Camden Council leader condemns lack of political oversight and public engagement in STP

It is often instructive to look at what Councils in our neighbouring boroughs are doing and saying. This is a press release from Camden's Labour leader. Camden's STP is different from the NW London plan which includes Brent but the overall approach is the same.
 

The NHS in the north central London area – which represents Camden, Haringey, Islington, Barnet and Enfield – has submitted a draft Sustainability and Transformation Plan (STP) to NHS England.

This has been developed by a host of NHS organisations with the support of officials from the area’s local authorities to propose changes to the way services are delivered, to make them more effective and efficient.

Councillor Sarah Hayward, Leader of Camden Council, said:

There is a national crisis in both the health and social care systems - both need to change and we recognise that they could be more efficient. That said, I have serious reservations about the Sustainability and Transformation Plan process so far.

There has been no political oversight, and minimal public and patient engagement. At present, there is a lack of appropriate focus on adult social care. That lack of public, patient and political involvement is why I am publishing this document on our website. It is vital that there is full transparency in Camden as this work progresses.

The next stage is for the bodies involved to respond to this draft plan and we will be consulting residents and patients on our response over the coming weeks. Local Authorities see first-hand the impact of the profound health inequalities that exist in the north central London area. In the light of this, we’ll be using our role to influence the future quality of local social care and to improve the health and wellbeing of our residents.

As the provider and commissioner of social care services in Camden we want to be sure that future needs are reflected in this plan. We will be holding a number of public events to gather the views of residents before our response to the draft plan is considered in public by Camden’s cabinet.