Gordon Birtwistle & Burnley Liberal Democrats» Latest News

Birtwistle welcomes assurances on Burnley Pension Centre

Burnley Lib Dems — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 20:01:27 +0000

Burnley and Padiham MP Gordon Birtwistle has welcomed an assurance from the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) that there are no plans to close the Burnley Pension Centre in Simonstone.

Mr Birtwistle visited the centre last month to see the work they do first hand. He wrote to Secretary of State Iain Duncan Smith setting out the case for preserving the centre.

Gordon said:

“This centre is doing an excellent job in providing services to pension and pension credit claimants. The legacy of the Labour government to all of us was to double the national debt and we’ll be paying the price for that for years to come. However, it would make little sense to close a centre that has recently opened and I’m glad to receive an assurance that this is not the case.”

Burnley and Padiham MP Gordon Birtwistle has welcomed an assurance from the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) that there are no plans to close the Burnley Pension Centre in Simonstone.
Mr Birtwistle visited the centre last month to see the work they do first hand. He wrote to Secretary of State Iain Duncan Smith setting out the case for preserving the centre.
Gordon said:“This centre is doing an excellent job in providing services to pension and pension credit claimants. The legacy of the Labour government to all of us was to double the national debt and we’ll be paying the price for that for years to come. However, itwould make little sense to close a centre that has recently opened and I’m glad to receive an assurance that this is not the case.”

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COUNCILLOR’S DEPARTURE A TRAGIC LOSS TO BURNLEY

Burnley Lib Dems — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 15:21:30 +0000

Bill Bennett

County Councillor Bill Bennett, much loved for his dedication to communities in Burnley, died in hospital on Saturday morning, following a brief battle with cancer.

After a career that included army Signals, Lucas and more than twenty five years service with the Royal Mail, Coun Bennett had dedicated his life to supporting many groups across Burnley. He represented Burnley residents on two local authority councils and supported Burnley Civic Society, Burnley Boys Club, Barden Lane Nursery and the Royal British Legion.

Coun Bennett’s family have expressed their sincere thanks to people from Burnley and across the county for the kindness and support that they showed to Bill during his stay in hospital.

Coun Bennett’s wife, Cathy, said, “Bill loved being a councillor. He loved helping people. He was always in the front, getting involved in everything. He was determined when he joined the County Council to make the two local councils work together and I hope that work will be carried on.”

Burnley Council colleague Darren Reynolds said, “The family have asked me to say that they were amazed by the overwhelming numbers of people who had been in touch.

“The family are very much in everyone’s thoughts. Cathy welcomes the kind offers of support people are making and is happy for anyone to get in touch at normal times of the day.

“Cathy showed me the massive stack of cards and letters that Bill had been sent whilst in hospital. Messages came from as far afield as an expatriate in Germany, but the most touching messages were those from local well-wishers. It really came home to me just how widely he was appreciated when I was working outdoors in our Queensgate ward. So many people kept asking me how he was doing that I could barely remember them all when passing their wishes on.

“Bill was an amazing man. He stayed positive right through to the end. He still had his mobile telephone switched on in his hospital bed, taking calls from people in need of help. It is so sad, and so unfair that we have lost him.”

Councillor Bennett was aged 61. Funeral arrangements will be announced later.

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REVIEW TOLD: RE-OPEN BURNLEY’S A&E

Darren Reynolds — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 14:42:51 +0000

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.

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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Gritting Chaos

Burnley Lib Dems — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 13:31:43 +0000

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.”

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KNOCK IT DOWN!

Darren Reynolds — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 11:51:20 +0000

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.

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

Darren Reynolds — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 09:21:46 +0000

Burnley Council tonight called on both the government and the local Hospitals Trust to set up an independent expert review of how emergency hospital care is provided in East Lancashire.

The call comes after Pendle MP Gordon Prentice secured the intervention of the Prime Minister in addressing problems with East Lancashire’s inadequate Emergency Department at the Royal Blackburn Hospital.

At a full meeting of the Council, councillors of all four political parties voted unanimously to support a motion put forward by health scrutiny member Coun Darren Reynolds asking both the Trust and the Secretary of State to have outside experts give a second opinion on whether Burnley should have its own Accident and Emergency department.

Councillors wanted to know why smaller pairs of towns elsewhere in Lancashire and Yorkshire had independent units that are able to keep to their budgets, meet government targets and win national recognition for providing the best treatment for patients. Councillors poured scorn on suggestions that Blackburn was big enough to provide a service for the whole of East Lancashire, saying that the evidence time and again proved otherwise.

Coun Darren Reynolds said, “The hospitals bosses have said publicly that they respect the democratic process. I believe it is now for them to prove that by accepting the unanimous request of Burnley Council and setting up the review we have been demanding since the chaos in Blackburn began, two years ago.

“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.”

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‘HOSPITALS CHAIR MUST NOT BE HOODWINKED’ – BIRTWISTLE

Burnley Lib Dems — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 12:00:48 +0000

Liberal Democrat parliamentary candidate Coun Gordon Birtwistle is demanding the re-opening of Burnley’s Accident and Emergency after discovering that the new East Lancs hospitals chief executive believes that two A&Es are needed even for a smaller population than that supported by just one A&E in East Lancashire. And Burnley Council is set to pass a motion making its own demands at its next meeting. Led by the Lib Dems, the Council will insist that the decision to close the Burnley service be re-examined by outside experts, repeating the calls made by both Burnley and Pendle councils in February 2008, and echoing calls made recently by former hospital governors Ian Woolley and Peter Pike. The moves follow the delivery of petitions by Coun Birtwistle to the hospitals trust and to NHS East Lancashire containing a total of over 15,000 signatures. But incoming hospitals chair and former Labour County Council leader Hazel Harding said, “The Trust does not share the view that a further independent external assessment of emergency care is necessary. A further external assessment will not be commissioned by the Trust.” The trust that manages Burnley and Blackburn hospitals has both a new chair and chief executive, and the Lib Dems believe this represents the best opportunity to get the A&E re-opened that Burnley is likely to have for several years.
	Lib Dem parliamentary candidate Coun Gordon Birtwistle said, “The new chair and chief executive were not part of the decision to close Burnley to emergencies. They bear no responsibility for it. There is no reason for them to insist on keeping it closed and they have nothing to lose by ordering a review of the decision.
“The new chief executive also runs hospitals at Halifax and Huddersfield. Both these hospitals have an A&E but they are just 5.2 miles apart, much closer together than Burnley and Blackburn. These Yorkshire hospitals have no trouble meeting the A&E waiting time targets, the books are balanced and a national audit said these hospitals had the best probable survival outcomes for patients suffering major trauma, by which they mean things like traffic accidents. “Burnley should have what Huddersfield has – the best outcomes for patients. “The new chair needs to be bold and to meet the aspirations of the people who both pay for and use the service. She must not let herself be hoodwinked by what remains of the old management at the Trust.” The Trust’s new chief executive splits her time between East Lancashire and the Halifax and Huddersfield areas. Former trust governor and fellow Lib Dem Coun Darren Reynolds added, “The hospitals at Halifax and Huddersfield provide two A&Es for a population of around 435,000 people, but in East Lancs we have a single Emergency Department for over half a million people. “It’s not just Halifax and Huddersfield that do better. Chorley and Royal Preston hospitals both offer an Accident and Emergency department. They are less than 14 miles apart, less than the distance between Burnley and Blackburn hospitals. The Chorley and Preston hospitals only cover 370,000 people, less than two thirds of the number of people in East Lancs. “No-one is suggesting that these other areas would do better if one of their A&Es were shut. “It is perfectly obvious to me that Burnley was downgraded for financial reasons. Board meeting minutes show that having an A&E at Burnley was not thought viable because it was too expensive. There are two reasons for that. “One is poor management at the Trust. The breast cancer scandal does nothing to improve public confidence in the trust management, nor does the money wasted on the scrapped Foundation Trust bid, which should never have been started. “The other reason is that we have a government that continues to prioritise killing people in foreign countries over saving people here. How can it be right to spend billions on new nuclear missiles when our own hospitals aren’t up to scratch?” “This is unfair on Burnley. We’ve just as much right to the best health care as anywhere else in the country. “But none of this can be blamed on either the new chair or the new chief executive. If they can get a grip of the situation and turn things around, the people of Burnley will be delighted.”

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Breast screening review at East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust

Burnley Lib Dems — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 23:03:45 +0000

You may download the Press Release here, or read in the viewer below. To scroll in the viewer, just click anywhere on the document, and use the up and down arrow keys.

Coun Darren Reynolds, until recently a representative of the public on the Trust’s Council of Governors, said, “At a time like this thoughts turn immediately to the women involved and their families. It must be terrible for them to have to go through this, first being recalled, then being given the all-clear, only to discover in the end that they are affected by cancer.”

Coun Reynolds is calling for a full investigation into the mistakes to prevent the problem happening again.

He said, “There have been serious management failings at the Trust in the past and I do not know yet to what extent this might have contributed to the problem.

“I want to make sure that the situation is dealt with by the Trust to the complete satisfaction of those affected and of the wider public. I would be grateful if anyone who has direct experience of the situation were to get in touch. We have to make sure diagnosis is performed as carefully and accurately as is humanly possible every time, and I intend to make sure that the right action is taken.”

Coun Reynolds can be reached on 07973 174148 or dreynolds@burnley.gov.uk

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DRIP BY DRIP: THE RETURN OF HOSPITAL SERVICES

Burnley Lib Dems — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 21:57:39 +0000

Burnley’s Liberal Democrats were tonight celebrating with Burnley people the news that another NHS service may return to Burnley General Hospital.

According to information uncovered by Burnley’s Liberal Democrats, NHS East Lancashire (formerly the PCT) has plans to return its out-of-hours GP service to the hospital. The move comes less than two years after out-of-hours GPs were moved out.

Leading hospitals campaigner and Burnley Council leader Coun Gordon Birtwistle said, “Drip by drip we are seeing services being returned to Burnley General.

“This was always the right place for the out-of-hours doctor to be. A lot of the time people go to the hospital when really they should be going to see their GP. By having the GPs at the hospital out-of-hours, it frees up staff to handle genuine hospital cases at busy times like Friday and Saturday nights.”

Gordon Birtwistle and a petition signee

Former hospital governor and Lib Dem Coun Darren Reynolds said, “It’s a pity that the services were moved out in the first place. Constantly moving things about creates confusion, when what people want at times of illness is simplicity.”

It is understood that appointments will need to be made to see the out-of-hours doctors at the hospital. It is not known when the move is due to take place.

Coun Birtwistle added, “One day we will also have a full A&E service restored at Burnley General. Burnley Council first called for an independent review of the changes in February 2008 but we got no response. Maybe now with the new chairman and chief executive at the hospitals trust, we have a new opportunity.”

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KIDS – COME FOR SOME FUN!

Burnley Lib Dems — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 23:07:07 +0000

A Burnley councillor is inviting children of all ages to free fun and sports training events in Burnley Wood.

The Lib Dems’ Coun Karen Heseltine, who represents the Rosehill with Burnley Wood ward, wants to see more children benefit from the scheme, which is part-funded by Burnley Council.

Coun Heseltine said, “The local residents and I have been running the sports training in Burnley Wood for about seven weeks, and we have 25 children attending each time.

“There are skipping ropes and hula hoops for younger children and structured play with the Council’s Dambusters sports coaches for the older ones. The sports coaches are fantastic, really engaging the children and getting them excited about sport.

“All the children are made to use their manners, too.

“The children have been getting free fresh fruit when they join in, which they absolutely love. They swamp me like a plague of locusts when the fruit comes out!”

But the scheme is only part-funded. Coun Heseltine pays for some of the costs herself, including the fruit, and funding for the Dambusters coaches is due to end at the end of September.

Coun Heseltine said, “It’s so rewarding seeing the children benefit from this that I’ve been paying some of the costs myself, but I can’t really keep up. It will be a huge loss when we lose the sports coaches. They make a real difference. The children love the free training that’s on offer and they learn so much more than the skills and rules of the game.

“It brings them a warm discipline that’s missing in some of their home lives, it strengthens bonds between friends, and it really helps to bind the community together.

“I’m hoping that a local company will step up and offer some sponsorship. Perhaps a supermarket might provide free fruit for the kids, or perhaps a local employer will sponsor the coaches for a few months.”

The venue is Burnley Wood Recreation Ground, and wet weather facilities are available. The event runs from 6.45pm-9pm every Saturday evening. Potential sponsors can reach Karen on 01282 702894.

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