Mayor of London Ambulance!

You may have heard that the London Assembly’s Health and Public Services Committee have recently launched a review of the London Ambulance Service.

The Committee’s aim is (and I quote) ‘to investigate how the Service can meet the operational and strategic challenges it faces, particularly in the light of the government’s NHS reforms’.

The terms of reference for the review are:

  • To examine the operational, financial and organisational challenges facing the London Ambulance Service and consider how these can be met.
  • To consider what role the Mayor of London should have in relation to the governance, commissioning and delivery of the London Ambulance Service.

This is serious stuff which has far reaching implications for us all, particularly the second bullet point.

Put in a nutshell the questions really being asked are: should the Mayor of London have a greater say in the running of the LAS? Should the Mayor and the  London Assembly’s Health and Public Services Committee be more involved in the way the Service is organised and funded? Should City Hall possess a scrutiny oversight mechanism that can hold the LAS, it’s management and staff to account?

City Hall already have powers over Policing , as well as Fire and Emergency Planning in London.

When the Coalition published the NHS White Paper (currently at Committee stage in Parliament as the Health and Social Care Bill) the London Assembly wrote to the Secretary of State for Health to suggest that as part of the reforms the London Ambulance Service could become accountable to the Mayor. Hence this review!

I will be having a meeting soon with the Scrutiny Manager  of the Assembly’s Health Committee to discuss these questions from a Union perspective. Want do we want?

If the Health and Social Care Bill is passed into legislation in its current form, it will, without a doubt, change the political landscape in Health. Irreversibly in some cases.

GP Commissioning. Foundation Trusts. Any Willing Provider.

The health map in London will change, and with it, of course, the London Ambulance Service will change.

As the Coalition’s Health policies further fragment the NHS, allowing GP consortia to commission services from Any Willing Provider, and forcing all health trusts down the Foundation route, the question is: where is the democratic accountability?

The old refrain that Foundation Trusts will still be part of the NHS is meaningless when we may no longer have a National Health Service as we know it.

In the case of the LAS how will Londoners have a real say in how the Service does its job on their behalf?

Having a strong, organised trade union within the Service, on their side, will certainly help.

LAS UNISON is that union.  More than any other union within the LAS we are fighting the lies and  wholesale distortions of this vindictive Coalition government. We believe in the Service and staff, and are always clear in our support for public services.

We are very concerned over the move to Foundation Trust status within the present political climate. We need to be involved in this review to make sure that the LAS is not cast adrift as a pseudo private entity. On the other hand we do not support a ‘takeover’ by other emergency services. The London Ambulance Service must stay as part of health, independent, but democratically accountable.

Will Foundation Trust public members really have the power to scrutinise and hold the Service to proper account? In my own opinion – no!

Will the Council of Governors?

Will elected London Assembly members?

Will the Mayor?

These real questions need real answers, otherwise a Foundation Trust becomes a law unto itself, accountable to no one, except the Foundation Trust.

If you want to read more about the review then click  London Assembly.

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Myself, along with the Branch Chair and Branch Communication Officer were guests at the North West Ambulance UNISON Branch annual general meeting last week (in fact , because the North West Region is so big, over 5000 square miles, they have three meetings over three days, first in Cumbria, then Warrington and then in Manchester!). We went to the last two.

I spoke at both meetings on behalf of our Branch.  We could also have written the agenda for both meetings! Rest Breaks, Sickness Policies, Foundation Trust!

Different Service, same agenda!

One interesting thing was that they also conducted all the meetings on-line via a web link in real time.  This included a camera link. We took away some technology ideas and the  Branch Communication Officer will have a look if anything can be useful for us in London.

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I read that our Service is asking for staff to work on Saturday 26th March to cover the Trade Union Congress demonstration in London. It is hoped that a million people will be on the street that day protesting against the Coalition government’s cuts and policies regarding the public services.

Now I know that the LAS has a statutory duty to do this and the Service have to ask staff, but, if anyone is off that day, I would suggest that they join us on the march, not sit outside it.

Campaign and march with us to defend our health service at the most difficult time in its history. When it’s gone - it’s gone.

Join us to march for our jobs, march for our pensions, march for our NHS, march for public services!

Join us on Saturday 26th March 2011

Full details on the website.

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If you are reading this, work for the London Ambulance Service or are eligible to join, and are not yet a member of UNISON Join Today!

  I Am Frontline You Are Frontline We Are All Frontline

We are stronger together.

Eric Roberts

Branch Secretary.

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