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Health Service

See also forum discussions in the Health Services category.

Closure of Park Lodge Medical Centre: Some reassurance from a Winchmore Hill patient

13 July 2017

In response to my report on the meeting at Park Lodge Medical Centre about its planned closure later this year, a reader from Grange Park has asked me to publish a copy of a letter she wrote to one of the partners at Winchmore Hill Practice.

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Happy Birthday NHS!

12 July 2017

NHS wellwishers were up bright and early (6 am) on 5th July to celebrate the 69th birthday of the National Health Service as staff streamed into Barnet Hospital for the morning shift.

Resisting rationing of NHS services

12 July 2017

Campaigners against proposals to restrict access to some medical procedures on the NHS are holding a public meeting on 15th August.

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Healthwatch Enfield asks clinical commissioning group to reconsider rationing of medical procedures

05 July 2017

Healthwatch Enfield has written to Enfield Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) recommending that the CCG suspend any decision making regarding increasing thresholds for access to certain medical procedures. The letter, sent last week and published on the Healthwatch Enfield website, summarises the feedback gathered at the various consultation meetings that it organised to discuss the CCG's proposals concerning "Application of Evidence Based Medicine" (see earlier reporting on Palmers Green.......

North London Healthwatch chairs express their anger about secret plans for NHS cuts

01 July 2017

The chairs of four out of five Healthwatch bodies in North Central London, including the chair of Healthwatch Enfield, have written a strongly worded letter to the Secretary of State for Health complaining about the scale of cuts to local NHS services being planned and the secrecy with which the planning work is being carried out.  They say that they consider the proposed cuts a "threat to patient safety".  In fact, they believe that patient safety in their boroughs is already being.......

Patients informed about the future of Park Lodge surgery

01 July 2017

Patients attending meetings at Park Lodge Medical Centre in Old Park Road have been briefed about plans to transfer all its services to a surgery in Winchmore Hill, probably in late 2017. The GP partners from Winchmore Hill Practice, who are now also the partners at Park Lodge, have provided PGC with a document giving answers to questions which they have received from patients at meetings (see the box at the end of this article)Winchmore Hill Practice is housed in modern purpose-built premises.......

Park Lodge Medical Centre to close

28 June 2017

Park Lodge Medical Centre in Old Park Road is to close and its services will be transferred to the Winchmore Hill Practice (located at 808 Green Lanes and also known as the Green Lanes Surgery). Patients registered at Park Lodge can be seen at Green Lanes or opt to transfer to a different practice. The closure date is not yet known, but patients (and carers) at both practices are being invited to "stakeholder meetings", to be held at Green Lanes on Thursday 29th June at 7pm and at Park Lodge on.......

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Changes to urgent care services for young patients at Chase Farm Hospital

24 June 2017

With the new Chase Farm Hospital on the horizon, children’s services on the site will be changing following a consultation and evaluation about how and when they are used. This work has been led by Enfield Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) and will see changes to the way paediatric urgent care is delivered to best meet the needs of local children.

"Devastating" cuts planned for NHS in north London

21 June 2017

A document leaked to the Guardian newspaper has revealed the "devastating" scale of cuts that are being proposed for NHS services in the five North Central London boroughs - Enfield, Barnet, Haringey, Camden and Islington.

Health campaigners call on public to sign petition demanding information about planned NHS cuts

16 June 2017

A group set up last year to defend NHS services in Enfield is calling on members of the public to sign a petition demanding that health secretary Jeremy Hunt reveals the plans that are being drawn up to slash expenditure on the NHS in Enfield and throughout north London. Defend Enfield NHS (DENHS) point out that "North Central London" is among the areas selected to be first to implement a "capped expenditure process".  At present clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) in this area,.......

Last chance to find out about local NHS rationing proposals

04 June 2017

The final consultation meeting to discuss proposals to restrict access to specified NHS operations and other procedures will be held at the Ruth Winston Centre on 23rd June.

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NHS changes meetings postponed until after election

25 April 2017

Enfield Clinical Commissioning Group has cancelled all briefings and consultation events relating to its proposals to tighten access to particular clinical procedures until after the General Election

Further chances to discuss proposed restrictions on NHS procedures

05 April 2017

The deadline for commenting on controversial proposals to introduce measures to limit access to certain medical procedures in Enfield has been extended until 31 May.  A meeting at the end of March clearly showed the level of public disquiet about what is being planned.  I would recommend anyone concerned about the future of the NHS to attend one of the newly arranged consultation meetings. Consultation meetings Monday 24 April 2017, 6-7:30pm, Holbrook House, Cockfosters Road, EN4.......

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Action on Hearing Loss condemns plans to deny hearing aids to people in Enfield

27 March 2017

The national charity Action on Hearing Loss has joined the campaign against proposals by the Enfield Clinical Commissioning Group to restrict access to some medical procedures and has issued a press release - see the box below. Action on Hearing Loss has issued a leaflet about the Enfield campaign explaining the reasons for their campaign and advising the public how to respond.  Please note that the deadline for responding to the consultation is now the end of April, not March as stated in.......

Forum calls on public to resist a Suffer in Silence future for the NHS in Enfield

20 March 2017

Enfield's largest voluntary organisation is calling on "everyone who values the NHS to make their voices heard" and write in opposition to "misleading" proposals that "mean that patients will no longer be treated for conditions ranging from hearing loss to gallstones, knee replacement surgery to hernias until we are insevere pain or the deafness affects our independence and social life". The call comes from the Enfield Over 50s Forum and refers to the current 30-day consultation on "Adherence.......

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Senior Councillor backs call for more time to respond to medical procedures consultation

15 March 2017

A senior Enfield councillor has backed this website's call for residents to be given more time to respond to a consultation about introducing stricter criteria for carrying out certain medical procedures on the NHS.  The procedures in question include knee surgery, hernia operations, some types of breast restoration and surgical removal of scar tissue. As we reported last week (You have 21 days to influence a decision on rationing of NHS operations) the consultation by Enfield Clinical.......

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You have 21 days to influence a decision on rationing of NHS operations

08 March 2017

It may have escaped your attention, but we are already nearly a third of the way through a "public consultation" about rationing NHS knee, hernia and other operations and medical procedures for Enfield residents. The consultation period - outrageously short for such an important question - began on 1st March at a poorly advertised public meeting and finishes on 31st March.  Between now and then there will be only two more public meetings, both during the working day, one on the 22nd and.......

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Additional GP appointments available, including weekends

28 February 2017

Two more "primary care access hubs" are now operating in Enfield, including one on Green Lanes in the Palmers Green/Winchmore Hill borders.  Appointments, including at weekends and on public holidays, will be available to all patients registered with a GP in the borough. The announcement below appeared on the Enfield CCG website. Evening and weekend GP appointments for Enfield patients 27 February 2017 Enfield CCG is pleased to announce that a further two primary care access hubs.......

Coming to the defence of the NHS

15 February 2017

< !-- .denhs { color: #017ac3; font-size: 16px; margin-top: 20px; } --> In recent weeks scarcely a day has gone by without new and very disturbing information about the crisis in the National Health Service.  Ever longer waiting times in A&E departments, postponement of non-emergency operations, skilled surgeons having to waste their precious time waiting for beds to become available, hospital doctors buckling under stress, and so on - it seems that the tremendous.......

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Extra weekday evening and weekend GP appointments

14 February 2017

Extra weekday evening and weekend GP appointments If you are registered with a GP practice in Enfield, (or resident in Enfield but have yet to register with an Enfield GP practice), you can now benefit from an appointment with a GP, or other healthcare professional, on weekday evenings, weekends and bank holidays at our new primary care access hub. Urgent and routine appointments, either same day or pre-bookable, are available from 6.30pm to 8pm Monday to Friday and 8am to 8pm weekends and.......

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