Why Inaccurate?

BHRUT have told their 2000 odd followers that the blog

http://savekinggeorgehospital.blogspot.co.uk/2015/12/why-doh-need-to-honour-their-guarantee.html

is inaccurate. I have asked them to say why, with an offer to print what they say along with a retraction if I agree with them, nothing has come back. It is not fair for a large institution to say an article about it is inaccurate without providing evidence to say why. BHRUT should write explaining why they say the blog is in inaccurate or delete their tweet.

Why the DoH need to honour their guarantee to Redbridge

Below is the reply from Mr Hunt's office refusing to intervene to re-open the 24 acute beds cut by BHRUT from King George Hospital.

The second letter is from Ben Gummer MP to Jas Athwal  declining to overturn the decision to close King George Hospital A&E.

I have written to Ben Gummer the following:

Dear Mr Gummer

Please Honour your Guarantee to Redbridge Residents

Cllr Athwal has kindly given me your letter of 17 September where you refuse to intervene to stop the closure of King George A&E.

On 27 October the Department of Health issued a statement saying that Redbridge residents would not come to harm as a consequence of the plans to close KGH A&E. The article is here https://www.gov.uk/government/news/barking-havering-and-redbridge-university-hospitals-nhs-trust
The wording of the guarantee is:

"However, no changes will take place until the Care Quality Commission, which published its own report on local services today, has assured the Secretary of State that the services provided by Queen’s Hospital and other local health services are of a high standard."

So far this year 34 acute beds have been closed at King George and Queens Hospitals. The December BHRUT board papers show resident's have been put in harm's way as a consequence. Page board papers here  http://www.bhrhospitals.nhs.uk/about-us/trust-board-papers.htm show bed occupancy at
Queens Hospital at 94.67% getting close to the level at which Queens would have to be closed to ambulances until the bed occupancy improved. A&E four hour waiting times have risen as a consequence to 90.23%. There is a lot evidence linking waiting times and high bed occupancy to poor patient outcomes including an increase in death rates. An example is at
http://www.nhsimas.nhs.uk/ist/how-to-stabilise-emergency-care-in-england/

"We know that speed of treatment is vital in many conditions. For example, people with the most severe form of pneumonia have less than a one in two chance of surviving. Those chances improve considerably if effective treatment is started early.  However, research suggests that delays of more than four hours in administration of antibiotics to patients coming into hospital with pneumonia can affect 70 per cent of patients on days when an A&E is crowded. (Pine JM et al, 2005)This undoubtedly affects mortality."


One of the drivers behind the bed closures is the need to make room at King George Hospital for community beds from other units being closed. This is part of the plan to close King George Hospital A&E at page 63 of the Health for north east London decision making business case.

Our local NHS is being harmed as a result of these bed cuts. I ask you to honour the guarantee given to Redbridge residents and to put the beds, doctors and nurses back into our hospitals.

Yours sincerely


Andy Walker
120 Blythswood Road IG3 8SG

Public Meeting Report Back

Thank you to everyone attending.

Charlotte Monro gave an inspirational speech on why whistleblowers are vital to the protection of our NHS. Bill Howe spoke on the difficulties of getting information from BHRUT. A discussion was had on to take the campaign forward and the next event will be posted up in due course.

The meeting agreed to write the following letter to Mr Hunt the Secretary of State for Health. I will put in the reply when I receive it,

Dear Mr Hunt

Request to help King George and Queens Hospitals

On 27 October 2011 plans were passed by Andrew Lansley, then Secretary of State for Health, to close King George Hospital A&E. The following guarantee was given that no residents would come to harm as a consequence of the closure:

"The Health Secretary today accepted a report by the Independent Reconfiguration Panel (IRP) on the Health for North East London clinical case for change, which includes the best future for Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals NHS Trust.

However, no changes will take place until the Care Quality Commission, which published its own report on local services today, has assured the Secretary of State that the services provided by Queen’s Hospital and other local health services are of a high standard." ENDs

This guarantee was broken earlier this year when 24 beds were removed from King George Hospital, a hospital that is in special measures rather than of a high standard. August key safety indicators at the King George and Queens Hospitals declined as a consequence. Beds have also been removed from Queens hospital, the second hospital which makes up our local trust which will also lead to a decline in care.

We ask you to honour the guarantee we were given and intervene to replace the beds, doctors and nurses that have been removed from our hospitals.

Fourth anniversary of A&E closure plan

Today is the fourth anniversary of the plan to close KGH A&E by the Andrew Lansley, then Secretary of State for Health. The A&E remains open, but acute beds have been closed at King George Hospital in breach of the guarantee given by Andrew Lansley that no changes were to take place  until the CQC found our services to be of a high standard.

Since 2011 care has got worse at Queens  and King George hospitals with both hospitals in special measures. The October board papers show beds being closed in August at Ash and Clover wards due to staff shortages. It is a  concern that the uncertainty about the A&E closure along with 32 acute  bed cuts in July of this year have been contributory factors to the decline in care shown in the October BHRUT board papers.

Earlier this year, Matthew Hopkins was reported in the Ilford Recorder saying that KGH A&E closure plans were to be produced within 9 months.

 The BHRUT board need to think again and abandon any closure plans. It is clear that with a growing population our hospitals need extra capacity rather than less which the closure of KGH A&E would mean.

Public Meeting Wednesday 28th October Fulwell Cross Library 7.30pm

Say no to the proposed closure of King George A&E

Public Meeting 28th October 7:30pm Fulwell Cross Library

Speakers

Bob Archer -Redbridge Trades Council

Bill Howe - Health Campaigner 

Charlotte Monro - Health Worker

Earlier this year athttp://www.ilfordrecorder.co.uk/news/health/king_george_hospital_a_e_closure_plans_to_be_worked_out_in_next_six_to_nine_months_1_4076969

Matthew Hopkins the Chief Executive of BHRUT said plans to close King George A&E were to be published within 9 months.

July saw the loss of 24 acute beds at King George as part of the closure plan. August (the most recent statistics available) saw a decline in key safety measures at KGH such as.

1)  A&E waiting times

 2) MRSA

3) 12 hour trolley waits

4) Cancer targets for 31, 62 and 104 days were missed 

5) BHRUT admit they cannot met standards which may affect the safety of patients

6) The medical staff are voting with their feet with turnover rising by month by month to 25.95% in August

7) Medical vacancies are also rising month by month to hit 16%

 8) The situation is in danger of deteriorating further with more beds closing in August because BHRUT could not staff them  An unprecedented situation.

The meeting will call for the plan to close our A&E to be abandoned. 

The statistics above are in the October BHRUT board papers here http://www.bhrhospitals.nhs.uk/Boardpapers131015.pdf

Bed Cuts at BHRUT board meeting

Stand out news from meeting earlier today is acute bed cuts at King George and Queens Hospitals.

King George has gone down from 293 to 265 beds and Queens from 645 to 641.

Overall 938 beds have reduced to 906, a loss of 32 beds, 3.4% of the total.

Time after time board members say the Trust need more capacity, it is baffling that they are reducing the ability of our hospitals to cope this winter. Japonica ward is now empty at King George, it seems the seems the plan to close King George Hospital A&E is proceeding by stealth. 

On 27 October 2011 the Department of Health issued a statement announcing the closure of King George Hospital A&E. The following safety lock was provided at the time, it now seems discarded.

“no changes will take place until the Care Quality Commission, which published its own report on local services today, has assured the Secretary of State that the services provided by Queen’s Hospital and other local health services are of a high standard.”

The full statement is at https://www.gov.uk/government/news/barking-havering-and-redbridge-university-hospitals-nhs-trust

The photo below is of Save King George Hospital supporters outside Queens Hospital where the board meeting took place.

Photoshoot Wednesday 2nd September 8:30am Outside Queens Hospital

The below went out to Havering and Redbridge Councillors earlier today

Dear Councillors

Earlier this year, Matthew Hopkins the Chief Executive of BHRUT said plans to close KGH A&E would be published in the near future per King George Hospital A&E downgrade plans to be worked out ‘in next six to nine months’

				King George Hospital A&E downgrade plans to be worke... The chief executive of the trust which runs King George Hospital has said initial planning for the downgrading of the A&E department will start in the next “six to ...
				View on www.ilfordrecorder.co.uk	Preview by Yahoo

There will be a photoshoot outside against Queens Hospital on Wednesday 2nd September at 8:30am before the 9am BHRUT board meeting to ask the board to postpone the publication of these closure plans and instead call for a review of the closure due to the sharp increase in the local population in the four boroughs served by Queens and King George Hospitals. Questions can be tabled before the meeting.

The closure programme is about to commence with the loss of three acute wards from King George Hospital to make way for community beds announced to take place later this year at a recent Redbridge Health Scrutiny Committee.

Several Cllrs have already confirmed attendance and it would be great if you could make it too the 2nd and/or circulate this email to all those you know who may be interested. 

Regards

Andy

Meetings with Roger Evans GLA member and Cllr. Wendy Brice-Thompson

Save King George Hospital A&E supporters met with Roger Evans GLA member for Havering and Redbridge and Cllr Wendy Brice-Thompson, Havering Council to discuss their concerns about the forthcoming plans to close KGH A&E.

Roger gave us most of his morning and will consider the points we raised.

A second meeting took place with Cllr Wendy Brice-Thompson, Havering Cabinet Member for Adult Social Services & Health.

Councillor Wendy Brice-Thompson supports a review of the decision to close King George's A&E due to increasing pressures on services locally due to the unprecedented population rise over the last couple of years.

Photoshoot Wednesday 15th July 8:30am Fulwell Cross Medical Centre

Save KGH Campaigners will be outside the Fulwell Cross Medical Centre 1 Tomswood Hill, Barkingside, Ilford, Essex, IG6 2HG on Wednesday 15th July at 8:30am to launch a petition to call for a review of the proposed closure of KGH A&E.

The surgery has been chosen for the launch because Dr Metha who is GP at the Centre is also Chair of Redbridge Clinical Commissioning Group which supports closing KGH A&E.

Next Meeting of Save King George Hospital Meeting this 26.6.15 Midday Redbridge Town Hall

The next meeting of the Save King George Hospital campaign will take place on Friday 26^th June, midday at Redbridge Town Hall. All welcome who want to work to help keep our A&E open.

Agenda

1) Apologies

2) Minutes and matters arising from last agenda

3) Wes Streeting MP will give a report back and provide a briefing on how he sees the campaign progressing.

4) BHRUT being sued by patients and inquests

4) AOB

5) Date of next meeting

Photoshoot Wednesday 3rd June outside Queens Hospital

The Save King George Hospital campaign group met yesterday and decided to call a photo shoot outside Queens hospital this Wednesday 3rd June at 830am before the BHRUT board meeting which meets at 9am the same day.

The photo shoot is in response to the recent announcement by Matthew Hopkins Chief Executive of BHRUT in the Ilford Recorder that plans to close KGH A&E are to be published shortly. 

Members of the public are allowed to ask questions of the board at the end of the meeting.

NHS Hustings Saturday 18 April 5pm Fulwell Cross Library

Wea Streeting says:

“Under the Tories, our local NHS is in crisis. Both of our NHS trusts are in special measures, they broke their promise to keep maternity at King George Hospital open, waiting times for A&E and cancer treatment have been poor and primary care is also in crisis with people waiting too long to see a GP. Labour have saved the NHS before and we’ll do so again and I’m looking forward to debating the Tories’ record with Lee Scott."

Lee Scott says:

"We have worked together long and hard on the ‘Save King George Hospital’ campaign and have a very robust case to make on health provision in the area. The great strength of our local effort is that it has, so far, been non-party political. Our factual case has been argued and presented in the same way regardless of which party happened to be in power at the time."

BHRUT maintains hospitals safe

I asked the following questions earlier today at the BHRUT board meeting of Matthew Hopkins, Chief Executive of BHRUT who referred them to his deputy Steve Russell.


a) If he agrees that the non-maternity beds need to go back into KGH?
b) Has BHRUT identified what beds have been lost from KGH since the publication of the HfNEL KGH A&E closure plan
c) Will BHRUT publish separate bed numbers for KGH and QH on their website each month so that bed numbers can be tracked accurately in future?

Pleased to report that BHRUT will be reporting bed numbers each month on their website. However, BHRUT is unable to describe what type of bed has been removed from KGH. 86 KGH beds in total have been closed since 2010 and it seems that BHRUT accepts not all of these are maternity.

Steve said there were no plans to put any beds back into KGH which is a disappointment because both KGH and Queens consistently fail to reach 95% 4 hour waiting times and have long periods when the bed occupancy is more than the recommended 85% bed occupancy level.

Steve disputed my assertion that Queens and KGH are unsafe. I say this because of the consistent failure to reach the 95%  A&E 4 hour waiting times.

I quote from a Guardian Article http://www.theguardian.com/society/2013/nov/06/accident-emergency-overcrowding-costs-lives-doctors

Dr Cliff Mann, the CEM's president, said: "There's clear evidence from America and from the UK that if you have overcrowded emergency departments then the mortality rates for patients going through that department increases."

The BHRUT board papers mention the case of a patient who was waiting on a trolley for 12 hours before found a bed. Delays like these must increase the risk of poor patient outcomes.

BHRUT distributed a paper on how overcrowding increases the risk of poor care at their October meeting. The link is here http://savekinggeorgehospital.wordpress.com/2014/10/07/report-from-bhrut-board-meeting-exit-block-kills-at-queens-and-king-george-ae/

The pledge made by Andrew Lansley, the then Secretary of State for Health, back in 2011 about no changes to KGH until it was safe to do so, appears to not only been broken but also contributed to QH and KGH being unsafe. I hope our MPs and Councillors and will ask questions about this.

BHRUT need to provide more information on what beds have been lost from KGH.

Will BHRUT agree that beds cut from King George Hospital be replaced?

At the end of this post is a extract from a recent BHRUT document, it shows that at 11 November 2014 there were 301 beds at King George Hospital (KGH). The HfNEL (Health for NE London) KGH A&E closure document approved by Andrew Lansley, the then Secretary for Health in 2011 shows 387 beds at KGH, an extract is here http://savekinggeorgehospital.blogspot.co.uk/2014/12/why-have-228-beds-gone-from-queens-and.html This is a loss of 86 beds from KGH, not all of which appear to be maternity, at time of writing BHRUT are unable to identify what type and numbers of beds have been closed, ie maternity, child. adult etc. 

In a response to six Councillors from three boroughs going to 10 Downing Street, asking for the KGH A&E closure plan to be scrapped, the Department of Health (DoH) in a letter dated 17 October 2014 said the "HfNEL scheme be allowed to proceed. However, in doing so, he also said that no changes were to take place until he was assured that the quality of services...had improved" further on the DoH say "There has been no downgrading of services at King George Hospital." The DoH letter is at the same post as the HfNEL extract.

It seems very difficult to reconcile these statements by the Prime Minister's representatives of no changes at KGH with bed closures which, on face of it, have contributed to the decline in care and placing into special measures of KGH and Queens.

I will be asking Matthew Hopkins, the Cheif Executive of BHRUT the following questions at the board meeting of 7 January:

a) If he agrees that the non-maternity beds need to go back into KGH?
b) Has BHRUT identified what beds have been lost from KGH since the publication of the HfNEL KGH A&E closure plan
c) Will BHRUT publish separate bed numbers for KGH and QH on their website each month so that bed numbers can be tracked accurately in future?

Extract from December 2014 BHRUT document

 

 

Topic 4: Bed numbers

Andy Walker suggested we had closed over 200 beds. He had looked at a document from 2010, health for north east London decision making business case p91-92 that states in 2010-11 there were 387 beds at King George Hospital and 740 at Queen’s Hospital.

An FOI that we replied to on 11 December 2014 we stated that on the 11 November 2014 the number of adult medical and surgical beds we had was 620 at Queen’s Hospital and 279 at King George Hospital. 3 We explained that Andy was not comparing like with like. The table below explains the breakdown of our beds. We also explained that in some specialties it is quite right that there is a reduction in beds, for example, cardiac patients. Due to advances in technology people are seen and treated much more quickly in some specialities and do not need to spend long periods of time in hospital, which may have historically been the case.

We are currently identifying what data was used to inform the Health for NEL business plan to help explain the difference. At that time maternity services were run from King George and NELFT also now manage some of the beds that we were previously responsible for.

Table 1: Available beds at December 2014 (overnight beds only – day case beds are excluded)

Queens Hospital		King George Hospital		TRUST Total
Medical and surgical Beds (inc. assessment units and specialist beds)	620		279		899
Adult Critical Care (incl. neuro)	32		8		40
Neonatal Critical Care Beds	25		0		25
Paediatric Beds	25		14		39
Maternity Beds	63		0		63
TOTAL	765		301		1066