Hello, Churchfields residents. Welcome to your September eNewsletter from your Churchfields Focus Team.

The Council’s roll-out of black wheelie bins is supposed to help increase recycling but where the bins are not being emptied for trivial reasons there is likely to be more dumping.

Also, more people appear to be using the Chigwell Road Recycling Centre, causing delays for people using it and also congestion on Chigwell Road itself.   See our petition for more information on this and to add your name to the petition calling on the council for a resolution.

Click for more information!

The NHS Whipps Cross Health and Care Services Strategy, dated October 2020, made clear that proposals to reduce hospital beds and the overall space of the hospital are based on "improved integrated working"; with both NHS primary care and the local authorities – including Redbridge Council.

Whipps Cross Hospital Redevelopment – Now at Outline Planning Stage

The project has now progressed to the outline planning stage, the application having been submitted to Waltham Forest planning department.  The Redbridge LibDem team have responded to the request for representations using amongst other things responses to the recent resident Whip Cross Transport Survey.

See the updated survey page for the details.

Whipps Cross Hospital Redevelopment – are we ‘buying’ it?

The Wanstead Guardian reported on 18 March that Redbridge councillors ‘are “simply not buying” claims a new hospital will be able to support a growing population with fewer beds.’  Councillors have agreed to seek an independent assessment of the case for having 51 fewer beds in the new hospital. See:
https://www.guardian-series.co.uk/news/19170839.councillors-seek-expert-advice-reducing-whipps-cross-beds/

The NHS Whipps Cross Health and Care Services Strategy, dated October 2020, made clear that the proposals to reduce hospital beds and the overall space of the hospital are based on "improved integrated working" with both NHS primary care and the local authorities – including Redbridge Council.

Sadly, it seems that Redbridge Council has only lately woken up to the fact that the proposals assume a greater role for social care.

There are legitimate questions around – 

• whether the public will accept having much less access to the Emergency Department in future, even if alternative services are in place?
• whether the public’s willingness to have virtual consultations during a pandemic will be the same for the long-term future? Professional bodies have raised concerns about over-reliance on virtual consultations.