REVIEW TOLD: RE-OPEN BURNLEY’S A&E
March 2nd, 2010 | 
Author:
 Queensgate Councillor Darren Reynolds |
Burnley’s councillor responsible for health service scrutiny will tonight bluntly tell NHS officials they must fully re-open Burnley’s Accident and Emergency unit.
Coun Darren Reynolds, who chairs Burnley’s Liberal Democrat party and sits on Lancashire’s health scrutiny committee, will deliver a devastating critique of a review of Burnley’s Urgent Care Centre, and insist that re-opening Burnley’s A&E is the only solution to the failures in Blackburn.
The review is taking place after Pendle’s Gordon Prentice MP secured the intervention of the Prime Minister and met with the Secretary of State for Health. It is being conducted over a two-day period this week. But the officials conducting the review have been instructed not to consider re-opening Burnley’s A&E, leading some to claim that the Labour-inspired review is a whitewash before it has started.
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Coun Reynolds will say:
“Burnley people will never accept that routinely travelling to Blackburn for emergency treatment is better than receiving treatment in their own hospital.
“This review is looking at all the wrong things and is based on false information and untruths.
“The review makes a starting assumption that Burnley people asked to have their hospital downgraded when they chose between the options put out for consultation. There were only two options to choose from, and both of them involved closing Burnley’s A&E to emergencies. I’m sorry, but people are not that stupid.
“It is also a starting assumption that the changes had nothing to do with money. This is despite the fact that I’ve been given a copy of the minutes of the meeting which decided to press ahead with downgrading Burnley’s hospital. In them, it is declared that, ‘The option of Burnley General focussing on emergency care was considered but the amount of investment required to redesign the Burnley site to make it viable as the emergency site is unaffordable.’
“No other explanation for the closure to emergencies is given.
“Finally, it is a starting assumption that outcomes have not worsened for patients as a result of the changes. But no proof is offered. There is no comparison with other hospitals. The only group of patients that ever get a mention are cardiac patients, who are generally doing better anyway across the country thanks to improvements in medical technology. There is nothing to link this narrow set of improvements to the reconfiguration, and there are wholesale gaps in the claims for all other groups of patients.
“The review is set up only to consider Burnley’s Urgent Care Centre as it stands. They have not been told to look at the problems in Blackburn but they have been told not to consider re-opening Burnley’s A&E. Given that this is the only solution to the problem, we are at stalemate. The system is broken.”
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“London elite have abandoned Burnley” says Nick Clegg
Burnley and other similar industrial towns have been neglected and abandoned by London Lib Dem leader Ni
ck Clegg said on a visit to Burnley to support local campaigner Gordon Birtwistle.
Nick was launching a new set of policies to boost Britain’s industrial heartlands and highlighted the work Gordon Birtwistle and Lib Dem run Burnley Council have done to bring jobs and prosperity to the town.
Lib Dem plans would include moving top Civil Servants with responsibility for manufacturing and wider industrial policies to Northern towns like Burnley so they could oversee investment programmes to support local jobs.
“he seemed like a really nice guy. I have always been a Labour man, but his comments were really good and I would say the Lib Dems have a good chance around here.”
A drinker in the General Scarlett Pub on Accrington road after Nick’s visit
Nick said Gordon’s record of campaignig for Burnley meant he would make a superb MP for local people. “Gordon’s the sort of campaigner people really trust. They know he’ll stand up for Burnley”.
Campaigners take action on gritting
When people were struggling with ungritted roads, local Lib Dems took action to help.
Councillors Charlie Briggs and Gordon Birtwistle along with Neil Mottershead from Gannow arranged for a supply of grit and were out gritting key areas that had been neglected.
The change of control from Labour to Conservative hasn’t made much difference when it comes to getting our roads and pavements gritted properly in a winter freeze!
Last year we had a Labour run County Council and they didn’t grit the roads properly and refused to refill some grit bins. Now we have a Conservative Council, and again there was chaos as some roads weren’t gritted properly and they refused to refill grit bins.
“We could have avoided this” said Gordon Birtwistle. “Last year Lib Dem County Councillors proposed a £690,000 boost for winter gritting but Labour and Conservative Councillors teamed up to vote that plan down.”
“Conservative Councillors gambled that we wouldn’t have a severe winter. They lost and we are all paying the price.”
Young People’s Online Forum with Nick Clegg
Thanks to Lynne Featherstone MP, the Lib Dems Youth Spokesperson, for letting us have details of this.
Nick Clegg will be holding an online forum for young people on Wednesday 20 January from 4:30 p.m. He will answer questions on issues facing young people and you can join in the forum.
Lynne’s website gives full details and tells you how to take part through either twitter or MP’s Parliament and Online Diary which tells you how to take part either through twitter or the forum at the UK Youth Parliament.
Gritting Chaos
Last year we had a Labour run County Council and they didn’t grit the roads properly and refused to refill some grit bins.
Now we have a Conservative Council, and again there was chaos as some roads weren’t gritted properly and they refused to refill grit bins.
“We could have avoided this” said Cllr Charlie Briggs, the leader of the Lib Dems on the County Council. “Last year Lib Dem County Councillors proposed a £690,000 boost for winter gritting but Labour and Conservative Councillors teamed up to vote that plan down.”
“Conservative Councillors gambled that we wouldn’t have a severe winter. They lost and we are all paying the price.”
Posted in Latest News, Local News, Local News, News | 
Tags: charlie briggs, county, grit, gritting, lancashire county council, lcc, traffic, travel, winter | 
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Gordon Birtwistle demands action over gritting
The current cold snap seems to have caught out Lancashire County Council (who are responsible for gritting the roads) with a shortage of grit, particularly in grit bins.
Gordon Birtwistle made several calls to County Hall highways officers over the weekend about the state of the borough’s snow-covered sidestreets and pavements.
He said: “The main roads in Burnley and Padiham have been gritted and I have got no issue with them, but the sideroads and pavements are treacherous.
“As well as that, the grit bins are all empty and it seems as if drivers have been helping themselves to the grit inside. My concern is for elderly residents.”
Update: Lib Dem County Councillor from Clitheroe, Allan Knox has posted this summary of how the County Council allocates priority routes for gritting and there is a link to a map highlighting those routes. As he points out whether the policy is right or wrong is a different matter!
KNOCK IT DOWN!
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A Council is threatening to force a family with mobility difficulties to knock down the porch they built to store their mobility scooter and wheelchair because it is too close to the street.
But in a first use of new powers, Lib Dem councillors are seeking to intervene to get planning permission granted instead.
In an email to Queensgate ward Coun Darren Reynolds, a planning officer says that the porch is “not acceptable” and that it is a decision for council officers, not councillors.
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Another planning officer has told Coun Reynolds that planning permission is required for any development within two metres of the highway. She said that the porch was too big, and should have been built out of stone instead of PVC.
Mr Frank Davies, who lives with his wife, son and daughter, said of his son, “William hasn’t been able to walk since he caught TB and meningitis at the age of two. We’re not supposed to store the electric scooter in the house because of the fire risk, and anyway there just isn’t room for all the equipment.
“I did ask whether I needed planning permission before the porch was built and I was told that I didn’t. I also asked all my neighbours and they were all happy with the idea.
“But now someone has complained and the Council are saying that I shouldn’t have built it. I don’t know what we’re going to do. We spent a lot of money on the porch. It was well-made by a local firm and I thought I was doing the right thing.”
Coun Reynolds said, “I can’t understand why anyone would have a problem with this porch. It’s not blocking anyone’s window, it looks pretty enough, it’s built entirely on Mr Davies’ property in his small front yard. This is the only place it could go.
“But this is about more people than the Davies family. Accross Burnley, many people with mobility difficulties live in homes of a similar size. Often scooters or wheelchairs are kept in a corridor behind the front door because getting them any further into the house can be difficult. This creates a risk of minor injuries and falls when someone trips over them.
“Burnley Council has changed in recent years and is now doing a much better job at using common sense and listening to the town’s residents. The porch is helping this family with their mobility. Planning permission should be granted and I hope there will be a chance to change the officers’ minds.”
Coun Reynolds is hoping to be the first councillor in Burnley to use new powers to force such decisions out of the hands of officers and give them to a committee of councillors. This would allow the public to speak about the planning application at an open meeting in the Town Hall. |
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Burnley Council Makes New Demand for Hospitals Review
“It may prove that only extra money will permit Burnley to have its own facilities. If so, then the government needs to respond. Burnley people and their local representatives will always prioritise public health over illegal foreign wars, useless ID cards and disastrous defence procurement projects. This money must be spent instead on helping people to stay fit and healthy, and that is what we expect our government to do.”
Posted in Latest News, Local News, Local News, News |
Tags: a&e, birtwistle, election, gordon, health, hospital, lib dems, nhs, petition, winning, won |
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Time for an inquiry over Burnley A&E
Now is the time for local hospital bosses to hold a truly independent inquiry into the closure of Burnley’s A&E unit.
“We now have a new Chair and Chief Executive of the local hospitals trust”, said local campaigner Gordon Birtwistle. “Now they can start to undo the mistakes made in recent years.”
The Trust’s new chief executive is also the Chief Exec for two successful A&Es in Halifax and Huddersfield. These serve two towns closer together and with a smaller population than Burnley and Blackburn and show that it is possible to have an effective solution with two A&E units.
Gordon led the fight against the Labour government’s plans to shut Burnley’s A&E unit and recently presented a petition signed by over 9000 local people calling for it to be re-opened.
Hero cops have injury pensions slashed says Chris Huhne
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Thousands of police officers forced to retire after being injured in the line of duty face having their injury pensions cut back to minimum levels, research by the Liberal Democrats has found.
Previously, officers were allocated an additional sum each year to compensate them for the injuries they received, even when they reached retirement age. However, since Home Office guidance was issued in 2004, many forces have reassessed officers when they have reached retirement age and reduced their injury awards to the lowest possible level. The Government’s recent response to a consultation on this subject suggests that this practice is about to become more widespread. |
| Liberal Democrat Shadow Home Secretary, Chris Huhne has written to Alan Johnson to demand that he put an end to the practice of police injury pensions being changed retrospectively.
Commenting, Chris Huhne said: “The thousands of police officers who have been injured in the line of duty are a reminder of what a dangerous and difficult job it can be. “As a result of Home Office guidance, many have had their injury pensions slashed and even more are at risk after the Government endorsed the policy in a recent consultation. “When ill health forced them to retire, they were promised that they would be compensated for the rest of their lives. It is unfair to move the goalposts now. “There is an exact parallel with the military covenant, and it will prove just as embarrassing to the Home Office as it was to the Ministry of Defence. “Hero cops who put their bodies on the line in the name of the public safety deserve to be more than just a victim of budget cuts. “These brave men and women are now faced with a hefty drop in income once they reach retirement age and a very uncertain future as a result. “This is another example of the Government breaking promises to those that choose to serve.” A copy of Chris Huhne’s letter to Alan Johnson can be read here. |
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