Category: News

What’s Climate Change got to do with Eastcote?

Hillingdon Council would like your ideas on climate change by 20 June 2021.

The whole idea of climate change can seem a little unreal, something that will happen in some remote future. Maybe that is why the problem is now so urgent. Even in quiet, suburban Eastcote, serious flooding is happening more often due to extreme weather events which are expected to become more frequent and more extreme.

Hillingdon Council has followed up its Climate Emergency Declaration from early last year by issuing a draft Strategic Climate Change Action Plan and offering it for consultation. The Plan itself, and instructions on how to respond to the consultation, can be found on the Council website at www.hillingdon.gov.uk/Climate-consultation .

There is an online survey divided into seven Themes: Community Leadership, The Council’s Own Operations, Building Better Places, Using Clean and Green Energy, Waste Management, Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation, and Carbon Offsetting. For each one, you are asked to respond yes or no to the questions: ‘Is our approach clear?’ and ‘Have we missed anything?’ There is then a suggestions/comments box for each Theme.

It becomes a bit difficult if you want to say something that doesn’t fit easily into one of those themes, so there is an option to compile your own response and email it in.

The Council are clear that the Plan is the first step in a process that will involve the whole community, and that the Council must take a leadership role. Here’s a brief quote from the Plan: “Responding to the climate emergency requires a collaborative effort from everyone. It is therefore important that there is full engagement. It is also important to ensure that everyone has the opportunity to present their ideas and their experiences to ensure that the Council is progressing in the right direction.”

However urgent you think the climate crisis is, it’s probably way more urgent than that. So please set aside a little time, read the plan, and respond to the consultation by 20 June, so that the Council has a strong mandate for real transformative action.

Mount Vernon Cancer Centre review

Mount Vernon Cancer Centre has been undergoing a review of services with feedback from patients, carers, staff and local people to modernise patient care and improve its facilities.

Earlier this year, it emerged that Watford had been earmarked as a preferred future site by the programme board. Plans to modernise facilities started after the current site was found to be neglected, short of staff and not fit for purpose in July 2019.  Many of the buildings were found to not be in a good state of repair, and concerns were raised regarding the long-term sustainability of the centre.

In a June 2021 stakeholder update, it was revealed that plans to make significant changes are making progress.  After considering the feedback from the review, there is an agreement that a new single-site specialist cancer centre at Watford General Hospital would be most appropriate.  A plot of land has been provisionally identified at the Watford site, and it is said the cancer centre could be built at the same time as the new Watford General Hospital development.  It would be close enough to the new building to enable a corridor or bridge to link the cancer centre with the hospital – which would make transferring patients easier.

The update suggested the plot could be available from 2023.  With the new location, there could be new therapies space, a brachytherapy theatre and interventional radiology cancer service and other services.  In addition to the new Watford service, there would also be new local access services to other parts of the Mount Vernon catchment area – with both plans estimated to come to £229million.  These additional developments will enable people to be treated closer to where they live, and would be useful to people where Watford is out of reach.  This includes extended services at Hillingdon Hospital and Northwick Park Hospital – and support in other parts including South Hillingdon and Ealing.

It is understood that proposals are expected to be finalised over the summer, with public consultation of the plans taking place in autumn if funding for the development has been agreed.

For more information about the review, visit: www.mvccreview.nhs.uk

The dates of the next introduction and update events for the review are:

Introduction to the review:  Thursday 17th June 2021 at 18.30,  Thursday 1st July 2021 at 18.30

Update to the review:  Friday 18th June 2021 at 13.00,  Tuesday 6th July at 18.30

HS2 works update

UPDATED on 11 June:

We have been informed that the London Borough of Hillingdon will have a full road closure at Breakspear Road South on Monday 14 -21 June 2021, (for one week) to carry out resurfacing works from the south of the Chiltern Line bridge to Swakeleys junction.

As a result of these works, the SCS site team at Breakspear Road South have cancelled their works planned for next week. (Notice of works for the U46 footpath road crossing HS2-EW-SCS-Ph1-Ar-So-S1-Traf-33-14/06/2021):

HS2 will be carrying out works near the U46 footpath. These works will allow them to prepare the area for the U46 Breakspear Road South footpath crossing.

The works are located in close proximity to the road. For safety reasons, they require temporary traffic management to be in place for the duration of these works.

For further information please see works notification.

If you have a question about HS2 or our works, please contact HS2 Helpdesk team on 08081 434 434 or email hs2enquiries@hs2.org.uk.

Met Police latest advice

The Metropolitan Police Cyber Crime Unit has seen a sharp rise in “Royal Mail” delivery scams over the last week or two.

Victims receive texts or emails purporting to be from Royal Mail claiming a package requires a small payment to be delivered. (along with other similar narratives)

Clicking on the link and providing your details leads to your money and/or identity being stolen.
Scammers send hundreds of thousands of these messages every day. Someone, somewhere, will receive one of these on the very day that they were expecting a parcel. The chances of a hit by the scammers is therefore extremely high. One moment of dropping your guard and clicking on a link is enough to make their day.

If you do click through accidentally then as well as compromising your device, the website may ask you for e.g. your date of birth to verify who you are before proceeding – having given up that piece of information to them they are then one step closer to your full identity.

There is a list of examples of some very convincing scam messages on the Royal Mail website – please make yourself familiar with these:  https://www.royalmail.com/help/scam-examples

Regards,
Dave Ludlow
Community Coordinator
Email: hillingdonnhw@gmail.com
________________________________________

Independent Health Complaints Advocacy Service

Are you unhappy with the care and treatment that you, or someone else, is currently
receiving or has received from the NHS?  Do you want to complain and get things put right?  The statutory IHCAS works within the NHS Complaints regulations.  IHCAS Advocates can help you to use this process to raise your concerns.
Independent Health Complaints Advocacy is:
• Free
• Independent
• Confidential

IHCAS can:
• Listen to your concerns
• Signpost you to the right organisations outside of the complaint process if you need these
• Answer any questions about the complaints procedure and explain your options
• Provide a step by step guide to the complaints process and some self help tools
• Provide you with a POhWER advocate, who can help you to make your complaint and support you through the NHS Complaint process
• Support you to make a complaint about care and treatment provided or funded by the NHS
• Support you to make a complaint on someone else’s behalf if they would like you to
• Support you to raise and ask questions following a death
• Support a young person under 16 if they have capacity to reach their own decisions. If a child
does not have the capacity to make a decision about their treatment, only a parent or guardian may complain on behalf of their child without permission.
IHCAS can’t:
• Guarantee that a complaint will be investigated if it is over 12 months old
• Investigate complaints
• Give legal advice
• Give medical advice
• Provide counselling
• Help with issues not covered by NHS complaints regulations, such as privately funded treatment, personnel matters, such as getting staff disciplined or contractual matters
• Help with legal action and matters relating to compensation
• Provide a secretarial service.

We aim to work with everyone, taking account of their needs.  Find out more:  IHCAS Leaflet

Good Thinking London

Good Thinking supports Londoners to look after their mental health and wellbeing in a way that works for them.

Since its launch in 2017, more than half a million people have used their digital service to tackle anxiety, stress, low mood, sleep problems and other concerns. Good Thinking is free for Londoners thanks to the support of the Mayor of London, London Councils, Directors of Public Health and Public Health England. It is delivered by Healthy London Partnership.

Available 24/7 on any device and completely anonymous, Good Thinking provides a range of resources to help Londoners improve their mental wellbeing, including free NHS-approved apps, articles, blogs, podcasts, self-assessments, videos and workbooks. All the apps they recommend are independently assessed and their clinically-validated self-assessment tool is powered by DoctorLink.

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