Liberal Democrat Warwickshire County Council Group are calling for greater entitlement of free scool meals.Cllr Jerry Roodhouse said that
Support the campaign to expand free school meals
“The Liberal Democrat group on Warwickshire County Council are calling for greater Free School Meal access. We are calling for WCC to bring forward proposals that aim to significantly increase the take-up of Free School Meals, including considering the option of automatic opt-in and how this can lawfully be done and that the Government funds local authorities accordingly”
Cllr Roodhouse went on to say,
“With the increased costs on families the Government can quickly ensure that children get a meal and also the school gets extra pupil premium into its budget, it is a no brainer which can be implemented now”
The Liberal Democrats have called on the government to provide funding to reverse ambulance station closures, as the latest figures reveal 8,000 patients were stuck for more than an hour in ambulances outside A&E in the last week alone. Daisy Cooper, the party’s Health and Social Care Spokesperson, has today also written to the chair of the Care and Quality Commission, urging him to launch an investigation into the causes and impacts of deadly ambulance delays, including station closures. These calls form part of an emergency five-point plan to tackle the growing crisis of ambulance delays that is leaving seriously ill patients waiting hours to be treated. In addition to reversing ambulance station closures and launching an investigation, the plan includes bringing in the army to help drive ambulances, passing a new law to increase transparency over waiting times, and launching a new campaign to recruit more paramedics and other ambulance staff. New official figures published today reveal that ambulance response times to emergency 999 calls are exceeding government pledges in every part of England. In November, the average response time for Category 2 calls (emergency calls involving a serious condition that may require rapid assessment and/or urgent transport, such as a stroke or chest pain) was 46 minutes and 37 seconds – more than double the 18-minute target. Meanwhile, 19,366 patients spent more than 30 minutes waiting to be handed over from an ambulance to A&E last week – 8,211 of them were waiting for more than an hour. Last month, the Liberal Democrats secured confirmation from the Government that every ambulance service in England is now at REAP Level 4 – the highest alert level, indicating “extreme pressure”. Both the Association of Ambulance Chief Executives and the College of Paramedics have warned that delays are causing patients harm and putting them at risk. Daisy Cooper MP, Liberal Democrat Spokesperson for Health and Social Care, said: “Thousands of people are watching loved ones in agony and distress, waiting hours for an ambulance or stuck in the back of one outside a hospital. Some have even watched them die. This is heartbreaking and it can not go on. “The Conservatives have run local NHS services into the ground, breaking waiting time promises for years and years. “Boris Johnson must stop sticking his head in the sand. He must get a grip on this crisis and reverse ambulance station closures that have left communities facing record waiting times. “Our plan would relieve some of the immediate pressure and help fix the ambulance crisis for good so that people know that they can get to hospital in an ambulance and receive the care they deserve, when they need to.” Notes The Liberal Democrats are calling on the Government to take five urgent actions to tackle this crisis: Community Ambulance Fund: Make emergency funding available to ambulance trusts to reverse closures of community ambulance stations and cancel planned closures. Army drivers: Call up members of the Armed Forces to drive ambulances and ease staff shortages this winter. Staffing: Launch a campaign to retain, recruit and train paramedics and other ambulance staff. New waiting times law: Pass Daisy Cooper’s Ambulance Waiting Times Bill to require accessible, localised reports of ambulance response times. Inquiry: Establish a Care Quality Commission investigation into the causes and impacts of ambulance service delays. NHS statistics on delays in handovers from ambulances to A&Es are available here. NHS statistics on ambulance response times for November are available here. The government’s pledges on ambulance waiting times are:respond to Category 1 calls in 7 minutes on average, and respond to 90% of Category 1 calls in 15 minutesrespond to Category 2 calls in 18 minutes on average, and respond to 90% of Category 2 calls in 40 minutesrespond to 90% of Category 3 calls in 120 minutesrespond to 90% of Category 4 calls in 180 minutes Daisy Cooper’s written parliamentary question confirming that all ambulance trusts are at REAP Level 4 is availablehere. Full text of Daisy Cooper’s letter to the chair of the Care Quality Commission, Peter Wyman CBE DL: Dear Peter,I am writing to urge you to launch an emergency Care Quality Commission inspection of ambulance services across England, following multiple reports of people tragically dying – and thousands more suffering severe harm – due to long 999 response times and long waits to be transferred from ambulances into A&E.Last month, the Government confirmed in answer to my parliamentary question that every ambulance service in England is now at REAP Level 4 – the highest alert level, indicating “extreme pressure”.New figures published by the NHS today show that ambulance response times are exceeding government pledges in every part of the country. In November, the average response time for Category 1 calls (requiring an immediate response to a life-threatening condition) was 9 minutes and 10 seconds, while for Category 2 (emergency calls involving a serious condition that may require rapid assessment and/or urgent transport, such as a stroke or chest pain) it was 46 minutes and 37 seconds.Last month, the College of Paramedics warned that:“The ambulance service is simply not providing the levels of service they should – patients are waiting too long and that is putting them at risk.”Meanwhile, thousands of people are being put at risk of serious harm because of delays transferring them to A&E. In the last week alone, 19,366 patients spent more than 30 minutes waiting to be handed over from an ambulance to A&E. 8,211 of them were waiting for more than an hour.Last month, a review by the Association of Ambulance Chief Executives found that as many as 160,000 patients a year are put at risk of harm by these delays, with around 12,000 potentially experiencing severe harm. Its report stated starkly that:“When very sick patients arrive at hospital and then have to wait an excessive time for handover to ED [Emergency Department] clinicians, to receive assessment and definitive care, it is entirely predictable and almost inevitable that some level of harm will arise. This may take the form of a deteriorating medical or physical condition, or distress and anxiety, potentially affecting the outcome for patients and definitely creating a poor patient experience.”It is clear that these ambulance delays amount to a severe crisis in emergency healthcare – one that threatens to get even worse over the winter months.Paramedics and other ambulance staff are working extremely hard, often for more than 12 hours straight and in very difficult circumstances. They need more support. However, ambulance station closures, staff shortages and hospital backlogs mean that patients are not getting the emergency service they need.People across the country are seeing their loved ones wait far too long in agony and distress to receive the urgent care and treatment that they need. Most tragically of all, people are even losing loved ones because of these unacceptable delays. This has to stop.I therefore urge the CQC to hold an emergency inspection into the causes and impacts of ambulance service delays, including station closures. It should bring forward urgent proposals for government action to tackle this crisis, and to ensure that people see an ambulance arrive promptly in emergencies and are transferred to A&E quickly and smoothly.I look forward to your response.Yours sincerely,Daisy Cooper MPLiberal Democrat Spokesperson for Health and Social Care
The questions that I will be putting to the West Midlands Ambulance Service at Rugby Borough Council Scrutiny meeting 4th October. Cllr Jerry Roodhouse said “We need to see greater engagement and openness by WMAS, Rugby is a major town and expanding we should not be seen as an outpost of the West Midlands”
Cllr Jerry Roodhouse has sent the following questions in for answering when the WMAS turn up for the meeting as follows
Could they confirm that Ambulances services are assessed by response times, they must reach 75% of category 1 calls within 8 mins and so on. If so, how does WMAS achieve this figure? is it fair to say that the larger urban areas have more ambulances, so if you get to the Category 1 calls in Birmingham, Stoke, the Black Country and Coventry you meet the criteria needed.
What is the impact of the Clinical Validation of Cat 3 & 4 patients
How do Rugby’s figures compare to Coventry’s? for cat 1 calls and for cat 3 and 4
It is recognised that the huge demand on the NHS has resulted on crews being stuck at hospital and hence not in Rugby. What brought about the change away from the practice that was being developed 20 years ago by Warwickshire Ambulance Service where training paramedics to become Emergency Care practitioners with the goal of treating and managing patients in the community and not transporting them to hospital unless necessary. This plan was to help ease the demand on hospitals.
When WMAS say that the Rugby Ambulance is hardly ever in Rugby, what will happen to the people of Rugby if we ever do return to the historical demands on the NHS as the Health Secretary claims. Ambulances won’t be in the area or even at UHCW but at the Ambulance hub 17 miles from St Cross and 20-30 miles away from Rugby’s villages and Southam.
Could WMAS confirm how did the review take place and how can they justify the decision to remove the complete service from a large town in such a short space of time. What were their considerations, was the final decision taken by the WMAS board in an open and transparent way if not why not?
Could WMAS state how downtime will be avoided in Coventry? The crews still have to return for breaks and to finish and without an ambulance in Rugby they will be covering larger distances to do this?
In the west Midlands which Hospital Trusts have the longest handover periods
Could WMAS confirm that this change has nothing to with its financial position
The release of the joint inspection carried out on SEND services is clear Warwickshire could be doing a lot better. To those who know the services the report has no surprise. The question that needs to asked now is how the County Council will react to the findings. Read the report findings here Send Report on Inspection
The Liberal Democrats will measure the progress on the findings in the report and will check it against the coproduction of service provision with honest genuine working together, shining a light on decisions enabling greater transparency on every decision with added greater democratic accountability.
The County Council Cabinet have announced that Marle Hall in Wales will close. The Liberal Democrat Group on the County Council did call in the decision, as the Cabinet had ignored the 7,000 strong petition to keep Marle Hall open and examine the business case put by those who wanted Marle Hall to continue. Sadly, the decision remained to close Marle Hall.
The Liberal Democrats were hoping that the much loved venue in North Wales, that has welcomed generations of Warwickshire students to explore the Welsh countryside, experience courses from biology, art, climbing and much more, could find a way forward. It is indeed regrettable that Marle Hall did not get the necessary maintenance and investment by the County Council over recent years.
Councillor Jenny Fradgley said, “The Liberal Democrats will try and ensure that the County Council keeps to its promise that arrangements will be made to accommodate parties booked in other venues, and we hope that in future the County Council will help schools to find new providers for similar residential courses that are so important for personal development.”
Outdoor Learning is important. The definition that we use is that Outdoor Learning is a broad term that includes discovery, experimentation, learning about and connecting to the natural world, and engaging in environmental and adventure activities.
The debate in Warwickshire about this subject is alive and politically active. The Liberal Democrats recognise this debate and the proposed actions that the Conservative administration want to take in regard to this important matter. Cllr Jerry Roodhouse who leads the Liberal Democrats is calling for action to be taken in the development of an “Outdoor Learning Strategy” he stated that “It needs to have resources and any strategy should be funded the liberal Democrats also want to see a bursary scheme to enable individuals to go on outdoor learning experiences”
Jerry Roodhouse asked a question of the Portfolio Holder Cllr Morgan at Children’s Overview & scrutiny Committee 20th July on this matter, Cllr Morgan responded in a positive manner, let us hope words can turn into action.
The Outdoor Institute explains in more detail the type of experience that Warwickshire needs to be able offer its young people https://www.outdoor-learning.org/ it is the next generation we need to be investing in.
Liberal Democrats will be supporting the the Children’s Society to speak up for children and young people. A manifesto created by the Children’s Society that supports the reverse to the damaging decline in children’s well-being in Warwickshire: https://www.childrenssociety.org.uk/local-government-manifesto.
During this pandemic – rising poverty, increasing mental-health problems, exploitation, abuse and neglect occurring behind closed doors, and much more.
However, we know that there were already massive challenges facing children before the pandemic. Children’s happiness with their lives has been declining for the last ten years, as reported in The Children’s Society’s annual Good Childhood Report. We need to consider how we narrow the existing divides that the pandemic has exposed and widened.
We believe that Local government has tremendous power to improve children’s lives and strengthen communities.
The Liberal Democrats have passed a motion at their Spring party conference that would see changes made to the Equalities Act and Autism Act to allow those with autism to achieve their full potential. The Motion also calls on the Government to support individuals who are diagnosed with autism.
The motion calls on the Government to provide support to those who are diagnosed with autism with sweeping reform including:
Education about neurodivergence to be included on the curriculum in the same way mental health is currently. With increased teacher training.
Reduced wait lists for diagnosis by increasing funding and making diagnosis more accessible, by stopping gatekeeping and reducing steps required for diagnosis to be official in NHS terms.
A change to ensure Autism is not represented as decreasing quality of life, and equal access to support and diagnosis for autistic women, girls, non-binary individuals and ethnic minorities.
Guidance on employment to be updated to ensure the Equality Act 2010 is fulfilled and employers can support autistic individuals in their employment. Further improvements to the Autism Act 2009, to create obligations on employers and local authorities to support autistic people with their care assessments.
Autistic offenders to be met with support and not punishment when the crime is non-violent. The creation of sensory spaces to be provided for autistic individuals engaging with the justice system.
Commenting, Councillor Jerry Roodhouse (Paddox and Eastlands), said:
“Every individual should be able to achieve their potential and Liberal Democrats want to see more support for autistic people in Rugby, Warwickshire and across the country. By including lessons on neurodivergence in schools curriculums, putting in place funding to speed up the diagnosis process and ensuring that autistic people can be supported by their employers, we can begin to create a society that works for people with autism.”
Autism is a part of daily life for 2.8 million people in the UK (Child’s Quarter).
Only 8% of autistic people and 5% of family members felt that health and care services had improved since the Autism Act (Pears Foundation).
Only 16% of diagnosed autistic individuals are in full time employment and 32% in part time employment, but many adults remain undiagnosed due to unnecessary hurdles in the assessment system.
Misdiagnosis of autistic individuals is far too common – especially in ethnic minorities, women, girls and non-binary individuals.
Autistic people are up to seven times more likely than the general population to be involved in the criminal justice system (Economic and Social Research Council).
Welcoming the Warwickshire Health and Wellbeing Strategy at the County Council 16th March, Councillor Nicola Davies said:
“It is important to ensure that the Strategy is not overlooking a hidden inequality that mainly – but not exclusively affects women – and that is the perception of and, actual safety as a barrier to health and well-being.
If women and other members of our communities do not feel confident or safe to access and enjoy our open spaces their health and well-being will be negatively affected. This needs to be an important considered when spatial strategies are developed in the future.
Physical and mental health are affected if some members of our communities do not feel they have safe access to exercise and enjoy fresh air and space all year round.
In the future I would ask that this inequality be assessed and addressed to the benefit of all.
