Labout councillor for Newport East, Geoff Lumley, shares this latest news. Ed
The IW Council Labour Group has warmly welcomed the recommendation to next week’s Executive by Cllr Steve Stubbings not to endorse the Hants & IW NHS Sustainability & Transformation Plan (STP) and to continue to lobby NHS England to ensure that the needs of Island residents are fully taken into account.
Since September IW Labour and their IW Councillors have been lobbying Cllr Stubbings and his administration colleagues for a rejection of the STP.
At the Tory-dominated Scrutiny Committee in October Labour’s Cllr Geoff Lumley tried and unsurprisingly failed to secure support for rejection. And Cllr Hollands raised concerns at the Health Scrutiny Sub-Committee.
Tory quangoes
However, Cllr Lumley is now delighted that the IW Council leadership has listened to Labour concerns. He said,
“I went along to the IW Health & Wellbeing Board last week where I had the chance to articulate Labour’s concerns about these plans and how they will damage access to health services for islanders.
“It appears that the IW Council has now listened to our concerns and will join numerous local authorities up and down the country who see STPs for what they are. An attempt by a Tory Government quango, NHS England to undermine and close down many of our highly-valued NHS services.
“On behalf of Islanders, IW Labour will continue to protect its most valued creation – the NHS – from Tory vultures.”
