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Hospital chief
hosts 'have your say' meeting in Ormskirk
PATIENTS and the public in
Ormskirk have the chance next week to find out more about plans for
Southport and Ormskirk Hospital NHS Trust to become a foundation
trust.
Foundation trusts were created to put decision-making about
healthcare into the hands of local people. Southport and Ormskirk
trust wants to become a foundation trust by April next year (2013).
The 2nd in a series of public meetings will be held on Monday and
hosted by Jonathan Parry, the trust’s chief executive. He said:-
"Foundation trusts have been around since 2004 and now the
Government says all NHS trusts must become one.
It is important we have local people’s support for our plans and
this is one of a number of public meetings I am hosting where people
can learn more and have their say." The meeting will be held on Monday, 19 March
2012, at Ormskirk Civic Hall,
Southport Road, Ormskirk, L39 1LN at 6.30pm. Please call:- 01704
704714 should you have any special requirements the Trust can help with
in advance of the meeting. People can also make their views known by
visiting the Trust
website.
The
Consultation responses can be completed online, but the Trust will
pay the postage for people returning the responses by post.
To request a copy of the consultation document if you cant get it
online, you should do so from The Foundation
Trust Team at Southport and Ormskirk Hospital NHS Trust, Southport
and Formby District General Hospital , Town Lane, Southport,
Merseyside, PR8 6PN, Plus you can find out more from the team via
calling:- 01704 704714 or via
emailing them.
Unemployment
has risen at its slowest quarterly rate since May 2011 according to
official figures released
DATA from the Office for
National Statistics shows that unemployment for the 3 months to
January 2012 rose by 0.1%. The total number of unemployed people
increased by 28,000 over the quarter to reach 2.67 million. The
number of unemployed people aged from 16 to 24 increased by 16,000
over the quarter to reach 1.04 million. Carmen Watson,
Managing Director of Pertemps Network Group, said:- "We have
seen a number of initiatives introduced over recent months to try to
tackle the unemployment problem and although we are yet to see the
full results of their success, it is certainly an encouraging sign
that the rate of unemployment is starting to slow. For the North
West jobs market to fully turn a corner it doesn’t just need the
participation of companies in government backed schemes, it also
needs the confidence of employers from the various business sectors.
We are frequently speaking to companies who are seeking to
strengthen their workforce and increase productivity by taking on
new staff on a temporary or permanent basis. This attitude has to
reverberate throughout UK industry but it has to be based on
confidence in future prospects. Recovery in the economy is within
reach but its perceived proximity will be the deciding factor for
many employers with regards to recruitment strategy."
For a full regional breakdown of the figures please click on
here.
Public welcome
at Trust board meeting
THE Southport and Ormskirk
Hospital NHS Trust will hold its next board meeting on Wednesday, 28
March 2012, at 1.30pm. The meeting will be held in the Board Room in
the Corporate Management Office at Southport and Formby District
General Hospital. Members of the public are welcome to attend as
observers. Anyone wishing to attend with a special requirement
should contact the Trust in advance on:- 01704 704714. |
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UNISON calls on
public and MP's to back campaign to stop the privatising of the
Police
"WE have no time to waste. Plans to privatise
the Police services are a cost cutting measure that
will undermine public safety", was the stark warning
from UNISON, the union representing 42,000 Police staff.
The union is calling for a halt to the outsourcing of policing in
West Midlands and Surrey, where the 2 forces are advertising
lucrative private contracts worth £1.5bn. If the contract goes live
it will place 10% of total police funding in the hands of a private
company. If all the other forces, which have signed an option on the
contract, also join in the future, this figure would rise to 25% of
all Police funding going to the private sector.
The warning comes on the back of a bidder conference being held in
London, between the 2 forces and hundreds of private company
representatives interested in running Police services. Services that
could be included are crime investigation, forensics, 999 call
handling, custody and detention and a wide range of Police support
services.
Ben Priestley, UNISON National Officer for Police Staff, went on to
say:- "These dangerous privatisation plans must be stopped and
stopped fast. We know that forces are under the cosh from the
Government’s 20% cut to police funding. Privatisation is supposed to
save money, but this can only happen by slashing the police services
on which the public rely to keep them safe and by employing
cut-price staff.
The public do not want 999 calls answered by someone who works in a
remote call centre in another part of the country. But this is the
way privatisation works! In fact there is no evidence that the
private sector will provide value for money.
Most local people do not even know what West Midland and Surrey
forces are planning, because they have not been consulted. And lack
of accountability runs right through these proposals. Private
companies running police services are accountable to shareholders,
not to local citizens.
UNISON is stepping up our campaign and contacting minsters, chief
constables, local residents and our members to stop this
privatisation in its tracks."
Further objections to the privatisation plans include:-
► Lack of Accountability.
► The public cannot complain to the independent Police Complaints.
► Commission about a private company in the same way they can about
their
police force.
► Chief police officers will lose operational control.
► Privatisation threatens democracy.
► There is no competent business case for the proposals.
► There is no evidence that the private sector provides value for
money.
► In-house solutions to improving efficiency have been prematurely
rejected.
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