Yes, you read it correctly, 4,000 Voices Strong: Our Petition for Parliament!

 On Saturday, November 16, we proudly presented over 4,000 signatures to our MP, Manuela Perteghella, who will champion our cause in Parliament on behalf of Shipston and the surrounding villages. Thanks to the many local shops and villages that made petition forms available, we achieved this remarkable response in just under four weeks.

As we prepare for a public consultation in early January, the Beds4Badger Committee aims to meet with the Integrated Care Board (ICB) beforehand. This meeting will allow us to convey our reasoning and express the community’s strong desire to restore essential facilities at the former Ellen Badger Hospital, including beds and medical services.

Our campaign is now advancing to Parliament, and with your continued support, we hope to make our voices heard loud and clear! Thank you for standing with us!

BEDS FOR BADGER CAMPAIGN UPDATE 04 November 2024

Thanks to everyone who has signed our paper-based petition. You still have time if you have not signed yet, but please add your signature as soon as possible. It is not online. A list of places you can sign appears at the end of this message. Our local MP Manuela Perteghella hopes to hand the petition to Wes Streeting, the Secretary of State for Health & Social Care, before Parliament breaks for Christmas.

Meanwhile, the Campaign Committee has requested a face-to-face meeting with our Integrated Care Board (ICB). We are currently trying to finalise the details. We wish to ensure that all possible options for the Ellen Badger Hospital have been properly considered—not just in terms of in-patient beds but for a comprehensive, fully integrated healthcare service.

We believe it is essential for the ICB to be transparent about putting its pre-consultation business case together. And we need to talk about this now because, by the time that business case is published (before the end of this year), the options on the table will be pretty much set in stone.

The Secretary of State for Health & Social Care, Wes Streeting has just written to NHS Chief Executives.

His letter is titled: Change NHS: help build a health service fit for the future 

He speaks of “collaboration” and says that “steps to reform the NHS must be co-designed with communities and local government”. We like that! “Collaboration”. “Co-designed”. “Communities”.

He goes on to say, “For decades, there has been broad consensus that to overcome the challenges facing the NHS, we must focus on providing more care in the community, so hospitals are able to treat the sickest patients, make better use of technology, and do more to prevent ill health.” 

We say that Community Hospitals (the clue is in the name) are part of the community. They should not be monuments to the past but beacons for the future – at the very heart of a comprehensive and fully integrated care service. And that must include in-patient beds.

In his letter we very much like this remark: “I am committed to providing unprecedented levels of transparency to the policy making process and targeting those whose voices often go unheard.”

We would like our local ICB to consider this statement. In the past when EBH supporters asked the NHS for key information, even going as far as submitting a Freedom of Information Act request they were told no. 

So where is the Collaboration? Where’s the “Co-design”? Where is the transparency? When will our voices be heard?

Please support the Beds for Badger Campaign. We are running out of time. Sign our paper-based petition. Donate to our fighting fund. And please share this message as far as you can.