Public meeting 26th January 2012 Agenda
Dear supporter,
as serious issues and inequalities regarding local healthcare in the Lothians continue to emerge it is essential that these are raised to the public domain and efforts made to address them. Although significant achievements have been made to date we must continue to highlight these issues and work to resolve them to achieve fair and effective local healthcare.
You are invited to attend the public meeting on 26th January at the Kaim Park Hotel in Bathgate 7.30pm to participate, make inputs, ask questions get updates on the latest progress and hear from invited speakers.
Please try to come along, public support is the key to our success and we look forward to seeing you at the meeting.
Thank you,
The SDC Team
West Lothian Stop the Downgrade Campaign.
The Campaign Dedicated to STOP the Removal of Services from St. John’s Hospital at Howden, and to Restore St. John’s to a fully-functioning Acute Emergency Hospital.
Public Meeting 26th. January 2012
Kaim Park Hotel, Bathgate 7.30pm.
AGENDA.
1) Welcome by the Chair
2) St. John’s Hospital Stakeholders Group
And Councillor’s Update
3) Healthcare Policy in Lothians
4) Questions from the floor
5) Closing remarks and thanks from the Chair
17th January 2012 - SDC January 2012 newsletter
Contents
* Sturgeon slams NHS chiefs over English surgery offer |
* NHS director's massive salary reward for constant attrition of services |
* Consultant recruitement stalled as St. John's is seen as liable to become a 'geriatric hospital' |
* Potentially serious conflict of interest re NHS Consultants and private hospital work |
* St John's staff austerity sacrifices as NHS executives enjoy huge salaries and run up deficit |
* More services at St. John's including the Childrens' ward potentially vulnerable |
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Read the SDC January 2012 newsletter here |
14th January 2012
Sturgeon slams NHS chiefs over English surgery offer
We would like to thank the three SDC members who highlighted the plight of friends and family who were offered surgical operations down south. They chose to stay loyal to their local hospital and refused. What they didn't know was that in doing so, it gave NHS Lothian the chance to take them off the waiting times statistics to make their performance look better than it acutally was. We've been saying it for years: you can't trust NHS Lothian with facts and figures!
The article can be found below. Although the story quotes Labour MSPs, let's not lose sight of the the fact that it was the SDC membership who raised this with Action to Save St. John's Hospital Councillors Gordon Beurskens and Ellen Glass. They took this up through the Stakeholders Group, and after giving the story to the Sunday Times, the issue gained momentum.
We have them to thank for the interevention of the First Minister and Cabinet Secretary. If it had been left to our MSPs, it probably wouldn't have seen the light of day. But worse still, Ellen and Gordon got no credit for the work they've done, and the Labour Party has yet again stolen credit for their work. Well, we are grateful for what they do. And long may it continue.
The Council elections are only a few weeks away. We cannot afford to forget all that they have achieved on our behalf. Your votes will count now more than ever. If we hadn't had the influence the Action to Save St. John's Party have since 2007, who knows where we would have been. Rest assured, the bigger parties wouldn't have been paying as close attention to detail as they have.
Read the story here, and watch out for our newsletter to be released this week!
NHS bosses have been rapped by the Health Secretary for offering surgery in England to patients from the Lothians – then removing them from waiting list targets when they declined..
Read the full Evening News article here
28th November 2011
Dismay as watchdogs see doctors treating patients
Members of the NHS Lothian Board said they feared the inspections could intrude on patient privacy and lead to wide-ranging conclusions being drawn from a small number of observations. They have also queried the level of training of the inspectors..
Read the Evening News article here
English treatment is off table for patients
PATIENTS from the Lothians are no longer being offered the option of treatment in England to avoid lengthy waits. The halt on treatment south of the Border was introduced after NHS Lothian chief executive James Barbour announced he had launched a probe ...
Read the Scotsman article here
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