Karen Jennings

I attended the rally at the Whittington today that was intended to be a protest against the plans to close the A&E. It was great that this became a celebration of the announcement that the Whittington’s excellent A&E and maternity services are no longer under threat. This is thanks to the many¬†local people who joined the campaign and made their voices heard so that the bureaucrats had to stand down. Thanks to the midwives who¬†supported my event and visited the Minister and also thanks to local campaigners including Sara Hall “Whittington Mum” and the “Defend the Whittington Coalition” who continued the pressure and brought managers and politicians to account. ¬†All have joined together to achieve this fantastic result for the people of Hornsey and Wood Green and¬†all over North London. I cannot say how truly delighted I am by this¬†news.

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Karen marching to save the Whittington

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
After a campaign from Karen Jennings and David Lammy, Minister stops bureaucrats review of local health services
Local people are today celebrating the news that the Labour Health Secretary Andy Burnham has stepped in and ordered a complete halt to the review of the Whittington, after a passionate campaign from the local Labour Party.  Karen Jennings and David Lammy have spearheaded this campaign, and have taken local residents, mothers and Whittington midwives to Westminster to make the case for the Whittington Accident & Emergency and Maternity services with government ministers.

Karen Jennings, Labour Candidate for Hornsey and Wood Green and a former nurse, said:

“I am delighted that we’ve been able to get this result for local people in Hornsey and Wood Green and across North London. I know first hand from my experience in the NHS what these plans would have meant. There was simply no evidence to support the plans Рit’s fantastic that NHS London’s review has been stopped.”

Labour Candidate for Tottenham, David Lammy said:

‚ÄúThis is a victory for the people of Haringey over NHS bureaucrats. Working together with local people in Tottenham, and across North London, we have saved our hospital, protecting the local services we all rely on. “

Labour Group Leader in Haringey, Claire Kober said:
‚ÄúThese are vital services that the community relies on. As a Labour Party, we are absolutely committed to defending frontline services and are really pleased at this news. ”
ENDS

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Foreign Secretary David Miliband

Last night I was delighted to be able to speak to the Cypriot community at the Wood Green Cypriot Centre with other local Labour Parliamentary Candidates, Foreign Secretary David Miliband and Former Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott, who had come to Hornsey and Wood Green with a clear message for the Cypriot community to vote for Labour on 6th May because Labour is the only party that has done and will continue support the Cypriot community in north London.

I spoke about the Health service: how Labour had created it, nurtured it and invested in the NHS enormously since being elected in 1997.

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This election is about the big choices and decisions – on public spending, securing the economic recovery and developing policies that are fair to all.

The respected – and completely independent – Institute for Fiscal Studies has just described Liberal Democrat claims about tax as ‘meaningless at best and misleading at worst’. ¬† The Institute also say that ‘benefits and tax credits do more to reduce income inequality in the UK than the tax system’ – in other words it’s Labour’s tax credits that are making the difference and are promoting fairness in the tax system. ¬† Looking even more closely, the Institute says that Labours reforms have been ’strongly progressive’, with the poorest households benefiting most from Labour’s policies.

Along with the criticisms of their health policy by another independent and respected source (by Richard Horton of the Lancet who said that their health policies were ’so obviously designed to pander to public prejudice that they are literally incredible’), this shows that Liberal Democrats’ policies don’t stand up too well to close scrutiny.¬† Based on these two reports, if you are looking for a progressive tax system that helps out the poorest and for new ideas to further improve our health system, then Labour is the only choice.

You can read both reports here:

http://www.ifs.org.uk/publications/4813

http://www.facebook.com/topic.php?uid=374651963469&topic=14577

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This afternoon, to mark World Health Day, I went to the fabulous and lively Wood Green Central Library to meet with the Somerset Gardens Volunteers Cancer Support Group.  This wonderful charity offers support to anyone over 18 who has cancer, their relatives, friends and carers.  They have a weekly drop-in centre in at Harmony Hall, 35 Bigbury Close, Tottenham and a monthly cancer information drop-in  on the 1^st Wednesday of every month at Wood Green Central Library, High Road.

The weekly drop in centre ¬†has been developed as a joint venture between the Somerset Gardens Volunteers (SGV), Macmillan Cancer Support and Haringey Council¬† to ensure people affected by cancer have access to good quality, comprehensive and appropriate information and support.¬† It’s staffed by fully trained and dedicated volunteers and therapists.

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Health Secretary Andy Burnham is today joining with me to urge voters in Hornsey and Wood Green to support Labour and the new NHS Cancer Guarantee.¬† Here’s the start of the letter – please read on by clicking the link below:

‘Can you and your family afford to risk the future of the NHS?

Under Labour, the NHS now has 89,000 more nurses and 44,000 doctors than 10 years ago. Hospital waiting lists are at their lowest level since records began and over threequarters of GP practices now offer extended opening hours. Over 99 per cent of suspected cancer patients are now seen by a specialist within two weeks of being referred by their GP. And more than 99 per cent start their treatment within a month of diagnosis.

The Labour Party has now pledged to go even further through a new NHS guarantee of cancer diagnosis within one week of referral by your GP, allowing patients to be tested and told their results in just seven days. Experts say that up to 10,000 lives could be saved as a result.’

You can read the rest of the letter here:

NHS Cancer Guarantee

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A visit to Westminster this afternoon accompanied by six Whittington Hospital Staff and Sara (the ‘Whittington Mum’), to press Health Minister Mike O’Brien for some answers on the Whittington.

Midwives, Aileen Keigher, Rosemary Hensman and Terry Wogan-Web, along with Jocelyn Clark, Ann Harris (Medical Secretary and Unison representative) and Richard Jennings (Clinical Director of Medicine) all put their views across, arguing the case for keeping the Whittington A&E and maternity unit open.  Richard made it crystal clear that every single medical consultant at the Whittington was against closure of the A&E.  Sara spoke passionately, expressing the views of users of the hospital and how poorly the process has been run.  All spoke with great pride about the important service the Whittington provides for our community.

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Here’s the latest campaign leaflet – click on the link to have a look.¬† The Labour team are out in force in Hornsey and Wood Green over the weekend, delivering the leaflet and talking to voters.¬† There’s lots more happening over the next few days – I’ll update my blog over the weekend to let you know how it’s going.

Enjoy the bank holiday!

A future fair for all

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Closure of Whittington Accident and Emergency by stealth:  Karen Jennings’ questions to local NHS bosses go unanswered so she takes her campaign to Ministers

Labour Party Parliamentary Candidate Karen Jennings last month uncovered that local NHS bosses are pursuing the closure of the Whittington Accident and Emergency Department by stealth.  Her attempts to get straight answers from local NHS bosses on this issue have fallen on deaf ears. 
As a result, she is taking the issue straight to Ministers.   On Tuesday 6th April, Karen accompanied by a group of Whittington Hospital staff, local residents and patients will be meeting with Health Minister Mike O’Brien MP to get to the bottom of what can be done.

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Karen Jennings steps her campaign up a gear calling on the people of Hornsey and Wood Green to say no to ‘savage cuts’ and yes to a Labour Future Fair for All

In a dramatic first for political campaigning in Hornsey and Wood Green, Labour Party Parliamentary Candidate Karen Jennings today unveiled the first in a billboard poster campaign calling on local residents to say no to Lib Dem ‘savage cuts.’

As a former nurse and leading national campaigner for public services, Karen Jennings said;

‘At the next election, the people of Hornsey and Wood Green will make a big choice about the kind of future they want for Britain and our community.    Lots of people are rightly worried about a Conservative Government.  The Liberal Democrats talk of ‘savage cuts’ and refuse to rule out a deal with the Tories.  Labour is the only clear choice.’

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