and Social Care (local), NHS (local), Sleaze, Spin

New business rates 19% higher for NHS hospitals, 9.6% higher for private hospitals

“People are saying local authorities shouldn’t have to develop local funding solutions to the meeting the rising costs of adult social care. This article reveals another challenging irony in the context of the devolution of financial responsibility. Local authorities are going to become increasingly dependent on business rates and yet by so doing they will potentially, as an unintended consequence, drive up the costs of healthcare in their localities.

In a world where we have been able to do so many technically brilliant things we must be capable of finding a better way forward than the chaos, which is beginning to embed itself at the heart of the way we pay for our services. There is a strong argument to suggest this policy, when allied to ongoing cuts to central Government funding for local authorities involves taking money out of the NHS to fill the gap left by Government cuts. This article tells us:

The government is under growing pressure to stop a sharp increase in business rates for hospitals that threatens to increase the strain on the NHS.

Changes to the business rates system mean that the 1,249 NHS hospitals liable for the property tax will see their bills increasing by £322m, or 21%, over the next five years from April.

However, a growing number of politicians are calling for the government to reconsider the tax hike for hospitals, including making them eligible for the same 80% discount that charities enjoy.

Some private healthcare providers, such as Nuffield Health, already enjoy an 80% discount because they are registered as charities. Furthermore, the business rates that the 581 private hospitals do pay will not increase as much as it will for hospitals.

The rateable value of private hospitals has increased by 9.6% in the last revaluation while NHS hospitals have seen a 19.8% rise, according to research by the property consultant CVS.

The cross-party group of politicians who have already expressed concern about the tax rise for hospitals include Steve McCabe, Labour MP for Birmingham Selly Oak, Royston Smith, Conservative MP for Southampton Itchen, and Annie Wells, Conservative and Unionist MSP for Glasgow.”

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2017/feb/15/government-urged-stop-tax-hikes-nhs-hospitals-business-rates

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East Devon Watch

Posted on

16 Feb 2017

Posted under

Accountability, Austerity cuts, Health and Social Care (local), NHS (local), Scrutiny, Sleaze, Spin, Transparency

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Dame Ruth Carnall (Devon CCG chair): more questions, no answers

“Candy Udwin, from Camden Keep NHS Public

A CONTROVERSIAL shake-up in the way north London’s health services are run has already led to a cash bonanza for private companies, the New Journal can reveal.

While campaigners and some local politicians are still warning that the overhaul – known as the Sustainability and Transformation Plan (STP) – is cover for deep NHS cuts, the process has already begun, with consultants brought into advise on the changes.

Around £2.3million has been paid out by Camden Clinical Commissioning Group in return for help in drawing up a 68-page plan, which looks at how spending across five boroughs, including Camden and Islington, could be reduced by £1billion by 2022.

It has been criticised for being an obscure document which does not make clear where savings are going to be made.

Details of the payments to consultants show how one firm received more than £600,000 to set up and manage the STP office before a permanent team was hired and space offered up at Camden Council’s headquarters at 5 Pancras Square in King’s Cross.

Mark Porter, chairman of the British Medical Association’s council, said: “Doctors will find it galling to see that so much vital resource has been handed to consultancy firms for their part in failing plans which, ultimately, may never come to fruition, while frontline staff struggle to provide safe patient care in a service increasingly becoming unfit for purpose.”

Candy Udwin, from Camden Keep Our NHS Public, added: “It is truly shocking that at a time of such crisis in the NHS, Camden CCG has given over £2million to private consultancy firms, with a large amount of this going on STP plans which are meant to be finding ways to meet their deficit.”

Most of the companies earning payouts for help with STP have been set up by former public servants, including the former chief executive of NHS London, Dame Ruth Carnall.

Carnall Farrar – which received £115,882 for a STP “review of commissioning arrangements” – was founded by Dame Ruth Carnall and Hannah Farrar, a former director of NHS London, and Ben Richardson, who was a senior partner at McKinsey & Co, after NHS London was disbanded in 2014.

McKinsey & Co, the UK arm of the American management consultancy giant, is one of the big earners from the north London STP – being paid £360,000 from Camden CCG for help on “strategy assessment to investigate further options for the transformation of mental health services” and also “financial modelling of mental health programme initiatives”.

Financial advisers Deloitte netted £257,336 for “support for STP finance and activity modelling” while Methods Advisory was paid £617,850 for “programme management office (PMO) and strategy support”.

The New Journal contacted Methods Advisory for comment on details of the PMO but did not receive a reply.

Hunter Healthcare, which on its website states its values include integrity, tenacity and passion, also received £282,518 for interim administrative support for the PMO. GE Healthcare Finnamore, owned by the US multinational corporation General Electric, was paid £9,900 for more “support with STP finance and activity modelling”.

Health Finance and Economics – a company set up in September 2015 – is so small it is exempted from providing full accounts at Companies House.

It has no website or office, and is run by Jonathan Wise, a former chief finance officer at Brent, Harrow and Hillingdon CCG. It was paid £107,710 for “support for STP finance and activity modelling”.

The New Journal has contacted all of the companies on the list, with only Deloitte and McKinsey responding with short statements saying they could not comment on “client work” and recommending contact with the NHS.

None of the companies involved took up an opportunity to explain how the work of consultancy firms can help the NHS generally.

A spokeswoman for the STP said the large sums listed were partly caused by the new organisation being set up from a “zero base” and that consultants were hired only on an “interim basis” to assist in developing the plan.

“This work was completed by consultants and now a North Central London STP programme management team is in place,” she added. There would now be a “significantly reduced reliance on consultants”.

She added: “Contracts were put in place following a competitive tender using a national consultancy framework.”

Campaigners from Camden are set to join a national Save the NHS demonstration in central London on March 4.”

http://camdennewjournal.com/article/revealed-how-consultancy-firms-have-already-netted-2-million-in-nhs-shake-up

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East Devon Watch

Posted on

14 Feb 2017

Posted under

Accountability, EDDC, Health and Social Care (local), NHS (local), Scrutiny, Transparency

“East Devon District Council’s scrutiny committee blasts NHS Property Services”

From the blog of Claire Wright- good to see one committee at EDDC doing a proper job:

“East Devon District Council’s scrutiny committee has delivered a stinging rebuke against the secretary of state for health’s private company, NHS Property Services after the managers declined once again to attend a meeting.

A similar thing has happened at Devon County Council’s health and wellbeing scrutiny committee. The company claims to be part of the “NHS family” but it appears, only when it suits them.

The resolution below, speaks for itself. Congratulations to chairman, Roger Giles and all those councillors who spoke and voted for the resolution.

1. The Scrutiny Committee records its deep regret that the NHS Property Services has declined its invitation to a meeting of the East Devon District Council Scrutiny Committee;

2. The Scrutiny Committee to write to the three local MPs representing East Devon, expressing its concern at the failure of NHS Property Services to agree to attend a meeting of the East Devon District Council Scrutiny Committee, and asks the MPs to raise the matter with the Secretary of State for Health, with a view to his ensuring proper openness and transparency in the work of NHS Property Services, and ensuring proper public scrutiny of the work of the NHS Property Services, by requiring attendance at meetings of local councils when requested to do so;

3. The Scrutiny Committee to write to the Devon County Council Health and Wellbeing Scrutiny Committee, expressing its concerns;

4. The Scrutiny Committee to write to NHS Property Services requesting details of the actual market rent for Axminster Hospital, Budleigh Salterton Hospital, Exmouth Hospital, Honiton Hospital, Seaton Hospital and Sidmouth Hospital, with details of how those figures were arrived at.”

http://www.claire-wright.org/index.php/post/east_devon_district_councils_scrutiny_committee_blasts_nhs_property_service

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East Devon Watch

Posted on

14 Feb 2017

Posted under

Accountability, Consultation, Health and Social Care (local), NHS (local), Scrutiny, Spin, Transparency

Limited number of meetings in East Devon on latest NHS cuts

From “Save our Hospital Services East Devon” Facebook page, posted by Di Fuller:

“Devon’s Acute Services Review is taking place under the five-year Wider-Devon Sustainability and Transformation Plan (STP). The detailed case for change is set out on the websites of NHS NEW Devon CCG and South Devon and Torbay CCG.

The high priority acute services being reviewed are:

• Stroke services, including hyper-acute and stroke rehabilitation (clinician workshops taking place between December 2016 and March 2017)
• Maternity and paediatrics (clinician workshops taking place between January 2017 and March 2017)
• Urgent and emergency care. (clinician workshops taking place between January 2017 and March 2017)

Work is also underway to discuss a range of vulnerable services. “Each of these services has particular challenges and we cannot resolve them with the current model of service delivery. This work is ongoing and will follow a similar process to that of the high priority acute services.”

During March 2017 the Devon STP teams are offering the public limited opportunities to discuss what is important to them about acute services.

This feedback will be collated into themes and called decision-making criteria. There are only 3 sessions in East Devon:

Monday 6th March 10.30-12.30 New Hall, Barrington Street, Tiverton
Monday 13th March 18.00-20.00 Kings School, Ottery St Mary.
Monday 20th March 18.30-20.30 Exeter Corn Exchange

Register 01392 267642 or email d-ccg.CorporateServices@nhs.net”

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East Devon Watch

Posted on

14 Feb 2017

Posted under

Accountability, Austerity cuts, Health and Social Care (local), NHS (local)

NHS cuts “are more than about bed numbers”

“Call to keep fighting for East Devon’s hospital services

‘Cuts are about more than bed numbers’ – campaigners urge people to form united front

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Campaigners are appealing for people to keep fighting for community hospitals in East Devon as they warn further changes are imminent.

Proposals to cut inpatient bed numbers by 54 per cent across the region – a move that could see Sidmouth Victoria Hospital lose its entire unit – triggered a huge public backlash as thousands turned out and signed petitions to voice their opposition.

The consultation came to a close on January 6, and the fate of community hospital beds is now in the hands of the NEW Devon Clinical Commissioning Group’s (CCG) governing body, which is expected to make a decision next month.

Campaigners are urging the public to mobilise on behalf of East Devon’s hospitals and challenge any further shake-ups as health bosses strive to plug a predicted £384million deficit by 2020/21.

Di Fuller, chair of the Sid Valley’s Patient Participation Group, said: “There is an apparent hiatus in the consultation and proposed changes to hospital services, but the planning and processes required for the Sustainability and Transformation Plans (STPs) continue under the radar.”

She added that many felt they had done what they could, but said with further consultations due, it was vital for people to keep informed and in a position to fight for their health services.

Chris East, a Sidmouth campaigner who set up an East Devon-wide petition and Facebook group, said: “We want to keep people involved and make them aware that there are things they can do.”

CCG bosses say their raft of proposed changes will benefit patients as they aim to move away from a hospital-reliant system of care to a more efficient, home-based model.

Sidmouth councillor and leader of the East Devon Alliance (EDA) Cathy Gardner argues a bigger campaign is needed to oppose Government-imposed cuts – that, she says, are about more than just bed numbers.

She is urging people to join a national mass protest against the ‘rapid dismantling of the NHS’ to be held in London on Saturday, March 4, and said EDA was organising a coach from the region with spaces available at modest cost.

To keep up-to-date with developments regarding the future of community hospitals, visit http://www.facebook.com/groups/1796549897279442/ or to book a coach space, email coach@eastdevonalliance.org.uk”

http://www.exmouthjournal.co.uk/news/call_to_keep_fighting_for_east_devon_s_hospital_services_1_4883590

Posted by

East Devon Watch

Posted on

10 Feb 2017

Posted under

Accountability, Austerity cuts, DCC, EDDC, Health and Social Care (local), NHS (local)

Banana councils, the NHS and social care

“If Surrey’s ‘secret deal’ is to be a harbinger of a new health and care service then the whole murky world of local government funding needs rethinking.

The algebra is simple. The NHS is having another terrible winter. It does not collapse, but “spills demand” on to the next line of defence, local government welfare. But while the NHS gets more money annually from the Treasury, local government gets less, some 30% less since 2011. It cannot cope with the new pressure.

The equation resolves itself into rationing, by quantity and quality: fewer care places, fewer home visits and fewer district nurses leads to more bed-blocking, fewer operations, longer trolley waits.

Tory Surrey is a responsible supplier of post-hospital care. Like all councils, it is allowed by the Treasury to increase its council tax by 5%, specifically to boost its care budget and thus ease pressure on the NHS – which the Treasury is responsible for funding. Surrey county council regarded this as nothing like enough. It therefore activated its statutory right to hold a referendum on a 15% increase.

Far from showing delight at a wealthy council accepting this burden, the Tory government was appalled. Tories do not increase taxes. The chancellor (and Surrey MP) Philip Hammond duly did what Jeremy Corbyn called a secret deal. If Surrey abandoned its referendum and the 15% hike, it could retain revenue from a different tax – the local business rate, which normally went to the Treasury. That is, the Treasury would in effect spend more on health and care in Surrey, but secretly and, so far, just for Surrey.

This is the stuff of a banana republic. If Britain wants to spend more on health and elderly care, it should raise it and spend it honestly. Instead, the Treasury is running around its fiscal A&E department, staunching the flow of political blood by slamming on plasters wherever a patient screams or twists an arm.

Leaked Surrey council tax texts allow Corbyn to ambush May at PMQs
Some might argue that an NHS free at the point of delivery has had its day. New disciplines and incentives, through fees or insurance or more prevention, must constrain marginal demand. But for the time being, it makes no sense to squeeze the NHS at the top – where politicians are exposed – and dump its problems on to local government and different funding streams at the bottom. It wastes money and distorts priorities. It is illiterate public finance.

If Surrey is harbinger of a new health and care service, and business taxes are to relieve an ever-burgeoning NHS, so be it. But few places are as rich as Surrey. Revenue will have to be redistributed from rich to poor areas. In other words, it is not just the NHS that needs rethinking, but the whole murky world of local government finance.”

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/feb/10/surrey-local-council-funding-health-care-nhs

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