Please donate to help stop the takeover of GP surgeries by US giant Centene

Rcent Brent demonstration against takeovers

The take over of GP's surgeries by US company Centene, including three in Brent, has been covered on Wembley Matters.  LINK Now a legal challenge has been launched and I hope readers will contribute.

DONATE HERE

The Appeal

Help us to stop the takeover of GP Surgeries by the giant American corporation Centene!

Centene (through its UK company Operose Health Ltd) has taken over dozens of GP surgeries in London including eight contracts in Camden, Islington and Haringey. Hundreds of patients, councillors and members of the public have written letters, protested outside surgeries and have made their feelings clear. We do not want our GP practices taken over by large profit-seeking American corporations.

 

The decision to allow the takeover of the GP surgeries with over 375,000 NHS patients on their lists, was taken by the Clinical Commissioning Groups who are responsible for commissioning General Practice services for patients.  

 

Following public outcry, a patient at one of the affected practices has decided to challenge the decision of her local CCG (North Central London) in court. Ms Anjna Khurana is a local councillor, representing Tollington Ward, and is a patient at Hanley Primary Care Centre in Islington.

Anjna said:

“I am so afraid that our NHS is being dismantled bit by bit, with the private sector playing a bigger and bigger part.  The NHS belongs to all of us and it is wrong that it should be run to achieve private profit rather than for the good of everyone. I also worry that my personal NHS medical data will be used by Operose for purposes that I have not been informed about or agreed to.

I need to trust my doctor, and how can I do that if they work for a company like Centene? A company that has a record of fraud in the US.  I am taking this court action not only for me but for all of us, because we all feel the same about the NHS.  Please help me to make this happen.”

Anjna is right to be worried. It's clear that the Centene/Operose Health business model is built around profits not patient care. 

This statement, from public accounts of the UK parent company behind Operose Healthcare, makes it very clear :

"Position at 31 December 2019 and future developments ... Rationalisation of our business activities… Has continued into 2020, as the business seeks to divest of activities that have not met profitability targets. As a result, on 31 March 2019, Operose Health Limited exited the Surrey Borders Partnership NHS Trust CAMHS contract, and on 1 July 2019, Operose Health (Group) UK Limited divested its complex care division, including the contracts and related assets." 

From this statement it's also clear this is not just about London GP Surgeries. Operose Health Ltd have already taken over twenty other GP surgeries across England. The corporate takeover of NHS services can happen anywhere in the country. 

This case affects all of us.   

HOW YOU CAN HELP

Please help to raise £25,000 - £30,000 so that Anjna can bring the case to the Court. This target is on the assumption that the judge will award 'capped costs' because this is a case of vital public interest.

£25K is to cover the 'capped costs'. When the lawyers ask the Judge for permission to bring the Judicial Review, they will ask for this limit to the amount Anjna would have to pay to NCL CCG’s lawyers, if she were to lose the Judicial Review.  

This is the only way Anjna can afford to bring the case to court.

The additional £5K is towards the costs of court fees, solicitors and barristers who are working hard already in presenting Anjna’s case for consideration.

We're sure you can see the public interest in this Judicial Review. Your support will be invaluable. Please contribute whatever you can and share this page now!

NOTE: Should it transpire that a judge says there are no grounds to proceed to Judicial Review, in accordance with CrowdJustice's Terms and Conditions, we will donate any unused funds to another similar legal challenge, via Crowd Justice or the Access to Justice Foundation.

THE DECISION SHOULD NEVER HAVE BEEN MADE

The hope is that the courts will judge that North Central London Clinical Commissioning Group acted unlawfully in making their decision and that the decision will be quashed. Certainly the process was carried out with little regard for public consultation and certainly no involvement of registered patients.

London GP,  Louise Irvine, of Keep Our NHS Public (KONP) said: "The NHS  Constitution demands transparency and people rightly expect transparency and accountability in NHS decision-making especially about such important matters as who runs our GP practices, and their suitability to be trusted with our health care and our personal health data."

Like Anjna, the public would hope and expect proper patient and public engagement about what kind of people or organisations should get the contracts to run our GP surgeries in the future. The public don't want to see good NHS GP surgeries taken over by companies who do not share a belief in the ethics of comprehensive healthcare for everyone regardless of wealth or status.

Cat Hobbs, CEO of We Own It agrees: "Our NHS belongs in public hands, working for patients not profit. People don't want health insurance giants like Centene taking over GP surgeries. We fully support Anjna and her incredibly important fight for our NHS."

This legal challenge is an important step in stopping more corporate takeovers of the NHS. It also demands transparency and accountability from Clinical Commissioners in the future.

Steven Carne of 999 Call for the NHS said:  “What is most worrying is that the failure of the various CCGs to carry out proper scrutiny means they've allowed a multi-million dollar American corporation to hold a major position within the NHS infrastructure. And the people who will suffer are the patients who, of course, were told nothing."  

THE PROCESS AHEAD

We are working with solicitors Leigh Day and barristers Adam Straw QC from Doughty St Chambers and Leon Glenister from Landmark Chambers.

Anjna's claim has to be submitted to the High Court and a judge will decide whether the case can continue to a full Judicial Review. We are asking for capped costs because this is the only way Anjna can bring this case. A case that is of huge public interest. 

If the Courts grant approval and agree capped costs, we will then proceed to a full Judicial Review hearing.

Sufra Foodbank: Coronavirus Will Affect Services for the Most Vulnerable - Appeal for donations & changes in service

An appeal from Sufra Foodbank

The Perfect Storm for Food Banks 

A Note from the Director

It’s the last thing we need when experiencing the highest demand for emergency food aid in our history: Coronavirus.

While people are fighting over the last toilet roll in their supermarket, our donations of food from the public are dwindling, and we are struggling to purchase the food and toiletries we provide in the quantities we need. It’s likely that the situation will deteriorate further in coming days.
Aside from a host of additional hygiene measures designed to limit the spread of the COVID-19 virus in our community, we are having to make some difficult choices about how – and if – we can run our services.

Never before in our history have we cancelled Food Bank or Community Kitchen – not even when it falls on Christmas Day or Easter Sunday. But we have now stripped back our services to ensure that we can still support the most vulnerable in a way that minimises potential transmission.

Our guests (service users) have more vulnerabilities than the average population. Many of them are refugees or asylum seekers with links to Iran, Italy and other countries which have experienced high risk of infection.

From this week, our Community Kitchen will operate on a take-away basis, meanwhile all of our advice work for food bank guests, refugees and asylum seekers will be done over the phone.

It’s likely that by next week we may need to move to Phase 2 of our action plan, which will involve shifting to a delivery-only service for the majority of our food bank guests.

But this is just the tip of the iceberg. All the indications are that the UK is on the precipice of a recession, which will mean that financial donations to the charity will also start drying-up while demand for food aid rises. Add to this the impact of austerity and universal credit and you can see why this really is the perfect storm.

Families that visit food banks simply can’t afford to hoard food in the way that others have been doing in the past few days. That’s why we’re asking you to donate surplus food or toiletries to Sufra NW London (or any other food bank near you). Click here to see a list of items we need.

Please also consider making a financial donation to help get Sufra through the next few months.
Thank you.
Rajesh Makwana
Director @SufraNWLondon

Brent Foodbank: Could you volunteer to collect food donations for just 3 hours in the first week of July?

 

Request from Brent Foodback

 

At Brent Foodbank we are looking for volunteers to help us with a food collection on 2 / 3 / 4 July - including at Tesco Extra Wembley (across from Ikea) and Tesco Metro Wembley Central - and we have a feeling that some Wembley Matters readers might be interested in helping out, or are involved with youth groups or other groups who also might.  Brent Foodbank page at https://www.facebook.com/Brentfoodbankcollection

There's more info on the page but these are the essentials:

13 million people live below the poverty line. Our foodbank provides a minimum of 3 days emergency food and support to local Brent residents in crisis.

On 2nd, 3rd and 4th July 2015, Tesco stores nationwide are hosting a food collection to support the UK's foodbanks.

What can you do to help?

We need 100 of you to each give 3 hours of your time to greet shoppers at 3 Brent stores and ask them to buy an item from our shopping list.

Where do we need you?

We are greeting shoppers and collecting food items at the following stores:

• Tesco Extra Wembley (across from Ikea) 
• Tesco Metro Harlesden
• Tesco Metro Wembley Central

When are we collecting food? 

We're asking you to sign up to volunteer for 3 hours on any of the following days:

• Thursday 2nd July between 9 am and 6 pm
• Friday 3rd July between 10 am and 10 pm
• Saturday 4th July between 10 and and 10 pm

What do you do next?

Please Message us via the Message button on our Facebook page, or leave a comment, and we will be in touch with more info.

Ibrahim Taguri confirms he will not stand as an Independent in Brent Central

As Brent Green Party was meeting across the road, the signage at Ibrahim Taguri's temporary campaign office in Walm Lane was being taken down last night. Earlier Ibrahim had confirmed to me that he would not be standing as an Independent in the General Election. He had anticipated a quick resolution of the allegations about donations made in the Daily Telegraph but this has not happened.

Lauren Keith was last week selected as the Liberal Democrat candidiate for Brent Central.

On March 26th the Electoral Commission made the following statement:

The Electoral Commission has today (26 March 2015) provided an update on its consideration of two separate allegations regarding donations to the Liberal Democrat Party.

Daily Telegraph allegations

Following the allegations that appeared recently on The Telegraph online (11 March) and subsequently in the newspaper regarding Ibrahim Taguri and donations to the Liberal Democrats, the Electoral Commission requested information from the newspaper, the party and Mr Taguri to help it establish the facts in the case.

Based on the information that the Commission has seen, one alleged offence centres on the potential evasion of restrictions on donations in contravention of section 61 of the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000 (PPERA). Offences under this part of PPERA are ultimately a criminal matter and fall outside of the Commission’s civil sanctioning powers.

The Electoral Commission has therefore passed the information that it has received to the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS). The MPS have confirmed to the Commission that they are also aware of the allegations and that they are considering them.

Channel 4’s ‘Dispatches’ 

Following the allegations that appeared as part of Channel 4’s Dispatches programme (23 March), the Electoral Commission requested further information from the programme to help it establish the facts in the case.

Based on the information that the Commission has seen, the alleged offence in this case centres on the potential evasion of restrictions on donations in contravention of section 61 of PPERA and is ultimately a criminal matter. As a result, the Commission has also passed the information that it has received to MPS who are aware of the allegations and are considering them.

Donations received in the course of both cases

In both of these cases, the Liberal Democrat Party received a number of donations.

One donation in the Telegraph case, a cheque for £7,650 was delivered to the party. However, it had not been banked and the funds had not cleared and as a result no offence was committed under the donation rules set out in PPERA.

The other donations included one of £1,450 made by the undercover reporter in the Telegraph case that was received and accepted by the party; and another of £10,000 received from the ‘step father’ of the undercover donor in the Dispatches case, Mr Paul Wilmott. The Commission is in contact with the Liberal Democrats about the actual source of these donations and will provide a separate statement about this matter once these further facts have been established.

Next steps

Any decisions about what further steps to take at this stage in relation to potential evasion of restrictions on donations in either case rest with the Metropolitan Police Service.

Should further facts emerge in relation to The Telegraph allegations or Channel 4’s Dispatches, which could lead the Electoral Commission to consider any other potential breaches of PPERA, the Commission will do so in line with its enforcement policy.

Visit new Barham pop up library today and donate books etc

A message from Friends of Barham Library

After another busy week of repairs and decorating we are slowly getting our new premises at 428 High Road Wembley (near Argos) ready.

We opened last Saturday and were please to see many of our regulars and some new faces. Without realising it we kept going until almost 6pm..

We have decided to extend our opening hours on Saturdays to between 11am. to 4pm. and see how we get on. We are also planning extra openings during the week and preparing a Volunteer Rota. If you are willing to help by spending a few hours as a Volunteer please reply to this email stating the days of week and times that can help on a regular basis.

If you have not yet been please come an visit us this coming Saturday. Our Volunteer Library is a few doors down from Argos and plenty of buses stop outside. Parking is very limited as it is all allocated to the shops and flats above.

Now that the inside of the Library is being organised we are once again able to accept donations of books, CDs, DVDs, Computer Games in reasonable condition. Either bring them along or email us to arrange a collection. Just give us your name, address, phone number and best time for a pick up.

As always please pass the word and encourage others to visit and join us.