Health Petition  

Save our local health services 

• Fighting proposals to reduce access to local healthcare 

  Walk-in Centres
  The first victory for the campaign has been the retention of the Broad Street Walk-in Centre for at least another 2 years, which health bosses had initially proposed to close. Walk-in centres provide valuable services locally, and take the pressure off busy Accident and Emergencies departments that are already over stretched. The council will campaign to retain these walk-in centres.

  GP extended hours
  The council are lobbying against the reduction in GP working hours, to ensure that residents can see their family doctor outside of work hours. There is a plan to remove almost 8,500 hours of GP availability, which the council recognises would make it more difficult for many people to access immediate healthcare and treatment.

   

• Safeguarding local health programmes 

  Access and Connect
  The proposed changes to healthcare will also impact negatively on the health and wellbeing of young people in the Borough. Barking and Dagenham has some of the worst figures for childhood obesity in the city, which is not only detrimental now, but causes additional health problems in the future.
  
  Significant investment is being cut to the Access and Connect youth card scheme, devaluing the efforts already made by both the council and NHS, not to mention the young people that have already made changes to their lifestyles.
  
  This is a long term, large scale problem that needs significant funding and effort. While the NHS has withdrawn its investment, the council is committed to ensuring the continuation of the scheme.

  Healthy eating and obesity
  The council will lobby to ensure that there are opportunities for healthy eating and physical activity regardless of the budget cuts, to ensure the future health of the children and young people of Barking and Dagenham.

   

• Helping to improve local hospital services 

  Queens Hospital
  The council has committed to lobbying key officials to address concerns raised by the Care Quality Commission over the standards of care in maternity services at Queen’s Hospital, and the level of staffing. We also have concerns over the waiting times at Accident and Emergency and the ability of the hospital to cope with the demand.

  The council are also lobbying for the opening of the birthing unit in Barking, for which the facilities are already in place. This would help to accommodate the rising number of births, and to additionally raise standards of care

  We will oppose any proposal to turn the Accident and Emergencies department at King George’s Hospital into an urgent care facility until there has been a sustained improvement at Queen’s hospital.

  Dagenham East Community Hospital
  The council are also calling for progress to be made on the commitments to Dagenham East Community Hospital. This new hospital will provide much needed close to home services for the Borough, and remove some of the pressure from other hospitals.