Save Southend NHS

29/08/2026

We know the local strength of feeling around this.

🔴 The consultant gynaecologist previously admitted removing the ovaries of two women without consent

28/08/2026

Not shocked

🔴 He had admitted to removing the ovaries of two women at another hospital

19/08/2026

📕 Books ( second hand good condition) are needed to support fundraising for the Southend Hospital Breast unit. They raise funds by selling these to patients and visitors. Books can be dropped straight to the Breast Clinic which is located along Carlingford Drive. Many thanks 🙏🏼 📕

15/08/2026

The staff would like to express huge gratitude for the generosity of the community members who donated cups for the hospital. This will make a difference to all who visit and work in the clinics that have benefited from this kindness, so thank you very much 🙌🏼

10/08/2026

🚨 Plea for help! The diabetes/neurology department desperately need plastic cups for patients to have water in this hot humid weather. Staff have been buying out of their own pockets as unable to order. If anyone is able to donate disposable paper or plastic drinking cups to them during office hours, first floor in The Carlingford Centre at back of the hospital, it would be greatly appreciated! 💦💦💦

01/08/2026

Getting to know more departments as I continue my health journey at Southend Hospital! Found Nuclear Medicine yesterday. Great receptionists and brilliant technicians for scanning process. Thank you all.

28/07/2026

Absolutely disgraceful! Contact your MP everyone.

I might get in trouble for saying this (although it’s now technically been more than a year since I have been contracted to do any local NHS social media, so **** it), but the new parking charges from 31st July 2026 at Southend, Basildon, Broomfield and Orsett Hospitals are utterly outrageous and need a rethink urgently.

First of all, the ‘free’ period has been slashed from 30 minutes to 20, with the general message being that this will still be adequate for a wide variety of tasks like collecting a prescription. I get the impression that whoever came up with this may have been under the influence of something within that same pharmacy. I’m not sure how cutting this by ten minutes will benefit anyone.

Then, the nitty gritty:

Up to two hours - £4.00 (up from £3.10, so ⬆️29%)
Up to three hours - £6.00 (up from £4.00, so ⬆️50%)
Up to five hours - £8.00 (up from £5.00, so ⬆️60%)
Up to six hours - £9.50 (up from £6.00, so ⬆️58%)

Over six hours used to be £10, but now it will be:

6-13 hours - £12.00 (so ⬆️20%)
13-24 hours - £18.00 (so ⬆️80%)

As before, there are various schemes in place to help long-term visitors for a variety of compassionate reasons, which is good. Also, there are obviously public transport links in place, but with all the will in the world I don’t think they are going to magically improve at the end of July proportionally in line with these eye-watering price increases either!

I’m not sure that the ‘everything’s going up’ argument is going to hold much water. These increases don’t just ‘track with inflation or a little bit above it’ - they grab inflation roughly by the shoulders and give it a damn good seeing to, which ironically will be how many hospital visitors feel in just a few days time.

Please reconsider this, or at the very least freeze the current prices for a period of time while a more sensible option can be thought up that doesn’t work off the assumption that all motorists using the car park go home afterwards and jump into a massive pile of coins like Scrooge McDuck at the beginning of Ducktales.

24/07/2026

Local residents are invited to attend a free Summer Health & Wellbeing Day on Wednesday 12 August 2026, hosted by Southend Coastal Surgeries, at Shoeburyness & Thorpe Bay Baptist Church, 90 Thorpedene Gardens, Southend-on-Sea, SS3 9JD.