Lib Dems’ NHS pledge would mean an extra £42 million for Haringey Health Services

Posted on 1st Apr 2015 by Lynne Featherstone

The Liberal Democrats are the only major party to have pledged £8 billion additional funding for our NHS, in accordance with advice from Simon Stevens, the Chief Executive of NHS England.

Once implemented, the extra cash would mean at least extra £42 million in funding for Haringey’s health services, like hospitals, G.P.s and walk-in centres.

This morning, Lib Dem Health Minister Norman Lamb called for the Conservatives and Labour to also match the Lib Dem commitment – to ensure the service is protected regardless of who is in Government.

Lynne Featherstone, the Liberal Democrat candidate for Hornsey and Wood Green, has a strong local record on securing additional funding. Her recent local campaigns for fairer health funding secured an extra £30 million for Haringey’s health services over the last two years.

Lynne Featherstone commented:

“The Liberal Democrats are the only party who have pledged the extra £8 billion needed by our NHS by 2020 – in accordance with the advice from the Chief Executive of NHS England.

“We believe the NHS should always remain free at the point of delivery, and delivered base on need rather than ability to pay. That’s why we’re committed to giving the NHS the funding it needs to carry on providing a high quality service.

“The extra £42 million would be most welcome in Haringey – for our hard working NHS staff and patients alike. The fairer funding is making a difference, but further resources would be most welcome.

“I hope the other parties will now follow the Lib Dem lead and pledge the money the NHS needs.”

Breaking news – £23.5 million for local health services

Posted on 14th Jan 2015 by Lynne Featherstone

Great news! Haringey’s health services are getting an extra £23.5 million this year – following our local fairer funding campaign.

It’s a massive 5% increase from last year, and it’s a huge step towards getting truly fair funding for our local services, residents, and health workers.

Take a look at this short video – featuring residents, midwives, a new mum and me. It’s about why I started the campaign, and the impact the extra money will have!

Thank you to everyone who supported the campaign for fairer funding. You can see from the video just how much it means.

And it won’t stop here – I’ll keep campaigning for more money, and the Lib Dems have pledged £8bn in NHS funding during the next parliament.

Funding for Haringey health services rises by £23.5 million

Posted on 6th Jan 2015 by Lynne Featherstone

Haringey’s health services – such as G.P.s, hospitals and walk-in centres – will receive an extra £23.5 million in funding this year.

The new funding, which is distributed to boroughs by NHS England, is a 5% rise from Haringey’s previous allocation.

This means that Haringey’s health services have received an extra £30 million in total since local MP Lynne Featherstone started her campaign for fairer health funding in 2012 – backed by over 500 local residents.

The increase also follows the extra £2 billion given to the NHS by the Coalition Government in the Autumn Statement last year.

The MP for Hornsey and Wood Green has welcomed the rise in funding – but has also said she will continue to push for even more money for local services.

Commenting, Lynne Featherstone MP said:

“I am delighted with the huge rise in funding for our local health services. The money will help our hard-working health professionals, and hopefully reduce waiting times and improve care for local residents.

“I’d like to thank the hundreds of residents who supported the campaign for fairer funding. Haringey health services now have more money – and we’re much closer to having the same funding levels as neighbouring boroughs like Camden and Islington.

“But there is still more that can be done – and I will keep putting the case forward for even more money for local health services – particularly our mental health services.”

Lynne Featherstone MP puts Haringey health funding case to NHS England

Posted on 1st Dec 2014 by Lynne Featherstone

Lynne Featherstone MP met with NHS England last week, to put forward the case for extra funding for Haringey’s frontline health services.

The Liberal Democrat MP has campaigned for extra funding for years, after exposing the fact that Haringey gets less money per person than neighbouring boroughs such as Islington and Camden.

Last year, following the local MP’s campaign, the funding formula was changed, giving Haringey a £7.6 million funding boost – but it still left Haringey receiving less per person than neighbouring boroughs.

During the meeting, NHS England were supportive of the MP’s efforts for fairer funding for Haringey, and confirmed that they are working with North London health managers to try and reach agreement on a fairer distribution of money between the boroughs.

The NHS and it’s frontline services are all due to be given a boost on Wednesday – with the Coalition Government set to announce an extra £2 billion in funding.

Lynne Featherstone MP commented:

“Securing an extra £7.6million in funding for Haringey last year was fantastic – but we still lag behind the likes of Islington and Camden. And I won’t stop campaigning until we get truly fair funding.

“There are many pockets of deprivation in Haringey. We also have higher health inequalities and a large ‘hidden population’ who aren’t registered with GPs, but may well turn up at A&Es seeking treatment, which the borough must pay for. That means we need at least as much – if not more – funding than our neighbours. The funding formula should take that into account.

“It’s great that NHS England are supportive of our case, and are actively working to try and make the North London borough allocations fairer.”

Sign Lynne’s petition here

Lynne Featherstone MP re-launches campaign for more local health funding

Posted on 27th Oct 2014 by Lynne Featherstone

Lynne Featherstone MP has re-launched her campaign for more funding for Haringey’s health services.

Last year, the MP for Hornsey and Wood Green exposed figures revealing that Haringey Borough receives hundreds of pounds less funding per person, per year, than neighbouring boroughs such as Camden and Islington. The disparity is due to Haringey historically being classified as an ‘outer’ London borough, rather than ‘inner’ London like Camden and Islington.

After a long campaign, NHS England amended the funding formula, giving Haringey an above inflation, £7.6 million increase in funding this year. This was a higher increase than Islington and Camden – but there is still a disparity in funding levels.

The Liberal Democrat MP has requested a meeting with NHS England to make the case for further changes. At the meeting, the local MP will present a new petition backing her call, which has already attracted hundreds of signatures since its launch of Friday.

Lynne Featherstone MP commented:

“Securing an extra £7.6 million funding for Haringey health services last year was a massive step in the right direction. I was so glad that NHS England listened and changed their funding formula.

“But, there is still an unfairness that needs to be addressed – as Haringey is still receiving less funding per person than neighbouring boroughs.

“That’s why I’ve restarted my campaign and called a meeting with NHS England to discuss the funding arrangements, and their progress in making funding fairer. I hope as many residents as possible will add their voice to the campaign prior to the meeting.”

MP steps up call for Fairer Health Funding for Haringey

Posted on 9th Dec 2013 by Lynne Featherstone

Lynne Featherstone MP wrote to the Chief Executive of NHS England last week regarding the money received by health services in Haringey.

NHS England is due to make an announcement on a new health funding arrangements by the 17^th December. The changes will see some areas receive more money, in an attempt to make funding fairer across the country.

The MP for Hornsey and Wood Green has long campaigned for fairer funding for Haringey. As part of the campaign, the local MP exposed figures which reveal that Haringey receives hundreds of pounds less per person, per year, than neighbouring boroughs such as Camden and Islington.

The Lib Dem MP submitted a report to NHS England, to put forward the case for an increase in money for Haringey health services – and has pledged to continue the fight for fairer funding if Haringey does not receive an increase this time.

Lynne Featherstone MP said:

“Last year alone, Haringey received £70m less funding than Camden in total. This is just not right – levels of deprivation and need in Haringey are now at least equal to those in inner London boroughs, so we need just as much funding.

“This underfunding is having a direct impact on nurses, doctors and patients in Haringey – and that’s why I started this campaign alongside the Haringey Lib Dems and local residents.

“NHS England agreeing to review the formula was a great step forward in the campaign – but of course they have to change it for the better!

“I have sent in extensive submissions and a report to arguing for more funding for Haringey. I very much hope we see an increase in funding, but if we don’t – the fight goes on.”

Lynne Featherstone MP reveals shocking figures behind Fairer Health Funding campaign

Posted on 12th Oct 2012 by Lynne Featherstone

Shocking figures revealed today by Lynne Featherstone MP show that health services in Haringey are missing out on hundreds of millions of pounds due to a funding formula, which gives them less money than those in neighbouring Camden and Islington.

If Haringey services received the same funding per person as those in Camden, NHS Haringey would have an extra £70 million this year. Even if Haringey received the same funding as the London-wide average, health services in the borough would benefit from an extra £25m this year.

The funding difference is caused by an old formula which assumes that residents in Haringey, who are counted as living in ‘outer London,’ have less need for health services than those in ‘inner London’. Figures on deprivation, however, indicate that this is no longer the case.

Last month Lynne Featherstone, MP for Hornsey and Wood Green and Crouch End Councillor David Winskill launched a campaign to address the historic health funding inequality in Haringey. The MP for Hornsey and Wood Green has received numerous responses from residents who have suffered the consequences of the funding shortfall.

Local resident Syd Pochin had to have his left hip resurfaced in April this year. Haringey would not fund a resurfacing, as no local hospital performed the operation. Mr Pochin was also informed that Haringey would not refer him outside of the area. It cost Mr Pochin a great deal of money to go private, which, as a pensioner, he could not really afford. Mr Pochin felt let down by Haringey and the NHS.

One resident works locally as a practice nurse, and previously as a district nurse in Tottenham. She asked Lynne to look at the numbers of nurses and training available for community nurses in Islington and Camden, and compare it to Haringey. The resident says that, while there are many unsung heroes in the borough – her and her colleagues are ‘on their knees sometimes, doing their best, against all odds here in Haringey.’

Another local resident was shopping in Islington. In the supermarket, NHS Islington had a free health check service including cholesterol and diabetes testing. When they realised that the resident was from Haringey, she was turned away and told to contact Haringey NHS. The resident did this, and was given a check which involved her blood pressure being taken – and nothing more. The resident felt cheated by the experience.

Commenting, Cllr David Winskill (Haringey Liberal Democrat Lead on Adults and Health) said:

“This campaign is all about correcting decades of underfunding of Haringey’s health services with a rebalancing of health funding. We are one of the poorest boroughs in the UK with some of the worst health outcomes. If we had enjoyed fairer funding I am convinced that we would be a healthier borough with far fewer health inequalities.”

Summing up, Lynne Featherstone MP said:

“Haringey has been sick for years, suffering from this shocking funding inequality. As a result, residents are waiting longer and are not able to access the same treatments as residents in better funded boroughs.

“The funding formula needs to change – and the Haringey Lib Dems and I will work hard to make this happen. We have already launched a petition, and we need as many local residents as possible to sign it.”