Barnet too interested in health consultation – shock

July 3, 2009 – 1:57 pm

 

The biggest shock of the week for me has been healthcare for London’s publication of the public consultation into trauma and stroke treatment in London. The NHS is proposing a series of specialist centres for the treatment of serious trauma injuries and separately, a series of centres of excellence for the treatment of strokes.

 

There are good arguments for building up specialist clinical expertise in the issues but I am at a loss as to why this expertise is best concentrated, in the case of trauma, through central and south London at the Royal London (Whitechapel) Kings College Hospital (Denmark Hill), St George’s (Tooting) and St Mary’s (Paddington). As it stands the option of trauma care at The Royal Free in Hampstead looks likely to be rejected. I believe this decision would be wrong.

  

As for specialist care for stroke victims, proposals look likely to lead to units in Hammersmith, Denmark Hill, Harrow, Romford, Tooting, Orpington, Whitechapel and Euston. Although Barnet has a high incidence of strokes, there is no provision for a stroke specialism at Barnet Hospital, even although the consultation recognises that the hospital would be well able to provide such a specialism.

 

These are issues about which Barnet residents feel very strongly. So strongly in fact that 27 per cent of all the residents in London who responded to the survey are from Barnet, 2335 out of the 8611 total, - by far the highest of any London borough. Response to the London-wide consultation varied from a low of 43 responses in Tower Hamlets to around 500 or so in other areas where campaigns were held to encourage response.

 

There are two ways of looking this. Either Barnet Council is so effective at encouraging consultation that we produce a response four to ten times larger than other boroughs. Or, people in Barnet feel that the proposals do not meet the needs they have of the healthcare system. Tempting though it is to claim credit, I cannot help but feel that the latter is the case.

 

The response of Ipsos MORI who have conducted the research for Healthcare for London is to treat Barnet as an oddity, to publish figures for Barnet separately and to highlight the views of the rest of London if Barnet is taken out of the equation. This seems to me absurd. 

 

The boroughs where the public mood most closely matches that of Barnet are, unsurprisingly, Enfield and Haringey. Obviously north-west London is unhappy with plans that place support for emergency treatment so far away from us. I myself wouldn’t fancy a trip around the north circular to St Mary’s on IKEA sale day…

 

This consultation shows that north-west London has real concerns about these plans. Healthcare for London has to address these concerns. I will be continuing to make sure that the needs of Barnet are considered as decisions are made. I hope residents will continue to make their views heard too.

By MikeFreer | Posted in Features, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments (0)

It’s Flu…

June 26, 2009 – 10:41 am

Three schools in the borough reopened this week after being briefly closed after bouts of swine flu. The first two schools in the borough to see any cases of swine flu, Garden Suburb Infants and Junior schools had quite extensive outbreaks.

The Hyde School closed for two days after flu amongst teachers meant that we couldn’t guarantee proper adult supervision of children. This later issue is now the key deciding factor on whether we will close a school.  We are now getting one or two pupil outbreaks at other schools – usually with reference to ‘flu-like symptoms’.  Schools are behaving as they would with any other outbreak of flu in a school. Those children showing symptoms are sent home but work in the school continues. At this stage the advice we are receiving from the NHS is that the virus is, comparatively, mild and there is no reason to close schools.

For me the most striking thing about this is the reports back from the schools about how rational and sensible the staff and parents have been. It seems parents have been much less over wrought than much of the media coverage of the spread of swine flu.

Parents seem sensible, concerned about their children’s health and realistic about what can be done to deal with the spread of swine flu. It is likely that there will be more cases of swine flu in the borough over coming weeks so I hope this sensible attitude prevails. It is a tribute to how the schools have kept parents informed, and to the parents themselves, that everyone has been so calm.

I hope that any pupils, and indeed adults, who may catch swine flu over the coming weeks, have a speedy recovery.

By MikeFreer | Posted in Features | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments (0)

Beyond 5pm

June 26, 2009 – 10:33 am

As many of you will be aware we are changing the way we provide some of our services to older people.

At the moment some of the residents of sheltered accommodation benefit from a full time warden on their site. We plan to change this and replace this ‘9 to 5’ service with a more flexible structure of mobile teams, able to support residents across the borough, whether in sheltered accommodation or in their own homes.

This has not been uncontroversial….

Our wardens provide help and advice, they check up on residents and carry out tasks like changing a light bulb. They do not provide care support for residents – that is supported by a separate part of the council.

I fully appreciate that existing users of this service really value it – frankly I would be disappointed if anyone who receives a service funded by the Council does not think they get a good service from us.  But all of our sheltered housing add up to 1,500 places – out of 55,000 older people in the borough.

However, harsh though it may seem, I am afraid that the appreciation that existing users have for a service is, on its own, not enough of a reason to avoid change and improvement. It is certainly not an argument against looking at how we can provide the service more efficiently and extend this service to more people.

In recent years, support for older people has moved from funding people in care homes to helping people to stay in their own homes as long as possible. This leads to better health, general wellbeing and frankly is just more decent than the alternative.

The new mobile teams are likely to remain based at sheltered housing schemes but, for the first time, will be able to provide support for people living in their own homes. Support will be given depending on a person’s need rather than their location and the new teams will support people outside of the traditional ‘9 to 5’ hours. A 24-hour alarm system will remain in place and where 24-hour care services are needed, such as Barnet’s recently opened extra care sheltered housing schemes at Wood Court and Goodwin Court, they will be provided.

All sections of the public sector have to look creatively at how we spend every penny of tax payers money, and make sure that we are providing a flexible service that supports residents where and when they need it. The days of a one size fits all council service that closed down at 5pm have gone.

By MikeFreer | Posted in Features | Tagged , , , , , , , | Comments (0)

Time running out for Barnet residents

April 29, 2009 – 10:21 am

Proposals by the Healthcare for London to relocate stroke and major trauma services miles outside of Barnet will have serious ramifications for our residents who require specialist treatment in a timely manner.

In his review of healthcare provision in the Capital, Lord Darzi stated that services needed to be closer to where they are needed, and research suggests that 75% of all strokes in London occur in Outer London, yet Healthcare for London is currently consulting on proposals that would see residents suffering from a stroke who require specialist assessment and treatment having to travel to University College Hospital. When dealing with strokes, time is of the essence, and the quicker treatment can be started, the better the outcome for the patient. Perversely, the stroke unit at The Royal Free Hospital just outside the borough has just been named the second best in the country and if the preferred options put forward are put into practice this unit would be transferred.

Barnet Hospital is also put forward as being able to attain the necessary standard for stroke provision, but again Northwick Park Hospital in Harrow has been chosen as a preferred option. This is quite unacceptable.

Not only are stroke services being consulted on - we also have proposals on major trauma services.  At present, if there is a serious incident, a major crash, or a repeat of past terrorist attacks at Brent Cross or Staples Corner where major trauma care is required, patients have to be taken all the way to the Royal London Hospital in Whitechapel.  Despite other areas of London being chosen to benefit from three additional Major Trauma Centres, under the preferred Option One Barnet residents would continue to be taken to the Royal London in Whitechapel - rather than to The Royal Free as proposed in Option Two.

These proposals fly in the face of common sense and would leave the people of Barnet miles away from specialist life saving treatment. Healthcare for London may say that the Royal London is within 45 minutes of a ‘blue light’ ambulance journey but I call into question the validity of their timings, particularly if they have not taken into account traffic flows during peak hours and any major road hold ups.

I will be writing to residents of the borough personally to alert them to the proposals put forward and would urge everyone with an opinion on this issue to take part in the consultation. The consultation ends on 8th May 2009 and views can either be submitted in writing to the address below or the consultation document can be completed online at:

www.healthcareforlondon.nhs.uk

Freepost RSAE-RCET-ATJY
Healthcare for London
Harrow
HA1 2QG

By MikeFreer | Posted in Features | Tagged , , , , | Comments (0)

Rent increase still too much of a burden

April 3, 2009 – 4:22 pm

While Barnet Council and Barnet Homes have a duty to collect rent from our tenants, we do not set the annual increases. Rent increases are set by the Government.

Regular readers will be aware that in February I called on Government to reduce the rent increase they were to impose on tenants of council properties from April. My calls were echoed by a number of Council Leaders in London and across the country. The proposal was to increase rents by 6.2% based on a financial formula that did not take into account the fall of inflation or the worst recession the country has seen in over 60 years.

Following a much rushed and unscientific re-think of the rent increases the Department for Communities and Local Government announced that the increase from April would be only 3.1%. This bitter pill would be easier to swallow if all of the rental income collected from our tenants was retained locally and spent on improving the homes of those paying rent. The current system doesn’t permit this; instead the additional rental income generated will be re-distributed across the entire country. Barnet’s tenants will subsidise other Council tenants by more than £10million.

To add insult to injury, the announcement of the reduction in the level of increase came after we had already notified tenants of the higher increase which means that £60,000 has to be spent to re-issue bills, money that could have been directed to other vital services within the borough.

By MikeFreer | Posted in Features | Tagged , , | Comments (0)

Crude rules fail to reflect first class services in Barnet

March 5, 2009 – 12:01 am

The Audit Commission carries out annual assessments of Councils as part of a performance measurement structure known as the Comprehensive Performance Assessment (CPA) and as residents may know, last year Barnet was rated overall as a four star Council. This year, despite our performance scores increasing and the Council being assessed as improving strongly in our ‘Direction of Travel’, the best possible rating, the scoring system used to calculate the overall star rating means that we have lost a star.

A loss of a star would to many suggest a decline in the performance of the Council or the range of services provided but perversely, two thirds of our scores have improved over the past twelve months and the Audit Commission themselves found that the Council has improved in areas such as services to older people, educational attainment, tackling crime and providing value for money.

The Council’s Achilles heel in the process this year is that we did not have the ability to influence or improve the area which caused the overall decline in our rating. Our assessment under the heading of ‘Culture’ reduced to two out of four, meaning that the council could not be rated as four star overall and despite representations, we have to abide with the system in place, no matter how much we disagree with the rules. The ‘Culture’ area of assessment covers a number of areas; however our scoring was affected by the decision taken by Barnet Museum to apply for full accreditation. When the museum had full registration status, Culture was given 3 out of 4, but its application for accreditation in 2007 to show that it had improved even further has resulted in a 2 out of 4  rating – go figure! I’m still perplexed as to how a museum that provides excellent provision to the community, can seek to show it has improved further yet is penalised for doing so.

While the doom and gloom merchants will point at decline, the facts speak for themselves. In the six overall areas assessed by the Audit Commission, the Council received four out of four for benefits, environment and housing, three out of four for children and young people as well as social care, but only a two for culture.

The Audit Commission itself has lost faith in the ability of CPA to give a true and faithful reflection of a Council’s performance and who can blame them? That is why it’s to be scrapped. In the meantime, the people of Barnet will continue to receive excellent services.

Will the decrease in rating mean that your bins won’t be emptied, your children not schooled, or our open spaces improved even further? No, I can assure you it does not.

By MikeFreer | Posted in Features | Tagged , , , , | Comments (2)

Sharing my experiences of social media

March 3, 2009 – 9:00 am

Last week I agreed to record a podcast with Adrian Moss as part of the Parity Podcasts series, sharing my experiences of using the web as a key way of communicating with residents. I have been using the web in this way for over two years now, more recently starting this blog and my Twitter account around six months ago - both of which I have found very rewarding.

When promoting new council initiatives, we have found that by using websites such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube we can address concerns on a level where residents wish to engage with us, rather than through routes with which councils seek to traditionally engage. By increasing the ability of residents to make their voices heard, digital and social media provides an additional way for the council to listen to residents’ concerns and enter into meaningful conversations around subjects that matter to our residents.

While I am certain that digital and social media will never completely replace more conventional ways of communicating with residents, it will develop from strength to strength and continue to be an additional and essential tool for local councils and their elected representatives such as in Barnet.

By MikeFreer | Posted in Features | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments (0)

Leader Listens - Burnt Oak 2 December 2008

March 2, 2009 – 9:00 am

Guest post from Councillor Matthew Offord, Deputy Leader of the Council

I was happy to step into the shoes of Mike Freer, Leader of the Council, at the Burnt Oak Leader Listens to discuss local issues with residents held at Barnfield Primary School on 2 December.

I opened the meeting with a brief explanation about the Leader Listens events before moving on to the first question regarding Montrose Park and residents concerns on the scale of the development. I assured residents that the development has not been agreed and that Cllr Harper would be meeting with local residents in the near future to understand the issues and look at possible alternatives.

Other topics discussed throughout the evening included:

  • Anti-social behaviour - PCSO Sieloff assured residents that anti-social behaviour within the borough has been reduced and a youth club has been set up which brought in over 100 young people in its first week.
  • Opposition to the Controlled Parking Zone (CPZ) in Playfield Road – the Council carried out a statutory consultation in June/July 2008 for a CPZ to operate between 10am and 11am and 2pm to 3pm on Mondays to Fridays in Burnt Oak. If the proposals are approved, it is anticipated that the scheme will be operational by April 2009.
  • Council’s investment in Icelandic Banks – the council currently have £27.4m deposited in Icelandic banks which have been placed into administration. These deposits are currently frozen - not lost. Following a visit to Iceland, by the council’s financial officer, we are now considered a preferred creditor so the council is optimistic that its deposits will be returned.
  • Traders not disposing of the waste appropriately along Market Lane - the Council can request to see their waste agreement and how they dispose their waste. The Environmental Services will be informed of this and further investigations will be undertaken.

The full minutes of this meeting can be found here and video highlights are below.

By Matthew Offord | Posted in events | Tagged , , | Comments (0)

Leader Listens - Faith Community meeting 23 November 2008

February 25, 2009 – 10:00 am

So that I am able to meet as wide a cross-section of the community in Barnet, I visit a number of faith groups that represent the diversity of the borough.

Back in November I attended St. Edward the Confessor Roman Catholic Church to listen to what their community had to say about the council and its services. A good crowd turned up on the day and debated a range of topics from traffic to planning procedure.

Unfortunately we weren’t able to film the session, but you can read the notes from the meeting here.

In terms of highlights from the meeting, we discussed:

  • The number of parking penalty notices in Tilling Road (Hendon Way) where there is no Controlled Parking Zone (CPZ), specifically those given to residents parking in their own drive ways. I explained that it is not usual to ticket cars in driveways unless the car is hanging over the pavement causing an obstruction or blocking pedestrian passage, and that a CPZ would not be possible because the Hendon Way is one of the busiest roads in London. I also agreed to review the conditions of the resident’s penalty charge notice when the details are passed on.
  • Concerns over renovations to shop frontage and roof at Kosher Supermarket on Golders Green Road, following the fire. I confirmed that the building is not owned by the council so the insertion of windows and changes to the shop frontage was not an issue for the council. I also added that a change of use from a retail unit to housing would not normally be approved, not least because of the loss of employment opportunities.
  • Council’s new plastic/cardboard recycling blue box initiative. Residents were happy and thankful for the new initiative. I noted these comments and also assured the meeting that there would be no move to fortnightly refuse collection.
  • What is the situation with the council’s money currently deposited in Icelandic banks? What guarantees were given for the return of the Council’s deposits? I explained that the council has a legal duty to manage its assets and the bulk of the money invested in these accounts is pension funds. Barnet deposits money in a variety of banks and uses the money to fund some of its capital improvement programmes such as the building of new primary schools without government money. The council has a policy of spreading and minimising risk and only use banks that are highly capitalised and meet government guidelines. We followed the advice of HM Treasury experts in placing the money with the Icelandic banks and these banks met the Government’s criteria and no problems were identified until March of this year.

If you have any more thoughts, please leave a comment below and I look forward to continuing the conversation.

By MikeFreer | Posted in events | Tagged , , , , | Comments (0)

Leader Listens - Finchley Church End 2 October 2008

February 24, 2009 – 8:30 am

[Apologies for the delay in this post - I am catching up and will endeavour to post feedback on events far sooner after each Leader Listens event once I have]

I visited Finchley Church End in early October last year to speak to the residents about any issues or suggestions they had about their neighbourhood.

There was good deal of debate on the night and plenty of questions throughout the evening. In terms of giving you an indication of the type of issues that came up:

A handful residents expressed concern about the levels of traffic and congestion at Henly’s Corner. I explained that the problems at Henly’s Corner had been under review for over 25 years and proposals to improve this stretch of the highway include:

  • The construction of a series of tunnels leading to a roundabout from the North Circular to Cambridge Roundabout at a cost of ₤900 million. However, this scheme is unlikely to be funded until the minor scheme, broadly a series of road closures and some widening, (at £200 million plus) has been proven not to work. As the Treasury will not fund either scheme, neither is likely to proceed.
  • The council working with Transport for London on a local action scheme. The cost will be approximately £8.5 million and will include new filter lanes, increased capacity for cars turning onto the North Circular Road and segregated pedestrian facilities.

I informed residents that by December 2008, we should be in a position to discuss current and other schemes to improve Henly’s Corner, and we would work closely with Transport for London (TfL) to ensure that London does not grind to a halt while Henly’s Corner is being reconfigured.

After residents stressed the importance of the council maintaining the borough’s pavements, I outlined what we do to ensure our pavements are maintained:

  • four years ago we employed an independent engineer to inspect the borough’s roads and pavements. A list of the worst roads was produced and work is now being carried out in order of priority.
  • utility companies are not allowed to dig up any the highway within two years of us carrying out a resurfacing programme unless there is an emergency, and we can insist on a penalty being paid if the highway is not reinstated to the same standard
  • we spend ₤6 million on roads in the borough and in the next budget round an extra ₤1 million is planned for the maintenance of roads and pavements.

Following a resident’s request for green waste collection in blocks of flats, I fed back that new build developments now have designated recycling facilities. I added that the managing agents of established developments are responsible for the provision of recycling facilities, but that residents may contact our Waste and Sustainability Manager on 020 8359 7404 to discuss their individual requests.

Full minutes from this meeting can be found here.

By MikeFreer | Posted in events | Tagged , , | Comments (1)