Smallbrook Road, Shaw – reason for delay to works and mess up with signage

These are the responses I have had from Oldham Council.

Reason for the delay

“Initially a permit to work was requested for Monday 22nd October, however this permit was refused due to utility work in the area.  As a result the works were then permitted to start immediately following the utility works.  As such the works are starting on Monday 19th November.”

Reason for the mess up on signage on 22 October

“I have now received a response from the Councils parking enforcement provider, NSL, regarding the signing and coning issues relating to the above.  It would appear the error has occurred due to a plan of the affected area not being forwarded with the signing and coning request; the instructions stated Smallbrook Road, which NSL understood to be the full length.  Woodend was also treated as the mapping system used to identify the extent of Smallbrook Road showed Woodend as Smallbrook Road.  As soon as NSL were made aware of the date change for the re-surfacing work the signs and cones were removed.

Any further instructions for this type of work will be accompanied by a location plan to avoid any confusion and to ensure this problem does not arise in the future.

Apologies for any upset this error has caused to the residents.”

Councillor Howard Sykes is still waiting for details about how the bus services will work and be accessed on the 19 November and will post information when and if he gets it.

Chancellor promises end of austerity, but no end to Oldham Council funding cuts

The Leader of the Opposition and of the Liberal Democrat Group, Councillor Howard Sykes MBE, has welcomed the promise by the Chancellor of the Exchequer in today’s Budget that ‘austerity is coming to an end’ and his recognition that local authorities have ‘significantly contributed’ towards the UK Government in addressing austerity, albeit through being forced to accept swingeing general cuts to their funding.

Councillor Sykes has also welcomed the promised extra funding to tackle potholes across the country and for new services to help those in mental health crisis, contemplating suicide, or living with infirmity or disabilities; however the Chancellor was short on detail when it came to rolling back the massive funding cuts that local authorities have faced since 2010.

“Some of this so called funding will not happen for a couple of years so is very much a promise of jam tomorrow,” stated Councillor Sykes.  “Also all bets are off budget wise if Brexit negotiations do not go well.”

He added:  “It is easy to promise an end to austerity, but the ‘hard working British public’ that Mr Hammond spoke so warmly of rely on the council services that have been cut to the bone, and in some cases just stopped providing them under this Conservative Government.”

“Our green spaces, cemeteries, parks and alike will continue to look even more unloved.  Streets will be dirtier, basic maintenance stopped in places our libraries and community centres some time ago.”

“The Chancellor failed to pull out a ‘promised rabbit’ for local government and other public services like police and fire.  He talked a lot about councils gaining ‘greater control’ over finances by allowing them to retain business rates and by lifting the housing cap, but the rate support grant that councils rely upon is being phased out by 2020.  For us, austerity does not seem to be coming to an end anytime soon in fact it just took a turn for the worse in our Borough.”

First Bus timetable changes from 28 October 2018

From Sunday 28 October, First Bus will be making changes to the timetables of some of their services.

The following services will be affected by the changes: V1, 2, 24, 33, 42, 58, 59, 93, 97/98, 100, 135, 163, 180, 181/182, 350, 409, 415, 425, 582 and X39.

Unfortunately service 42 will be withdrawn (East Didsbury – Manchester route only), but for customers wanting to travel between Withington and Manchester our 41 service will provide an alternative.

Please make sure you check their new timetables before you travel.  See link below.

https://www.firstgroup.com/greater-manchester/news-and-service-updates/planned-changes/service-changes-sunday-28-october

Liberal Democrat Leader welcomes extra funding to help tackle Winter Health Crisis

Councillor Howard Sykes MBE, Leader of the Liberal Democrat Group and Leader of the Opposition, has welcomed the recent announcement by the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, Matt Hancock MP, that over £1 million in extra money will be provided to Oldham this winter to help patients get home quicker from hospital after medical treatment and improve care that might prevent them being admitted to hospital in the first place.  Mr Hancock recently announced that Oldham will be receiving £1,122,354 in extra winter funding.

Commenting Councillor Sykes said:  “Any extra funding from government to help support adult social care at the time of year when there is the greatest demand must be welcomed.  I am sure patients would much rather have more support to be discharged so they can recover in the comfort of their own homes than spending any more time in hospital than is necessary.  This investment will also help save the NHS money as this so-called ‘bed blocking’ represents a big drain on spending that could be better spent on treating more patients.”

Councillor Sykes did however add a cautionary note:  “I have to say though that the Minister does only get ‘one cheer’ from me rather than the ‘three cheers’ he would if this money had been allocated or notice given as part of the budget settlement last autumn.  That would have given both the Council and the Hospital the maximum amount of time to plan how best to use this money.  Late notice and the element of stop/start is not the best way of getting maximum value; making this cash go as far as possible; and helping as many people as possible.”

The letter from Mr Hancock: 20181017_ASC winter care letter_FINAL

Liberal Democrat Leader’s concerns about proposed NHS changes in Oldham

Councillor Howard Sykes MBE, Leader of the Liberal Democrat Group and Leader of the Opposition, has written to the Chief Executive of Oldham Council, Dr Carolyn Wilkins OBE, to raise a number of concerns and questions about the proposals being taken forward in Oldham in the provision of GP and urgent care services.

Under the proposals, urgent care hubs will be created in five health centres around the borough, replacing the town centre walk-in centre which will close.  Patients are also promised greater access to their local GP and a single telephone number to call with enquiries.

In his email, Councillor Sykes is seeking reassurances that there will be in reality a better, more accessible service for patients, particularly those that he and his Liberal Democrat ward colleagues represent in Shaw and Crompton, and that there are firm plans to finally replace the existing aging Crompton Health Centre which Councillor Sykes describes ‘frankly far from fit-for-purpose’ and a source of ‘resentment’ when local patients see ‘the facilities provided daily to their neighbours in Royton’.

The email reads

From: Howard Sykes
Sent: 11 October 2018 16:26
To: Carolyn Wilkins <Carolyn.Wilkins@oldham.gov.uk>
Cc: howard.sykes@oldham.gov.uk
Subject: Questions re Proposed Urgent Care Changes

Dear Dr Wilkins,

I have several questions that I would like please to pose for you.

Will the single telephone number that is promised for patients to contact be an Oldham wide number?

My concern is that this will be overwhelmed by calls and staff will be unable to answer them promptly.

This has been the situation with the Police 101 number.

How will calls be managed – will they be answered centrally or will callers be automatically routed to their own GP surgery or their local ‘urgent care hub’?

Under current proposals, five new hubs will be designated as ‘Urgent Care Hubs’, each serving around 50,000 people.

Am I right in assuming that the Royton Health Centre will be one of the five new ‘urgent care hubs’?

Shaw and Crompton are paired with Royton.  Given that Royton has a new health centre and we do not, I am assuming this will lead to the Royton health centre being designated the hub also for Shaw and Crompton, despite the public transport links being poor or not existent?

Where does this then leave the prospects for the future replacement of Crompton Health Centre which frankly is far from fit-for-purpose?

The people of Shaw and Crompton continue to feel badly let down by the NHS and this Council because of their failure to replace this centre a long time ago and their resentment builds with every month that passes without action, especially when they see the facilities provided daily to their neighbours in Royton.

What guarantee will there be under current proposals that there will be an adequate after-hours service and that patients will have greater access to GPs, particularly outside the hours of 8-6 weekdays?

At present many of my constituents wait days or weeks before they can access a GP of their choosing at a time that suits them.  This leads them to present at the Walk in Centre or A+E.

Under current plans, the town centre LIFT walk-in centre will be closed when the new hubs are open.

As this must be one of the most expensive pieces of real estate in the property portfolio of our local NHS, what plans are there to reuse part, or all, of the building and what will happen to the equipment and people that are in there.

Has an audit been carried out recently of all NHS properties in our Borough, whether owned or leased, to determine whether all buildings are used to the utmost for treatment or ancillary purposes or whether they can be sold off to generate capital to reinvest in remaining buildings and services?  If so can this information be shared with me?

After the Walk in Centre closure, what will prevent patients from simply presenting to A+E for urgent treatment, rather than waiting to be seen by a GP or at the hub?

Can you give a guarantee that with the establishment of the hub, the A+E Department at the Royal Oldham Hospital will not be closed or its services reduced or downgraded?

I shall look forward to receiving your responses.

Best wishes.

SEXUAL HEALTH SERVICES AT TIPPING POINT WARN LOCAL LIBERAL DEMOCRATS

The Oldham Liberal Democrat Group has warned that patients could have to wait longer for sexual health services with visits to clinics up by 25 per cent in five years at the same time as funding for councils to provide vital public health services has been cut.

In 2016 there were 2,456,779 new attendances at sexual health clinics compared with 1,941,801 in 2012 across England. Local Liberal Democrats recognise that it is good news more people are taking responsibility for their sexual health, but warn this is placing a significant strain on councils’ resources.

Commenting, the Leader of the Opposition and of the Liberal Democrat Group, Councillor Howard Sykes MBE said: “While it is encouraging that more and more people are taking their own, and their partners’, sexual health seriously, we are concerned that this increase in demand is creating capacity and resource issues for councils.”

“We are concerned that this will see waiting times start to increase and patient experience deteriorate.  The current Government’s cuts to councils’ public health budgets of £531 million – a reduction of nearly 10 per cent – has left local authorities struggling to keep up with increased demand for sexual health services.”

While the number of new diagnoses of sexually transmitted infections fell by 4 per cent in 2016, councils are warning that it will be “extremely challenging” to maintain services at the current level.

Liberal Democrats are calling on government to recognise the importance of improving sexual health by reversing public health cuts.  The funding is desperately needed to meet the increasing demand, otherwise patients could face longer waiting times and a reduced quality of service.

Councillor Sykes added: “We are concerned that this will see waiting times start to increase and patient experience deteriorate.”

“The reduction in public health funding could also compound problems further and impact on councils’ ability to meet demand and respond to unforeseen outbreaks.  We cannot tackle this by stretching services even thinner.”

“It is obviously good news that diagnoses of sexually transmitted infections are down, but sexual health services are now reaching a tipping point where it will be extremely challenging to maintain this progress.

“Once again this is an example of councils inheriting the responsibility of public health when it was transferred from the NHS in 2013, but without the necessary resources to deliver services.”

Notes 

The Government reduced councils’ public health grant by £331 million from 2016/17 to 2020/21.  This followed a £200 million in-year reduction in 2015/16.

Councils spend approximately £600 million a year on sexual health services.  The overall public health budget for 2017/18 is £3.4 billion.

Save our Local Cash Points, say Shaw and Crompton Liberal Democrats

With the announcement that traditional banking services in Shaw and Crompton will come to an end in January 2019 with the closure of the local Royal Bank of Scotland Branch, Shaw Councillor Howard Sykes MBE, who is the Leader of the Opposition and the Liberal Democrat Group on Oldham Council, has written to the Chairman and Head of Consumer Affairs at the LINK organisation seeking reassurances that residents and visitors will be able to access ready cash from a network of local ATM machines, especially during busy bank holiday and holiday weekends.

LINK is the UK’s largest cash machine (or ATM – Automated Teller Machine) network.  . Effectively every cash machine in the UK is connected to LINK, and LINK is the only way banks and building societies can offer their customers access to cash across the whole of the UK. All the UK’s main debit and ATM card issuers are LINK members.

Councillor Sykes commented:  “We have already lost cash machines at the Yorkshire and Barclays Banks, and at Martins Newsagents with the closure of these outlets.  Liberal Democrat Councillors have sought to put pressure on the Royal Bank of Scotland to retain the cash point at the old branch when it closes in the new-year, but they have only so far committed to maintain the machine outside the Tesco supermarket on Market Street.  We estimate that we have suffered a net loss of at least two machines, and with the Royal Bank of Scotland closure this will represent a third.

He added:  “An additional problem is that during busy bank holiday weekends, cash machines are only replenished, at the latest, the Friday before, and local people report real difficulty in accessing their cash as the weekend goes on as demand is so high. These machines are not refilled until the following Tuesday.  So not only will my constituents soon be unable to go into a high street bank, but they are more than likely to be unable to access cash from a high street cash point at the times when they most need it.”

Councillor Sykes has written to LINK senior staff seeking their assurance that efforts will be made to persuade the Royal Bank of Scotland to at least retain the cash machine at the branch once it closes and that LINK partners will replenish properly those local machines for which they are responsible in time for busy weekends.

He also has one more request:  “Crompton Ward has a high percentage of retired residents, and is poorly served by public transport in the evenings and weekends despite being some way from Shaw centre.   There is presently only one ATM machine in High Crompton at the Londis mini-market on Rochdale Road, but this store closes at 8.30pm at the latest.  I have also asked LINK if we can explore other possible sites for ATM machines in parts of Shaw and Crompton that are either currently poorly served, or not served at all so everyone, wherever they live, can easily access their own money.”