Local Stroke Services - Chair of Berkshire West PCT Responds

Today I have received a response from Penny Henrion, the Chair of Berkshire West PCT, five months after my original letter raising concerns about local Stroke Services in Reading which had been heavily criticised by the independent Care Quality Commission.

In it she claims that her office never received it which is possible so I am prepared to give them the benefit of the doubt although I have a copy of the letter that was sent out by Cllr services at the Council.

Penny Henrion writes:

"The CQC report was published in January 2011 and was based on data relating to April 2009-March 2010. It therefore accurately reflects the situation during that period. However, ealy in 2010 the PCT itself undertook an analysis of local stroke services which identified the gaps in the service and led us to initiate several work streams to deal with these gaps in provision.'

The she goes on to point out 3 key projects that started by the PCT in 2010 to address deficiencies with the service:-

• Stroke Patient Information Project - completed in March 2011 and delivered through consultation with stroke survivors and their carers, a comprehensive range of accessible information about stroke and the services and the resources available to improve quality of life.
• The PCT has produced a simple guide for stroke survivors and their families, which is also available on the PCT's new website: http://www.berkshirestrokeservices.nhs.uk/
• South Central Cardiovascular Network Stroke Project - this project due to complete in March 2012 is aimed at enhancing patient and public involvement in shaping all aspects of stroke care.
• The Network which the PCT is part of, is aiming to establish at least one patient/carer user group for each Acute Hospital Trust in the region to create a forum for patients and carers to influence the provision of stroke services in their area.
• Stroke Reviews: work is underway to identify the appropriate local service model for the provision of reviews for stroke survivors in the community.

Ms Henrion finishes the letter by stating her commitment to 'continued joint working to improve health and welbeing in Berkshire West' and offering a meeting.

This is very welcome.

I am really pleased to that the PCT are taking a series of steps to improve services for local residents who are victims of Stroke.

However, I make no apology for raising concerns both in January and again this month.

I believe it is vital that unelected PCTs are held to account for the health services they provide.

Wake up call on housing and mental health

Shelter have published worrying statistics on the link between housing and mental health.

The YouGov survey found 18 million people (38 per cent) in Britain believe housing costs cause stress and depression in their family.

This is a rise of seven million people (15 per cent) since 2009. 

Shelter commissioned YouGov to investigate how the risk of repossession and rent rises are affecting people.

The survey also found that:

More than 13 million people (28 per cent) said they keep up with their rent or mortgage without any difficulty, a drop from 19 million people (41 per cent) in 2009.

12 million people (26 per cent) have reduced the amount they spend on food to help pay their housing costs.

These stats are terrible but they do not surprise me, in fact they  back up 100 % what I am finding in my mailbag and on the doorstep.

Lack of access to cheap housing is a major cause of stress to local families.

I have tabled a question to the next Council meeting asking the Lead Member for Housing, Rachel Eden what she is going to do to increase the supply of affordable housing in Reading.

With around 8,000 people waiting for access to housing on the Council's housing register the Council must do everything it can to increase housing supply.

As I blogged earlier in the week, Ed Miliband has no policies to take this.

This is not a new problem - for 13 years Labour failed to tackle it.

The Coalition has set ambitious targets to increase the supply of new homes - we will be campaigning to ensure they deliver on this.

A Green Deal for Reading: but will Labour flunk it?

Andrew Stunell MP, Lib Dem Minister for Local Government who visited Reading a couple of month ago was right to highlight the fact that 40% of carbon emissions each year are generated by existing buildings.

The Government's Green Deal - a key plank of the Lib Dem General Election Manifesto of 2010 is the first major step towards tackling fuel poverty and cutting harmful carbon emissions in housing across all sectors by improving energy by any British government and no amount of carping by Labour politicians makes up for their abysmal lack of action in this area.

I find it deeply depressing that, less than a month into her new job, that the new Labour Lead Member for Housing is already preparing excuses as to why things can't happen (to cover up her own inaction) rather than leading on this agenda.

No scheme of this scale is likely to be 100% perfect but rather than whingeing it is up to councillors and councils to make the best of what is available and champion opportunities for local residents and businesses presented by the Green Deal , not sit back and wait for government handouts.

When we ran the Council we led the agenda and didn't delegate thinking about solutions to Council officers.

Visitors to the Council tell me that the new administration lacks ambition in this area. This is very bad news for residents.

Those of us keen to do something about carbon emissions and housing waited 13 years for the last Labour government to make progress on this agenda and they comprehensively failed.

Somehow I do not think this project would have survived Alistair Darling's planned cuts to public spending (£40bn) given we know that Ed Balls and others failed to commit to carbon reduction targets during the Coalition negotiations.

Enough about politics - what is the Green Deal?

• The Green Deal will become available in 2012 will help householders improve the energy efficiency of their homes at no upfront cost.
• By allowing them to pay for green home improvements over time rather than upfront, through the savings in energy bills, it will remove one of the biggest barriers they currently face to retrofitting - being able to afford the initial investment.
• Feed-in Tariffs are available to support homes in generating their own renewable electricity, and support for renewable heat will be available for homes.
• Looking to the future, the Government's policy on Zero Carbon means that from 2016, new homes will need to be built to a zero carbon standard (and all non-domestic buildings from 2019).

The Coalition administration of Reading Borough Council set out a ambitious vision on the green agenda including in relation to housing.

From what I hear Labour's silo mentality has already kicked in with officers firmly back in the driving seat.

We made it clear tackling climate change was everybody's business in the Council and we will continue to campaign for residents in Reading to realise the full benefits of all the Green Deal has to offer.