Changes to the Health Service – planned and discussed behind closed doors

‘Sustainability and Transformation Plans sound quite benign, but they’re not, and they are being developed and agreed behind closed doors,’ says Greta Sykes, Chair of Haringey Green Party.

The plan that covers Haringey (North Central London Footprint, which also includes Camden, Islington, Barnet and Enfield) has emerged with a draft document published on Camden’s website[1]. But no sign of an open public consultation. No sign of even a simple, straightforward explanation of why this is being done, what it will mean for service deliver and how it will affect individuals who need health services.

‘The draft talks about laudable aims, such as prevention, increased health and wellbeing; but it goes on immediately to say that there is a serious shortage of funding and it is clear that this will be the driver’, says Jarelle Francis, one of Haringey Green Party’s prospective candidates for the 2018 Haringey Council elections. ‘If there is no public consultation on these issues, we will be left with a decisions made that are not in the best interest of patients, their families or local communities,’ he adds.

Haringey Green Party is demanding:

• That any changes in public services that are likely to have significant impact on local communities and residents are debated openly and publicly.
• That these changes go hand in hand with the restitution of social care funding already lost
• A model of social and health care that is integrated and that ensures an acceptable quality of life for people with complex health and care needs and their families.
• That such a plan goes hand in hand with clear mechanisms of accountability, through local Health and Wellbeing Boards or, in the case of Haringey, the Haringey and Islington Wellbeing Partnership.
• That both emergency and maternity services need to be maintained at a level and in places where they are accessible to local people.

If you want to know more about this and about the position of Haringey Green Party, you can read a longer article on the Haringey Green Party Website.