howard mcsweeney1- Location: Dover
- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 62,352
Some good news from Charlie.
Nothing is more important than knowing you and your loved ones will receive the best possible care. That is why healthcare in Dover and Deal is right at the top of my agenda. I’ve been fighting to get more services for our area. So I am delighted that this week we received confirmation of a new £2.4 million project to provide extra GP services at Buckland and Deal Hospital. “Primary care hubs” will work out of ten rooms across both sites. They will be open 8am to 8pm seven days a week, delivering 110,000 appointments per year – meaning more people can be treated locally.
The new GP services will also help ease the pressure on A&E. Health bosses told me that in November, more than a third of east Kent A&E attendances only needed minor injury or GP services. They estimate the new hubs will save 13,000 inappropriate A&E attendances. We know that across the country the NHS is busy, as it always is at this time of year. Cold weather and flu puts pressure on hardworking hospital staff. Yet independent health bosses agree preparation has been “more extensive and meticulous than ever before”. In east Kent, we have secured £3.42 million more to cope with winter pressures – equivalent to an extra 150 nurses.
So far, things seem to be improving. Last summer our trust was rated one of the worst in the country for A&E performance. I raised my concerns with the new leadership team and they came up with an improvement plan. Ten specialist emergency doctors were recruited. Several new treatment units were opened at the William Harvey in Ashford and the QEQM in Margate. This was all thanks to £800,000 of capital investment we secured from central government. Back in August, 70% of A&E patients in east Kent were seen within the target time. By November, despite almost 2,500 more attendances, the figure had risen to 80%. Things still need to get better – but it shows the investment and improvement plan are working. The extra GP services at Buckland and Deal will be a huge boost too.
It shows how far we have come since 2010. In Deal, our much-loved hospital was in grave danger. Now we are getting more and more services. Staff numbers are up 17% on last year. In Dover, Buckland Hospital was decimated over the previous decade. We got a £24 million facility built in its place. Twice as many clinics are now operating than when it first opened. A cataract surgery theatre is opening in the next few weeks, saving people long trips out of town for treatment. Long term, we are fighting for a new medical school in Kent. It will be a huge help in recruiting more GPs locally, giving us a sustainable local health model for years to come. My priority is for everyone in Dover and Deal to get the first class healthcare they deserve.
howard mcsweeney1- Location: Dover
- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 62,352
Latest from our man at Westminster.
Parking charges at Buckland Hospital are causing hell for patients, staff and nearby residents. I am calling for them to be slashed. Patients fork out £2 for an hour in the hospital car park – nearly double the rate of £1.10 an hour at Dover District Council car parks. Staff paying £12.98 a week face yearly costs of £675. Meanwhile, the surrounding streets have become gridlocked as visitors to the hospital look for spaces to park for free. I met with MacDonald Road residents Mark Hamilton and Wendy Taylor last Friday. I heard how Mr Hamilton, an RNLI volunteer, has been unable on a number of occasions to respond to lifeboat callouts because he was parked-in. Ms Taylor said she worries every time she drives out of the close – because she fears there will be nowhere to park when she returns.
During my visit, we watched as a member of the public parked up in MacDonald Road and walked straight to the hospital – where there were plenty of spaces in the car park. I am writing to the chief executive of the East Kent Hospitals University NHS Foundation Trust, asking the trust to slash the price of parking at Buckland. It's clearly not right that people are unable to park outside their own homes. And it's simply unacceptable that an RNLI volunteer like Mark is blocked in when called out. The root of the problem is the rip-off parking charges enforced at Buckland Hospital. These parking charges are a stealth tax on those who need treatment – and on the staff who have to fork out hundreds of pounds a year just to park at work.
Twice as many clinics are now operating at Buckland Hospital since it opened. We want to offer even more services locally. Yet the hospital car park cannot be used as a cash cow. No one goes to hospital out of choice – yet all are forced to pay. I urge the hospital trust to slash these deeply unfair parking charges. Staff parking costs at East Kent hospitals were doubled in 2013. The hospital trust took £3,997,745 in car park charges in 2016/17 – the third largest income for charges in England in that year.
Captain Haddock
- Location: Marlinspike Hall
- Registered: 8 Oct 2012
- Posts: 7,896
12 weeks suspension as of today. Just saying.
"Shall we go, you and I, while we can? Through the transitive nightfall of diamonds"
Jan Higgins
- Location: Dover
- Registered: 5 Jul 2010
- Posts: 13,790
So what mysterious terrible thing did Charlie do I wonder?
Interesting that he will be accepted back into that troubled group just in time to canvass for the party prior to the local May elections, that is if he even wants to.
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I try to be neutral and polite but it is hard and getting even more difficult at times.
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Guest 1997- Registered: 3 Mar 2017
- Posts: 148
I think it's a fair assumption that he will canvass for his party, Jan. Whether his heart is in it is another matter entirely.
Captain Haddock- Location: Marlinspike Hall
- Registered: 8 Oct 2012
- Posts: 7,896
Jan Higgins wrote:So what mysterious terrible thing did Charlie ALLEGEDLY do I wonder?
Stuart, I think it's more a case of 'Ask not if you will canvas for the party, but will the party canvas for you'?
howard mcsweeney1 likes this
"Shall we go, you and I, while we can? Through the transitive nightfall of diamonds"
howard mcsweeney1- Location: Dover
- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 62,352
Captain Haddock wrote:
Stuart, I think it's more a case of 'Ask not if you will canvas for the party, but will the party canvas for you'?
Charlie has lost a few of his groupies over the years, when he was first elected there was a builder /councillor from Deal that was in many of his photo calls and whenever Charlie posted anything on social media almost immediately followed up with "well said Charlie", can't remember his name.
Brian Dixon
- Location: Dover
- Registered: 23 Sep 2008
- Posts: 23,940
bob.
howard mcsweeney1 likes this
Captain Haddock- Location: Marlinspike Hall
- Registered: 8 Oct 2012
- Posts: 7,896
Not I, sir, not I.
"Shall we go, you and I, while we can? Through the transitive nightfall of diamonds"
Guest 1881- Registered: 16 Oct 2016
- Posts: 1,071
Captain Haddock wrote:Not I, sir, not I.
Well said, Captain. How rude of Mr Dixon, he knows perfectly well that your name is Robert.
Just because you don't take an interest in politics doesn't mean that politics won't take an interest in you. PERICLES.
howard mcsweeney1- Location: Dover
- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 62,352
Where did you get your information on Charlie's suspension Bob as I can't find anything online
Brian Dixon- Location: Dover
- Registered: 23 Sep 2008
- Posts: 23,940
#130 wrong bob rev.
Guest 1881 likes this
Guest 1881- Registered: 16 Oct 2016
- Posts: 1,071
Just because you don't take an interest in politics doesn't mean that politics won't take an interest in you. PERICLES.
Brian Dixon- Location: Dover
- Registered: 23 Sep 2008
- Posts: 23,940
no this one is.
Keith Sansum1
- Location: london
- Registered: 25 Aug 2010
- Posts: 23,845
I find it unfortunate that the MP's party have still not told him why he is suspended.
Surprized? not at all
ALL POSTS ARE MY OWN PERSONAL VIEWS
howard mcsweeney1- Location: Dover
- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 62,352
Good point made by Charlie in the Commons yesterday.
Charlie Elphicke: Is the Minister aware that in the past 40 years the
European Union’s share of global GDP has fallen from 30% to just 15%
and that 90% of future world economic growth is going to come from
outside Europe? Does he agree that the future is not regional relative
decline; the future is global?
Captain Haddock likes this
Guest 649- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 14,118
WE are still waiting to find out what he has done wrong the police have had a long time now to put a case up or drop it.
Jan Higgins- Location: Dover
- Registered: 5 Jul 2010
- Posts: 13,790
The latest email from Charlie, I agree banks should be more help but at the same time there is always that well known phrase "buyer beware".
When people come to see me at my surgeries I do everything I can to help them. No matter what has happened, I am determined to do my best in every case. Frustratingly there are occasions where despite my best efforts there is little I can do. Yet I never forget and always look out for ways to help in the future.
A chance arose last week. The Treasury Select Committee had the opportunity to grill the Payment System Regulator. We asked why they are not doing more to ensure banks protect customers against bank transfer scams.
I raised the case of two constituents who had fallen victim to ruthless fraudsters. Mike Whitehead came to see me some years ago. He had thought he was buying a caravan from what he thought was a legitimate “eBay Motors” account. Yet the account turned out to be fake and he lost £3,500. Similarly, Colin Stromsoy lost a £1,000 deposit trying to buy a car by the same method. I was shocked that ruthless fraudsters were targeting people in this way, depriving them of their hard-earned cash. Yet just as infuriating was that the bank would not take any action to help them retrieve the money.
That’s why I made the case to the regulator that banks must do more to help innocent victims of fraud. It has been going on for years and people are starting to wonder why stronger action hasn’t been taken to prevent it. Nearly 40,000 people a year on average are being conned out of over £5,000 due to weak, fraud-prone bank payment systems.
The regulator’s boss told me that they are currently consulting on a reimbursement model for money lost by fraud. They said people would only get their money back if banks failed to meet required standards. Yet these standards have been put forward by UK Finance, the trading association of the banking sector. This is not good enough. It is like putting foxes in charge of the chicken coop.
The regulator cannot be a paper tiger. It needs to be robust, take banks by the scruff of the neck and be the guardian of consumers against ruthless bank transfer scammers. If it can’t step up to the challenge, protection and greater powers should be provided by Parliament through new laws.
This has gone on too long and too many people are being conned – while the fraudsters get away with it. That’s why I have written to the Chancellor expressing my serious concerns. I have asked him to consider making banks liable for every scam against their customers and be forced to pay up. The banks would soon get their house in order if they had to reimburse every victim, as is the case for credit card transactions.
We must do all we can to protect people like Mike and Colin from these shameless criminals – and help them get their cash back.
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I try to be neutral and polite but it is hard and getting even more difficult at times.
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howard mcsweeney1- Location: Dover
- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 62,352
I only know what people tell me about E Bay, bargains to be had apparently but there seems be a lot of reliance on trust. Why would anyone part with money for a caravan or car without seeing it and taking it away with them? I only ever buy online from businesses such as Argos that are household names. Banks can't be blamed for everything that goes wrong.
Jan Higgins- Location: Dover
- Registered: 5 Jul 2010
- Posts: 13,790
Any largish purchase I make be it in a shop or online I always pay using my credit card as I know they will sort out any problems.
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I try to be neutral and polite but it is hard and getting even more difficult at times.
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