EDITOR'S CHOICE RAFT RACE SUCCESS Speedy Sealine crews take race glory ‘Treasures’ bring £292 boost Award winners go ‘the extra mile’ REGENERATING KIDDERMINSTER A town that means business Call for cash to clean up town HARRIERS LATEST Ferrell set to commit Fans played on Aggborough's hallowed turf Ferrell - Follow Bulls' path to promotion SPORT LATEST Frisbee stars earn international call-ups Red-hot Brown sets standard Record partnership lifts Mortimer LETTERS Breaking promise over town schools Minbus parking is safety issue Tree likely to be a danger Cricket club need helping hand LAST WEEK'S POLL RESULT Online poll: Safety first VOTE In a bid to cut congestion on roads, Nottingham City Council is introducing an annual fee for businesses providing staff car parking spaces. Do you think this is a good idea? Yes No GET OUR NEWS BY E-MAIL Just register

Most read Comments 1 Frisbee stars earn international call-ups 2 Robbery results in memory loss 3 Samurai dominate championships 4 Fans played on Aggborough's hallowed turf 5 Big turn out in Dudley 6 Horticultural society plant sale 7 Charities get concert cash 8 Cups and down for Ferndale 9 Dedicated blood donors honoured 10 Martin will be greatly missed Today | 7 Days 1 More help from freemasons 2 Pothole ‘victim’ makes list of defective roads 3 ‘We won’t pay parking fines’ 4 Learners facing longer journeys 5 Crackdown on illegal parking 6 New Tesco store reconsidered 7 Anger over diverted flood cash 8 Shortcut speeders put lives at risk 9 Happy to support SVR 10 Bright pupils set up action group

Comment

I AM writing this, because of deadline, before the public consultation meeting on February 13 about the proposed closure of Lea Castle Hospital.

As I wrote last week, only a small part of the site remains under NHS ownership and use and this has become uneconomic because of the development of services for those with learning difficulties in their home areas out of Worcestershire.

Thus it is hard to see the consultation reaching any conclusion other than to close the Lea Castle service as it exists now and to re-provide it for Worcestershire residents in a financially viable situation.

Our battle will then be to retain the service within Wyre Forest and the obvious place for this is on a smaller part of the Lea Castle site.

In reconfiguration of services, the benefits to patients and users of a service are the first consideration.

The benefits of the Lea Castle site are obvious: l Lovely surroundings in a rural setting with no need for planning consent which might be difficult and cause delays if necessitated by a move.

l Proximity to the West Midlands because specialist outpatient, dental and EEG services are provided for their residents.

l But the strongest argument for the benefit of users relates to the staff. Staff who care for these users, many of whom have difficult and complex needs, are highly skilled, dedicated and motivated people whose abilities are irreplaceable.

154 members of a total staff of 168 (92%) live in DY10 -DY14 postcode areas or to the north of Wyre Forest. Most have long-established home, work and family roots and a move would be impractical or extremely difficult as the alternatives under consideration are existing NHS premises in Malvern or Redditch.

Thus our battle is to convince the Worcestershire Primary Care Trust (the commissioners of the service) and the Worcestershire Mental Health Partnership Trust (likely to be the providers) that the best option for all Worcestershire users of the service will be to remain on an appropriate part of the Lea Castle site.

The other huge advantage of this plan will be ease and speed of implementation making it possible for the vulnerable users of the service to be almost unaffected by the change.

As a member of the Worcestershire Wild Life Trust I visited Upton Warren nature reserve last Monday evening.

I witnessed one of nature's fabulous, free spectacles - swirling masses of hundreds of lapwings, wings flashing and glinting in the evening sunlight arriving for their night time roost.

After circling the pool, with one accord, they landed, fluttering vigorously to cover most of a nearby field. A majestic flight of 30 curlews arrived and settled into their chosen spot. Then all the lapwings in the field took off, only to be enlarged by the arrival of another immaculately coordinated flying circus.

Eventually with ceaseless chattering most congregated in the safety of the pool. Heedless of the ordered chaos around, a Jack Snipe appeared secretly from dense reeds and a solitary sandpiper fed contentedly in the shallows. What a joy so close to home!

n If readers wish to write to Dr Taylor, they should address correspondence to his constituency office at 137 Franche Road, Kidderminster, Worcestershire, DY11 5AP.

3:10pm Wednesday 13th February 2008

Print

Email this

Comment