It was fab to talk to Royal College of Nursing activism conference delegates last week about how council health scrutiny committees play a part in holding the NHS to account, as the only democratic legal check on the health services.
Pic: With Helen Hancox, RCN senior regional officer, SW
Why did East Devon District Council apply more weight to the views of the ruthless NHS Property Services (set up by the Conservative led coalition) than it did to the views of local people and councillors?
It was a key plank in the campaign to prevent the hospital being sold off, or at least delay it or make it harder… but EDDC decided it wasn’t essential enough to the community.
This decision will have a bearing on every community hospital in East Devon, particularly those that have had their beds removed.
NHS Property Services of course, has a vested interest because it stands to net a considerable income from any sale of local hospital buildings.
The Health Secretary, Matt Hancock, is going to have to neuter the company if local hospitals are to be saved. He has shown no signs of doing this yet. See more here -
https://www.devonlive.com/news/devon-news/councillor-questions-weight-nhs-objection-2334728
So Hugo Swire is crowing about Theresa May following advice set out in his amendment over the Irish backstop… (a temporary customs union to avoid a hard border and a threat to the peace process).
...But I wouldn’t be so confident if I was him, as this afternoon’s humiliating announcement in the Commons to delay tomorrow’s vote on the Brexit withdrawal agreement has infuriated MPs right across the chamber.
Ottery St Mary Town Council has sent me a letter of thanks for my work for the community, particularly relating to the difficult Silver Street road closure, caused by the devastating fire above the pINE Store, in September….
The last survey I ran was in 2014 so it’s time for an update!
If you live in the East Devon constituency, I would like to know your views on a range of issues to help inform my manifesto should there be a General Election in the coming months.
The Government is in meltdown over Brexit so it could happen.
Please do complete the survey, which should take less than five minutes. Here’s the link!
For the first time in living memory Ottery St Mary Town Council (OSMTC) held a full council meeting at 2.30 on a Thursday afternoon.
The Extraordinary Council Meeting was held because 4 councillors (Dobson, Edwards, Gori and Holmes) had made a request for a special meeting to rescind the decision, made at the 6 November OSMTC meeting, to set up a working group to save Ottery Hospital.