Monday, March 28, 2005
Local visits
I had the pleasure of being one of the main speakers at this years Wandsworth Pensioners Forum AGM on Saturday 19th March.
This year has been a particularly bad one for the Pensioners in Wandsworth, no thanks to the savage cuts inflicted on local services by the Tory council. Grants have been cut to 7 voluntary bodies (including 4 luncheon clubs). The Bereavement Counselling Service and Cancer Resource Centre have lost out. The prices for home care have gone up.
The Tories have announced a "review" of all social day centres for older people. Unsurprisingly , pensioners are thinking the worst as "reviews" nearly always leads to cuts as far as this uncaring Council are concerned.
Pensioners were understandably concerned about the Fairlight and Shaftsbury Society withdrawal as service providers. One of the reasons given by Shaftsbury for stopping providing day care was the lack of help given by the Council. The Tory council are not interested in providing over and above what they are required to do by Statute, which means the most deserving and needy in our community, the elderly, suffer.
I was able to give the Forum good news. I am really proud of the decision by this Labour Government to push for a law prohibiting discrimination on the grounds of age, and a new Commission for Equality and Human Rights which will bring under one roof ONE body charged with promoting and protecting rights of older people to live free from discrimination, prejudice and ill treatment. This one body will tackle any discrimination, whether on the basis of age, race, gender, disability, religion and sexual orientation. It will also promote equality and human rights.
It is worth remembering that the Tories in Westminster voted against this and if they formed that next Government they would scrap the above plans!
Last week I also had a meeting with the Chair of St George's NHS Trust, Naaz Coker.
Of particular concern to me was issues surrounding MRSA and cleanliness in general. This is also a priority for the hospital.
There are good signs of improvement in the fights against infection in St George's. There is better handwashing among staff. More care is being taken in use of intravenous lines amongst patients. Alcoho gel is available on every ward.
One third of St George's MRSA cases are from patients who have caught the infection elsewhere. The hospital now screens patients when they are transferred from other hospitals and nursing homes. Also, there is a specialist team of nurses to supervise the safe placing on intravenous lines. There has been a huge reduction in MRSA cases as a result.
The hospital has a website address (www.stgeorges.nhs.uk) which gives more information about the significant improvements in recent times due to the huge and much needed investment in the NHS.
I was delighted this week to attend the re-opening of the Furzedown Project on Moyser Road.
This is just round the corner from my home and it is a pillar of our local community.
The project has been closed for many months now due to refurbishments and the wait has been welL worth it. The elderly users who went to the opening were overwhelmed at the extension and access facility improvements for those who are less mobile. The staff and volunteers deserve huge thanks for all their hard work. The project has now been going for 35 years and looks like being around, and going from strength to strength, for many more years.
You can read all about their excellent work on their website - www.furzedownproject.org.uk
This year has been a particularly bad one for the Pensioners in Wandsworth, no thanks to the savage cuts inflicted on local services by the Tory council. Grants have been cut to 7 voluntary bodies (including 4 luncheon clubs). The Bereavement Counselling Service and Cancer Resource Centre have lost out. The prices for home care have gone up.
The Tories have announced a "review" of all social day centres for older people. Unsurprisingly , pensioners are thinking the worst as "reviews" nearly always leads to cuts as far as this uncaring Council are concerned.
Pensioners were understandably concerned about the Fairlight and Shaftsbury Society withdrawal as service providers. One of the reasons given by Shaftsbury for stopping providing day care was the lack of help given by the Council. The Tory council are not interested in providing over and above what they are required to do by Statute, which means the most deserving and needy in our community, the elderly, suffer.
I was able to give the Forum good news. I am really proud of the decision by this Labour Government to push for a law prohibiting discrimination on the grounds of age, and a new Commission for Equality and Human Rights which will bring under one roof ONE body charged with promoting and protecting rights of older people to live free from discrimination, prejudice and ill treatment. This one body will tackle any discrimination, whether on the basis of age, race, gender, disability, religion and sexual orientation. It will also promote equality and human rights.
It is worth remembering that the Tories in Westminster voted against this and if they formed that next Government they would scrap the above plans!
Last week I also had a meeting with the Chair of St George's NHS Trust, Naaz Coker.
Of particular concern to me was issues surrounding MRSA and cleanliness in general. This is also a priority for the hospital.
There are good signs of improvement in the fights against infection in St George's. There is better handwashing among staff. More care is being taken in use of intravenous lines amongst patients. Alcoho gel is available on every ward.
One third of St George's MRSA cases are from patients who have caught the infection elsewhere. The hospital now screens patients when they are transferred from other hospitals and nursing homes. Also, there is a specialist team of nurses to supervise the safe placing on intravenous lines. There has been a huge reduction in MRSA cases as a result.
The hospital has a website address (www.stgeorges.nhs.uk) which gives more information about the significant improvements in recent times due to the huge and much needed investment in the NHS.
I was delighted this week to attend the re-opening of the Furzedown Project on Moyser Road.
This is just round the corner from my home and it is a pillar of our local community.
The project has been closed for many months now due to refurbishments and the wait has been welL worth it. The elderly users who went to the opening were overwhelmed at the extension and access facility improvements for those who are less mobile. The staff and volunteers deserve huge thanks for all their hard work. The project has now been going for 35 years and looks like being around, and going from strength to strength, for many more years.
You can read all about their excellent work on their website - www.furzedownproject.org.uk
