Andrew Dismore

“NHS postcode lottery? many people in Colindale aren’t even in a position to buy a ticket!” 

 Andrew Dismore, Labour London Assembly member and parliamentary candidate for Hendon today questioned  Lord Darzi, chair of the London Health Commission, during the London Assembly plenary session on the work of the Commission. (video at http://vimeo.com/98553764)

Mr Dismore raised with Lord Darzi the impact of population growth on London, Barnet and in particular Colindale.

Mr Dismore said:

“The huge expansion in Colindale means that the population is doubling, almost all in just one polling district. When there is talk of a NHS postcode lottery, many people in Colindale aren’t even in the position to buy a ticket, yet alone participate as  there are no extra NHS GP surgeries for these tens of thousands  of people moving in.

“London’s population is set to grow by 13% in the next 8 years. Barnet’s population will grow from 364,000 to 422,000 in the same period. And Colindale will see the greatest growth of all, with its numbers doubling to over 35,000 souls.

“ I am pleased Lord Darzi agreed with me about the impact of this, on local       A and E services, as we have seen at Barnet and Chase Farm: with no additional GP services, it is inevitable residents will become more reliant on the hospital  services, which  are more expensive and further away from the patient.

“The real culprit is the Conservative led Government  and NHS England, because any additional funding for population growth is years behind  the growth itself. NHS England, in their letter to me of 11/6/14, say that there will be “above average” growth in the local CCG budget- but that does not help the growing  population now. Even  after years we will still be behind the right  level of funding for our  population.

“ Lord Darzi says that the NHS should use its real estate to help support growth in NHS services. I reminded him that one of the densest developments in Colindale- the Pulse- is being built on NHS land, the former Colindale Hospital site: yet Colindale has not benefitted from the  sale of this land; if anything it has suffered from the growth in population with no extra services to support it.

“ Barnet’s MPs are also to blame. They have sat on their hands while approving budgets for the NHS which are inadequate for Barnet and Hendon. Hendon’s Conservative MP has not raised Barnet NHS’s funding once by letter, email, phone call or meeting  in the last 2 years with ministers. He cares more about awards for work with dogs than he does about our local NHS.

“ As a member of  the City Hall Health Committee I will continue to pursue these issues with the NHS until we get the right  share of NHS funds that fairly reflects the size of our population.”