Sunday, July 14th, 11am - 4.30pm
To celebrate their sixth birthday, the Friends of Brockley and Ladywell Cemeteries have chosen to stage a photographic exhibition of monuments and wildlife in Ladywell Chapel and host guided walks, rather than dance on people's graves.
Details here.
The three-day Judicial Review of Jeremy Hunt's plans to downgrade Lewisham Hospital begins today.
Lawyers from Leigh Day, on behalf of the Save Lewisham Hospital Campaign, will argue that the decision to substantially cut some of Hospital’s services in three years’ time is unlawful and they will ask the Courts to quash it and ask the Secretary of State to reconsider.
The campaigners also point to a report published yesterday by Prof Allyson Pollock, professor of public health research and policy at Queen Mary, University of London, which claims that the major closures, redundancies, sell-offs and service reconfigurations imposed on the hospital, and more widely across the South London Healthcare NHS Trust by the special administrator appointed by the secretary of state, do not serve patient interests whose needs, prof Pollack claims “…have been, at best, down-played and at worst ignored.”
Writing in the Guardian today, campaigner Shannon Hawthorne says:
As a resident of the south London borough of Lewisham, for me, today is a very significant day. After months of fundraising, protesting and petitioning, the community-led Save Lewisham hospital campaign is heading to the high court. The aim? To challenge plans to close the successful, solvent hospital's existing A&E, maternity, adults' and children's acute wards, and critical care unit, all to bail out a failing neighbouring NHS trust.
By approving the cuts at Lewisham, the health secretary sent out a clear message: any hospital, regardless of quality or financial solvency, can be subject to closures if it fits with the government's wider agenda.
Full article here.
Brockley Society Barbecue, Friday 5 July, 7.30pm, Hilly Fields Stone Circle
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Bring friends and family – meet others from the Brockley area. Some food and refreshments are provided – and bring your own to cook on BrocSoc's large barbecue. All welcome!
Mental health charity, Bromley Mind, launches a new service from 1st July. The Mind Community Support Service in Lewisham is focused on adults affected by mental health problems whose needs are most appropriately met outside of statutory mental health services.
The Mind Community Support Service in Lewisham will work with adults affected by mental health problems for up to six months. It will support individuals to plan for the future given their personal interests and skills, develop life skills including managing finances and access support and new experiences in the local community.
Funders of the service (London Borough of Lewisham and Lewisham Clinical Commissioning Group) have also announced that additional funding has been identified to expand the mental health support team. As a result, the service can provide support to older adults as well as those aged 18-65.
The team of a Service Manager and six Mental Health Advisors will be based in central Lewisham. Referrals from GPs, mental health and social care professionals are being accepted as of 1 July 2013. Adults affected by mental health problems living in Lewisham or registered with a Lewisham GP can approach the service directly to request an assessment to find out if they qualify for support from the service.
For more information about the service, please contact Community Support Service Manager, Antonio Danzi at antonio.danzi@bromleymind.org.uk or 07734 857303.
