{"id":14136,"date":"2017-12-12T16:06:00","date_gmt":"2017-12-12T16:06:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/unitelive.org\/?p=14136"},"modified":"2017-12-12T17:11:06","modified_gmt":"2017-12-12T17:11:06","slug":"heart-centre-win","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/?p=14136","title":{"rendered":"Heart Centre win"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>\n

East Midlands Congenital Heart Centre (EMCHC) at Glenfield Hospital in Leicester \u00e2\u20ac\u201c which treats children and adults with heart problems from birth\u00c2\u00a0 \u00e2\u20ac\u201c was on the brink of closure after NHS England claimed that the Centre didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t carry out enough operations to meet safety standards.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

‘Massively effective’<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

But thanks to a remarkable grassroots community campaign, of which Unite played a central part, the heart unit was saved.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

On November 30, NHS England announced it would be scrapping an earlier plan to shut the Centre to rapturous joy from local campaigners, who had persisted for nearly a year in using every avenue at their disposal to save the unit.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bIt was a concerted, long-running campaign which secured vast support from both members and non-members,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 explained Unite regional officer Mark Pettifer. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bIt was started by one of our members Steve Score and it brought together people from the wider community \u00e2\u20ac\u201c patients, parents, NHS staff, charities and more. It involved both the industrial side of the union as well as Unite Community.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Over the last year that the Centre was threatened with closure, campaigners organised rallies, set up petitions and enlisted the support of local newspapers which all rallied to the cause.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015b[Unite general secretary] Len [McCluskey] also personally lent his support when he joined us at one of our marches,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 Pettifer explained. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bWith the resources we had at Unite we could support the campaign both financially and through our publicity machine.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThere\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s no doubt that the Centre would have closed had it not been for the campaign,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he added. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bIt was massively effective.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

‘Critical’<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Pettifer explained just how important the Centre is for the many families whose children would likely not be alive if it weren\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t for the state-of-the-art care offered there.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThe EMCHC is critical for the whole East Midlands region,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he explained. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bIf the Centre were closed, it would mean families being forced to travel as far as Birmingham, which would put a huge strain on these families when they already have so much to worry about.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Campaigners said that the arguments for shutting the Centre \u00e2\u20ac\u201c that they didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t perform enough operations to meet new safety standards \u00e2\u20ac\u201c were flawed. After all, the Centre performed 331 operations last year \u00e2\u20ac\u201c just shy of the arbitrary 375 number NHS England has now deemed safe.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The Heart Centre has not had one mortality in the 30 days after any of its operations, and has pioneered treatments that have saved children\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s lives.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It is also one of only three centres in the UK with an ECMO (extracorporeal membrane oxygenator) which delivers oxygen to a patient\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s blood system \u00e2\u20ac\u201c and enables babies and children to survive heart and lung failure.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bIt was obvious that the arguments being used by NHS England were a cover-up for cut-backs,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 Pettifer explained. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bWe were sure this move was all part of the \u00e2\u20ac\u0098efficiency savings\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 they are being asked to make because their excuses for shutting the Centre didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t make any sense.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Working together <\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

In a speech at a celebration rally, Unite member and chair of the campaign Steve Score highlighted the vast numbers of people who helped support the campaign.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bWe\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve had 130,000 sign the Parliamentary petition; we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve seen 7,500 people respond to the online consultation,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he said. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bIt\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s been the support of the masses of ordinary people that has won this campaign above all.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bWe knew all along that it was not correct to close this congenital heart centre,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he added. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bWe knew all along the outcomes and results of this centre were fantastic. There was no justification for closing it. But at last NHS England\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s board has seen sense and accepted [our] arguments.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Unite national officer for health Sarah Carpenter hailed the campaign\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s success and the role Unite members played.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bWe are very proud of how hard our members in the region and in the health sector worked on this campaign,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 she said. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bIf it weren\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t for their efforts and the efforts of the wider community, there is no doubt we would have seen the demise of a centre of excellence in surgery that literally saves hundreds of children\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s lives each year.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThis campaigning success shows Nye Bevan\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s words ring true to this day \u00e2\u20ac\u201c \u00e2\u20ac\u0098The NHS will last as long as there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s folk with faith left to fight for it.\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 And our members\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 faith is indomitable.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Unite assistant general secretary Gail Cartmail agreed.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThe campaign showed what we can accomplish when we work together \u00e2\u20ac\u201c our industrial members, NHS staff, joined our Unite Community members and engaged with the wider community of parents, patients, local media and others to create a campaign that had real momentum,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 she said.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bAs Unite lobbies in Parliament for robust funding for the NHS, our grassroots activists and members on the ground are ensuring a future for the health service with each of these local campaigning victories. The campaign to save the East Midlands Congenital Heart Centre is a sterling example of people power in action.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

East Midlands Congenital Heart Centre (EMCHC) at Glenfield Hospital in Leicester \u00e2\u20ac\u201c which treats children and adults with heart problems from birth\u00c2\u00a0 \u00e2\u20ac\u201c was on the brink of closure after NHS England claimed that the Centre didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t carry out enough operations to meet safety standards.   ‘Massively effective’ But thanks to a remarkable grassroots community […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2802,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[17],"tags":[838,559,75],"wps_subtitle":"Grassroots campaign saves heart unit for children","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14136"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=14136"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14136\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14137,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14136\/revisions\/14137"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2802"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=14136"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=14136"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=14136"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}