Tuesday, November 14, 2006
WF Council backs Whipps Cross
ALL THREE PARTIES AGREE ON LIB DEM MOTION - IN THE END !
At the end of Monday's Special Council Meeting to debate Whipps Cross, councillors voted unanimously to support the Liberal Democrat motion which had been moved by Cllr.John Beanse and seconded by Cllr. Sheila Smith-Pryor. Two amendments which added to the motion were accepted, one from the Conservatives seeking a cross party meeting with the Secretary of State; the other from Labour pledging to campaign for "a modern general hospital" on the Whipps Cross site.
A Conservative motion was debated first which was opposed by Labour, while the Lib Dems abstained. John Beanse had pointed out two flaws: firstly, it was overtly party-political at a time when all 3 parties needed to speak with one voice and secondly, one paragraph did not give an accurate picture of the current "Fit for the Future" discussions.
Four speakers spoke at the start of the meeting in support of Whipps Cross and there was a high attendance in the public gallery. Speaker after speaker in the main debate backed the call to defend Whipps Cross and our local health services. The Lib Dem motion was as follows:
"Waltham Forest Council notes with alarm that, despite the extra money that has undoubdtedly been put into the NHS over recent years, many Trusts, including our own local NHS Trusts, are currently under severe financial pressure or even in crisis, being forced to close wards and operating theatres and make staff redundant. In the longer term there is a real prospect of a seriously diminished range of services being available at Whipps Cross. This Council is committed to maintaintaing the quality of services available locally for the people of this borough.
Waltham Forest Council calls on the Government as a matter of urgency
- to ensure that Trusts put sufficient money into maintaining frontline services
- and even to provide extra funding where necessary so that such regressive measures can be reversed and there is no damaging impact on local services.
We request that the Chief Executive inform the Secretary of State for Health of our comments, requesting a positive response, and that the three MPs should also be informed of our concerns."
At the end of Monday's Special Council Meeting to debate Whipps Cross, councillors voted unanimously to support the Liberal Democrat motion which had been moved by Cllr.John Beanse and seconded by Cllr. Sheila Smith-Pryor. Two amendments which added to the motion were accepted, one from the Conservatives seeking a cross party meeting with the Secretary of State; the other from Labour pledging to campaign for "a modern general hospital" on the Whipps Cross site.
A Conservative motion was debated first which was opposed by Labour, while the Lib Dems abstained. John Beanse had pointed out two flaws: firstly, it was overtly party-political at a time when all 3 parties needed to speak with one voice and secondly, one paragraph did not give an accurate picture of the current "Fit for the Future" discussions.
Four speakers spoke at the start of the meeting in support of Whipps Cross and there was a high attendance in the public gallery. Speaker after speaker in the main debate backed the call to defend Whipps Cross and our local health services. The Lib Dem motion was as follows:
"Waltham Forest Council notes with alarm that, despite the extra money that has undoubdtedly been put into the NHS over recent years, many Trusts, including our own local NHS Trusts, are currently under severe financial pressure or even in crisis, being forced to close wards and operating theatres and make staff redundant. In the longer term there is a real prospect of a seriously diminished range of services being available at Whipps Cross. This Council is committed to maintaintaing the quality of services available locally for the people of this borough.
Waltham Forest Council calls on the Government as a matter of urgency
- to ensure that Trusts put sufficient money into maintaining frontline services
- and even to provide extra funding where necessary so that such regressive measures can be reversed and there is no damaging impact on local services.
We request that the Chief Executive inform the Secretary of State for Health of our comments, requesting a positive response, and that the three MPs should also be informed of our concerns."
# posted by John Beanse @ 5:14 PM 
