Hackney & City Devolution pilot
How does Hackney's Devolution Pilot relate to the NE London STP?
The North East London (NEL) Sustainability and Transformation Plan (STP) consists of three main components and these are area-based.
So Hackney and City's Devolution Pilot is a part of the overall NEL STP even though the pilot began before the STP.
Although there is a discrete plan for City and Hackney, Hackney residents will also be affected by the other plans that form part of the STP. For instance, Hackney residents make regular use of specialist healthcare services at Barts and the London Hospitals.
- Hackney & City Devolution pilot for the integration of all NHS and council budgets and commissioning for health and social care
- Barts & the London NHS Trust and all NHS services in Tower Hamlets, Newham and Waltham Forest - this plan is called Transforming Services Together (TST)
- an Accountable Care Organisation (ACO) covering Kings George and Queens Hospitals and London Boroughs of Barking and Dagenham, Redbridge and Havering
So Hackney and City's Devolution Pilot is a part of the overall NEL STP even though the pilot began before the STP.
Although there is a discrete plan for City and Hackney, Hackney residents will also be affected by the other plans that form part of the STP. For instance, Hackney residents make regular use of specialist healthcare services at Barts and the London Hospitals.
Hackney campaigners' view of the Devolution pilot for NHS and social care
Throughout England, STPs are resulting in closures of dozens of hospitals and A&E departments and huge reductions in bed capacity. They involve reducing healthcare sites and replacing qualified healthcare professionals with less skilled staff.
In Hackney there are no proposals to close NHS services. But that does not mean no cuts. Healthcare costs rise 4% per year - much more steeply than inflation. In addition, the population of East London is set to rise by 18% in the next 15 years. In previous decades the NHS was able to secure funding to plan for population increases - but not now. Reducing resources spread across 18% more people means that funding per head will fall by around 1/5th. Our NHS is already severely stretched as shown by daily news bulletins. These cuts mean it is heading for disaster.
We believe City and Hackney CCG and Hackney Council are trying hard to manage ever-decreasing resources as efficiently and fairly as possible. But we expect them to do more than just manage service decline. Like other councils, Hackney have been responsible for managing a reduction of 30% or more in budgets for adult social services since 2010 as a result of Government cuts in funding to local authorities, and social care is now on the brink of collapse. Rather than speaking out forcefully against these cuts, our politicians have prided themselves on being efficient managers. We cannot let our council continue to do this - we can't allow Hackney council to simply manage the destruction of our NHS.
We campaigners expect our local council to act politically as well as managerially. We expect and demand that our local politicians join forces with councils and MPs throughout England to challenge the Government's destruction of the NHS. We expect out local council to inform people locally that the STPs are the Government's vehicle for implementing savage cuts, and to challenge these cuts openly and forcefully.
In Hackney there are no proposals to close NHS services. But that does not mean no cuts. Healthcare costs rise 4% per year - much more steeply than inflation. In addition, the population of East London is set to rise by 18% in the next 15 years. In previous decades the NHS was able to secure funding to plan for population increases - but not now. Reducing resources spread across 18% more people means that funding per head will fall by around 1/5th. Our NHS is already severely stretched as shown by daily news bulletins. These cuts mean it is heading for disaster.
We believe City and Hackney CCG and Hackney Council are trying hard to manage ever-decreasing resources as efficiently and fairly as possible. But we expect them to do more than just manage service decline. Like other councils, Hackney have been responsible for managing a reduction of 30% or more in budgets for adult social services since 2010 as a result of Government cuts in funding to local authorities, and social care is now on the brink of collapse. Rather than speaking out forcefully against these cuts, our politicians have prided themselves on being efficient managers. We cannot let our council continue to do this - we can't allow Hackney council to simply manage the destruction of our NHS.
We campaigners expect our local council to act politically as well as managerially. We expect and demand that our local politicians join forces with councils and MPs throughout England to challenge the Government's destruction of the NHS. We expect out local council to inform people locally that the STPs are the Government's vehicle for implementing savage cuts, and to challenge these cuts openly and forcefully.
