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Audiology,
ENT and the Eye Unit are moving from the SGI
THE Eye Unit,
ENT service and Audiology service are moving from Southport General
Infirmary. The last clinics will take place at Southport General
Infirmary on Thursday 29 March. Outpatient clinics will take place
either at Southport & Formby District General Hospital or Ormskirk &
District General Hospital and you will be offered a choice as
applicable. A confirmation letter will be sent to you prior to your
next attendance.
* Eye and ENT clinics will be held in the refurbished ward 4a at
Southport & Formby District General Hospital
* Acute Referral Eye clinics will also be held in ward 4a at
Southport
* Current Clinics held at Ormskirk & District General Hospital will
be unchanged
* A new Ophthalmic Theatre will be built as part of the Ormskirk &
District General Hospital main theatre complex
* Ophthalmic Day Ward will relocate to F ward at Ormskirk
* Children will continue to be seen at Ormskirk eye clinic or at the
new eye clinic at Southport & Formby District General Hospital (as
applicable).
* Children's eye day surgery will be done on the day ward at the
Children's Unit at Ormskirk.
* Audiology clinics will be held in what was the midwifery led unit
at Southport & Formby District General Hospital
* The audiology open access clinics will be held on Monday, Tuesday,
Thursday and Friday 9.00 - 11.30 and 1.00 - 4.00
All outpatient clinics will start again on Wednesday 4th April at
their new location. Ophthalmology day surgery will start on Thursday
5 April.
Acute referral clinics will be held at the eye clinic at Ormskirk
during this period of relocation.
The refurbishment work is nearing completion in all the new clinic
areas at Southport and on F ward at Ormskirk. The pictures show the
reception and waiting area in the new Audiology Department at
Southport. |
Councils waste £250 million annually clearing dumped cars
LOCAL councils
spend a staggering £250 million each year clearing the nation’s
streets, roadsides and parks of abandoned cars. That is the
startling figure revealed by Recycleyourcar.co.uk, the website aimed
at helping drivers to dispose of old vehicles responsibly.
Each year, 50,000 vehicles are torched costing up to £5,000 each – a
total of £230 million - to clear-up, with a further £26 million
wasted removing the other 250,000 abandoned cars. With 2 million
cars reaching the end of their lifespan each year and approximately
only 650,000 disposed of properly, the remaining 1.35 million
vehicles that are unaccounted for will keep these figures a constant
burden on local councils for years to come.
The End of Life Vehicle (ELV) Directive has already been introduced
to curb this problem and ensure cars are disposed of in an
environmentally-sound way. The legislation states that the last
owner of a vehicle is responsible for ensuring their car is disposed
of in the correct manner at a facility authorised by the Environment
Agency - but if drivers are not made aware of their legal
responsibilities, millions of pounds will continue to be wasted.
It is a situation that could be avoided, warns Liberal Democrat MEP
Chris Davies. “Due to a lack of government publicity –
particularly by the DVLA and VOSA (Vehicle Operator Services Agency)
- most people haven’t even heard of the End of Life Vehicle (ELV)
Directive, which is already in force in the UK.”
Spokesperson for Recycleyourcar.co.uk, Derek Campbell explains:-
“In theory, it’s not just the councils that have to pay out as
drivers can risk thousands of pounds of fines, or even imprisonment,
for non-compliance. If an old car is not taken to an authorised
treatment facility (or ATF) the driver will not receive the
prescribed Certificate of Destruction. Not only could they then be
liable for continued road tax bills but, if the car is subsequently
abandoned, under the Clean Neighbourhood Act, 2005, a local
authority is now able to issue a £200 fixed penalty for the dumping
of a car and under the Refuse Disposal Act, an illegal dumper could
be fined up to £2500 and face three months in prison. But despite
these risks, because drivers are rarely prosecuted, this threat does
not seem to be acting as a real deterrent.”
Commenting on the annual cost to local authorities, he continued:-
“Although the £250 million figure is shocking, this is nothing
compared to the massive environmental cost when the hazardous
materials in a vehicle such as oil and lead are not properly
recovered and are allowed to seep out into the environment from
abandoned vehicles. It is now time for everybody involved in
this recycling chain, from government through to the vehicle
manufacturing and the recycling industries, to pull together to
raise awareness and put a stop to the damage we are doing to our
environment (and our pockets).”
To help explain the legislation to car owners, Recycleyourcar.co.uk,
has produced a series of information posters. The notices will be
provided to local authorities free of charge, to be displayed in
council buildings, post offices and police stations. The posters
will raise awareness of the importance – both environmental and
financial - of obtaining a certificate.
Commenting on Recycleyourcar.co.uk’s initiative, Chris Davies MEP
said:- “Owners of old cars should be notified of the services
available to them with their road tax reminder and those owners
whose vehicles fail MOT tests should be directly targeted - but
nothing seems to have been done. Recycleyourcar.co.uk has taken a
positive step by developing and funding this campaign to help
drivers and more importantly, the environment.” |
