Asking questions of the Epsom-St Helier Trust, Part I

Yesterday, we informed the public that the Epsom-St Helier Trust's Estates Review document is not a benign document about mere bricks and mortar. It is about the very future of our local hospitals.

KOSHH campaigners are systematically going through the document and we have already started asking questions of the trust via our Twitter account about the review, the consultation process and how it will be publicised. We are disappointed that our local MPs and councillors are not publicly scrutinising the Estates Review or asking questions of the trust on behalf of the people who use Epsom and St Helier's NHS hospitals.

Today, multiple campaigners have asked the trust questions about the online questionnaire process attached to the Estates Review and how widely this will be publicised.

Questions from Twitter, Wednesday 30 July, 2015

The trust confirmed yesterday that the online questionnaire would be open until September 30. Here are some more questions from KOSHH campaigners and answers from the Epsom-St Helier Trust from today:

Q: Can you tell me the purpose of seeking views on the estates document? What is the objective?

A: Simply to find out what local people want from hospital buildings and facilities in the future.

This answer doesn't really tell us much. Surely local people want to continue to receive healthcare services from hospital buildings and facilities and for these buildings and facilities to be properly maintained so they are hygienic and safe?

So we asked another question...

Q: That's *what* you intend to discover. My question is why? For what purpose?

A: Do you think it might be best to have a conversation about this? We can organise a chat with one of our execs. Easier for you and us to share info that way!

We are finding it perfectly easy to ask questions via social media. We like the open forum, we like that the public can see the answers as we receive them. We will continue to ask questions about the Estates Review publicly in the interests of transparency.

The Epsom-St Helier Trust has expressed reservations about answering our questions via the 140-character format of Twitter. We agree that this has its limitations. With that in mind, we invite the trust to use the comments section of this blog if they would like to answer our concerns with more than 140 characters. This blog is set up so anyone from anywhere in the world can comment.

Raising public awareness about the Estates Review

KOSHH campaigners are deeply concerned about how widely publicised the Estates Review and the online questionnaire will be. We are quite sure that very few members of the wider public are aware of this review or that they can download the document and give their feedback to the trust. As such, we asked the following questions:

Q: Will you make the general public aware of this questionnaire about their local hospital? Do you want a wide response to the questions? Will you publicise it?

A: We'd love a wide response! Have asked GPs, councils, Healthwatch and community groups to take part.

Q: What about people outside of those groups?

A: We've been promoting it on the web, Twitter, public meetings and leaflet will be with us shortly!

Waiting for more answers

As yet, we have not received a direct answer from the trust on these questions:

Q: What will be done with the information garnered via the online questionnaire?

Q: In regard to the promised leaflets, how will they be distributed? Mailed out to all residents?

As soon as we have responses to these questions, we will share them via Twitter, Facebook and this blog. Spokespeople for the Epsom-St Helier Trust are more than welcome to respond to these questions in the comments section of this blog post.

We look forward to getting more answers as we carefully analyse the Estates Review document and we will share the answers as we receive them.



Photography by Charles Rondeau

KOSHH campaigner in the news!

It has never been easier to write to your local newspaper in this era of email. And with newspapers now online, the reach of newspapers goes beyond the traditional audience of people who actually buy newspapers or have them delivered. We urge everyone to be heard via the letters pages of our newspapers - it does not take long to send an email.

KOSHH campaigner, Philippa Maslin, features at the top of the letters page in today's Sutton Guardian. She expresses perfectly our frustrations with our MPs and the conflicting messages thet are sending out over the future of Epsom and St Helier Hospitals.

The Epsom-St Helier Trust Estates Review: This is not a drill! This is the future of our hospitals!

The Epsom-St Helier Trust has released the Estates Review document. At first glance, it seems like a harmless enough report on the bricks and mortar of our local hospitals. It might even be a bit boring.

But the reality is that the Estates Review document is rather serious indeed. It is a report on the future of our local hospitals, Epsom and St Helier. We cannot underestimate the importance of this document or the need for people to read it carefully and respond to it.

Click here for the link to the report. You will have to download a PDF of the report to find out what the findings are and what this might mean for our vital health services.

At the end of the link is a questionnaire so members of the public can respond to the Estates Review. The Epsom-St Helier Trust has assured us this is not the official public consultation. We should hope not - this has been released with minimal publicity over the summer holiday period when many people are away. The closing date for submitting your comments via the online questionnaire is Wednesday 30 September.

We would be horrified if this was the official consultation period and the process was just an online questionnaire, given that the report could provide a road map for the future of our hospitals.

KOSHH campaigners will be reading the Estates Review document very carefully as we have serious concerns about what it contents mean for the future of our hospitals. Rest assured that as we go through this document, we will be asking hard questions of the Epsom-St Helier Trust and we will be making our questions and their responses public. 

KOSHH goes to the pub!

KOSHH campaigner, Colin Crilly writes about yesterday's stall at the Morden Brook:

On the afternoon of Sunday 26 July, KOSHH had a stall at the Morden Brook pub*, as part of their event to raise funds for the Great Ormond Street Hospital. I was joined by Sandra Ash, David Ash and Dave Ash - we nicknamed ourselves CASH!**

We leafleted most people in the pub about the screening of Sell-Off, which will be held this Wednesday night. Click here for more information about the screening - this will also be held at the Morden Brook. We also got a few more petition signatures, which are always welcome. Additionally, more badges were sold, and we gave out quite a few KOSHH window posters. Click here for more information about how to get your hands on one of these lovely posters. 

After more than three hours, we packed up, and posted the remaining leaflets about the Sell-Off screening through letterboxes of a nearby street. As I left the pub, I met a lady by the name of Sandra, and gave her a leaflet - it turned out that she is a leading figure at the nearby church. She has promised to attend the screening and inform other members of the congregation about it. We have also been invited to be part of the church's open day in September.

Any actions like these, no matter how small, are always worthwhile. Every leaflet given out, or discussion participated in could be of pivotal importance. It all helps to get the message out that not only are our local health services under threat but also the wider NHS.

* Many thanks to the Morden Brook for their ongoing support with meeting rooms and event-hosting. Click here to "like" them on Facebook.

** Many thanks to Philippa Zielfa Maslin and Chris Stanton for their assistance in dropping off some essentials to the stall as well.

KOSHH raises awareness at the Morden Family Fun Day

Dave Ash, Philippa Maslin and Colin Crilly spread the word about the threat to our hospital.

KOSHH campaigner Philippa Maslin writes about our presence on the weekend at the Morden Family Fun Day, an annual event held in Morden Park.

Sunday 19 July 2015 was the Morden Family Fun Day and KOSHH were extremely pleased to be a part of it. Thank you very much to Andy Butcher for his help in making this happen.

The KOSHH stall drew a lot of attention throughout the day, with many people interested to know the latest news regarding the hospital, and to sign a petition addressed to South West London Collaborative Commissioning (SWLCC). This petition asks that SWLCC protects, maintains and improves not only St Helier Hospital, but also Epsom Hospital, St George’s Hospital, Kingston Hospital and Croydon Hospital. 

In addition, quite a few people donated £1 in exchange for a lovely KOSHH badge, and ‘a regular’ at St Helier Hospital bought one of our equally lovely T-shirts.

People who were born at the hospital, people whose children were born at the hospital, people who have attended A&E, people whose life was saved by hospital staff, and people who are regular patients – we met them all and, by gosh, did some of them have some moving stories to tell. It was clear that the local community’s high regard for and loyalty to the hospital remains undiminished, and that ongoing threats to the hospital are perceived as deeply unjust.

It was particularly notable that a number of visitors to the stall recalled a BBC London news report, from April, which unearthed a secret plan to replace St Helier Hospital and Epsom Hospital with a new medical centre in Sutton – a centre which would not be built until at least 2020, but which would have just 800 beds, as opposed to the current 1,200 beds. 

What was especially striking was that no one seemed to be aware of the Estates Review being conducted by the Trust, or that the Review’s recommendation that £500m needs to be spent on rebuilding St Helier Hospital and St Epsom Hospital stands in direct contradiction to the massive ‘efficiency savings’ that both the Trust and SWLCC say that they are being asked to make. 

Visitors to the stall were completely shocked by this latest development, with several saying that it was bad enough when the £219m that was promised to St Helier Hospital was suddenly returned to the Treasury.

Of course, the uncertain future of St Helier Hospital is part of a wider picture of NHS cuts, closures and privatisation, and KOSHH exists to fight for the whole NHS, as well as our local hospital. It was, therefore, heartening to hear from the Mayor of Merton, David Chung, that he was going to try to help us arrange a screening of an extremely important and powerful documentary about the horrific destruction of the NHS, Sell-Off: The Abolition of Your NHS (2014), in Merton Civic Centre. His support is most welcome and we look forward to working with him. 

KOSHH would like to thank absolutely everybody who took the time to visit the stall. We really enjoyed meeting you all!

Another diary date! The Trouble With TTIP film screening

TTIP - the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership - is something that KOSHH campaigners are deeply concerned about. The potential TTIP has to destroy public services in the UK, such as the NHS, is immense. Yet negotiations are happening in secret for a deal that could open up all government contracts to the US market and entitle US companies to sue our government.

But don't just take our word for it. There is a film screening of The Trouble With TTIP on Thursday 30 July at 7pm in Balham. The venue is the Balham Baptist Church, 21 Ramsden Rd, SW12 8QX, opposite the library. It's a five-minute walk from Balham tube station and the 155, 355, 249 and 255 buses will all get you there.

The guest speaker will be Linda Kaucher, the Stop TTIP campaigner who features in this documentary. The screening is free and all are welcome.


Photography by Circe Denyer

Dates for the diary! Screenings of Sell-Off

Sell-Off is an important independent documentary about what is really happening to our NHS. It helps explain why St Helier Hospital - as well as many other hospitals across the country - are currently under threat of closure or downgrading.

KOSHH has held several successful public screenings of Sell-Off and now there are two more coming up this month.

Diaries at the ready! Here are the dates!

Thursday 23 July, 1.30pm: There will be a screening of Sell-Off for the Merton Centre for Independent Living. 328 London Road, Mitcham. CR4 3FA

Wednesday 29 July, 7.30pm: There will be a screening of Sell-Off in the function room of the Morden Brook pub. Lower Morden Lane, Morden. SM4 4SS. There will be a Q&A session after the screening and, naturally, the bar will be open! The pub is located at the roundabout that intersects with Grand Drive - the one known locally as the Beverley Roundabout.

We'd love to see you at either of these screenings. It is a powerful film and everyone needs to see it.

KOSHH campaigners support the Newsquest journalists

KOSHH campaigner Colin Crilly has sent this message to Newsquest journalists in support of their recent industrial action:

On behalf of our group, I would like to wish Newsquest journalists all the very best of luck in your ongoing struggle.

It is essential that there are experienced local reporters, covering local issues, to help keep local people informed. For democracy to work, authorities, and their actions must be scrutinised, especially by those who are familiar with those issues.

We feel that this is what we have in common. Reporters and local media highlight these important news stories, and campaigning groups dissect and challenge them. Between yourselves and groups like us, the public are much more aware than they would otherwise be.

In the past, Newsquest journalists, in particular at the Sutton Guardian and Wimbledon Guardian, have reported on many of the issues that we campaign on, and we are very grateful that you have done so. We hope that this will continue for many years to come, and in doing so, you will assist us in saving not only St Helier Hospital, but also the wider NHS as a whole.

Best wishes,

Colin Crilly
Keep Our St Helier Hospital (KOSHH)




Photography by George Hodan

What are we celebrating on #NHS67?

Today the NHS turns 67. It should be a proud day of celebration. We should be able to go about our business today relaxed in the knowledge that the NHS is properly funded, properly managed and always there for us when we need it. But we are living in curious times where, across the nation, campaigners are fighting for local services.

This is not how is should be on such an auspicious day.

We should not have to organise meetings in our communities to work out how we can keep our vital services, such as A&E and maternity, open.

We should not have to make Freedom of Information requests to find out from CCGs and hospital trusts how are money is being spent.

We should not see a penny of our money going to private consultancy firms, such as Deloittes, most of whom have clients with NHS contracts.

We should not be fobbed off when we ask questions about the impact of private contractors on our health services, such as private cleaning contractors and infection rates.

We should not have to remind people over and over again that the Health and Social Care Act 2012 is destroying our NHS and that all MPs who voted for it need to be held to account.

We should not have to beg and plead with the major political parties to come up with policies for our NHS that does not involve moving to a US-style, insurance-based system.

We should not have to march on the streets to demand that big corporations, such as Google, Boots, Virgin and Amazon, pay their fair share of taxes on profits made in the UK so that the NHS can be properly funded.

We should not have to struggle to tell people that PFI deals and the massive cost of the internal marketplace are putting huge cost pressures on the NHS.

We should not have to remind people that while there may indeed be an argument for charging people for the NHS if they are not entitled to use it, that money will only cover 0.06% of the total budget, despite disproportionate media reports about "health tourism".

We should not have to read and watch endless NHS-bashing reports in the media that offer no balance and only serve to whet the public appetite for hospital closures.

We should not have a situation where too many good people are leaving the NHS because the conditions are becoming intolerable.

We should not have our hospitals relying heavily on agency staff instead of employing permanent staff.

We should not have to beg and plead with CCGs to hold meetings at times that are convenient for more people and to properly publicise their meeting times.

We should not have to constantly explain to people what CCGs are and how they hold the pursestrings for major decisions about our hospitals.

We should not have to hear about cuts being euphemistically described as "efficiency savings".

We should not feel so powerless nor feel like the closure of our local hospitals is inevitable.

We should not have to do any of these things. And yet we do. Because if we don't, we won't have our local hospital and we won't have an NHS either.




Photography by Alex Grichenko