BPV has written to Brent CCG and Brent Council (27 June) to highlight the fact that our Borough has so far been harder hit by Covid-19 than any other area in the UK. Click here to download the letter That’s official according to the Office for National Statistics. We are urging the authorities to seek special help in preparing for a possible Wave 2 in…
BPV wants to pay an unreserved tribute to our local NHS staff in this unprecedented crisis of care. Northwick Park hospital is currently the epicentre nationally for critical cases and deaths. The heroism and dedication of clinical staff and those supporting them reveals the very best of the values which makes the NHS so prized. We are very proud of that. At the same time…
In its response to the CCGs’ “engagement” exercise presenting options for the future of in-patient palliative care beds at the Pembridge Unit at St Charles’s Hospital, North Kensington, BPV strongly supports retaining this valuable end of life service and calls for the beds to be re-opened with appropriate consultant cover as soon as possible. Although Pembridge is the main provider for in-patient hospice beds for…
With great regret BPV is postponing the public meeting and AGM we recently announced for 30 March 2020 at Harlesden. This follows careful assessment of the rapidly developing coronavirus situation. We consider that the right course now on the 11th of March is to postpone or not attend non-essential gatherings. See our previous post “Coronavirus and BPV”. We were greatly looking forward to hearing Sir…
Professors Sir Roy Anderson from Imperial College London and Deidre Hollingsworth from Oxford University have today published the latest assessment of the coronavirus epidemic in The Lancet. This is a key extract from what they say: “Vaccine development is already underway, but it is likely to be at least a year before a vaccine can be mass-produced, even assuming all trials are successful. Social distancing…
Babylon Healthcare, trading as GP at Hand, offered people consultations with NHS GPs in minutes by signing up to an app on their phones. What the GP at Hand advert failed to say up front, was that people would have to leave their existing GP surgery in order to register with them. BPV Steering Group member, Maurice Hoffman, was the first patient to complain to…
Brent Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) has announced that its Community Cardiology Service is to close on 28 February 2018. So far there is no replacement. Existing patients are to be transferred to the cardiology out-patient service at the Royal Free Hospital (RFL) in Hampstead unless they opt out. We presume that new patients with heart conditions who need to be referred to a consultant will…
No-one is going to say ‘no’ to a bung of £2.8 billion, even if spread over 3 years. But will the Chancellor’s top up for the NHS save it from disaster? As a long term response, almost certainly not. But in the short term it should keep the life support machine going. From a financial angle much still depends on whether hospital…
Dr Nigel Stephens, Deputy Chief Medical Officer and leading cardiologist, along with Simon Crawford, Deputy Chief Executive, met with members of Brent Patient Voice and other members of the public on 12th September to talk about the big challenges faced by our local hospitals. Over 50 people attended the meeting at the Learie Constantine Centre in Dudden Hill Lane, NW10. They heard that what is…
Brent Patient Voice invites you to a public meeting and interactive discussion with Simon Crawford & Dr Nigel Stephens, Director of Strategy and Deputy Medical Director at London North West Healthcare NHS Trust Tuesday 12th September at 7.00pm, The Learie Constantine Centre, 40-47 Dudden Hill Lane, NW10 2ET Click here to view the official flyer