• NHS Wirral
• Wirral University Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
• Merseyside Police/Community Safety
• Fire Service
• Older People’s Parliament

NHS Wirral

Martin McEwan advised the forum that there is a partner update section from NHS Wirral within the Area forum pack, and members can also visit the website for updates at www.wirral.nhs.uk

There were no questions for NHS Wirral.

Wirral University Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust

Pat Higgins advised the forum that there is a partner update section from the Hospital Trust in the Area forum pack.

Recent highlights include the new investment for a MRI scanner which is now up and running, this will help to reduce waiting times.

MRSA cases have reduced with only 4 cases recently this is due to the hard work of staff promoting the continued use of antibacterial handwashes.

There is a new computer system up and running within the Accident and Emergency service this helps the hospital share information with GPs and other hospitals to ensure accurate and up to date patient information.

Member of the public: If the patient has a large medical history file will the medical staff still have the time to read through all the information, if not it is still the same as reading through a paper file.

Pat Higgins: The system in A+E will also link to other hospital systems to gather information and it will be easy to access the relevant information quickly.

Member of the public: I had an experience where I had to wait 3hrs because there was no communication between departments who had been dealing with my condition.

Pat Higgins: The new system will help with the ability to share information between departments and should enable patients to be fast tracked quickly to a doctor.

The chair advised the forum that if residents do not ‘Opt Out’ of the information sharing, then information from the patients GP would automatically be shared.

Cllr Blakeley: To ‘opt out’ of the information sharing you have to apply for a form, I waited 3 months for this to arrive this is completely unprofessional and patients should be given the choice to ‘opt in’ not out. This is NHS Wirral’s way of ensuring people do not know that they have to opt out, and NHS Wirral should not assume that everybody want to be in to start with.

Pat Higgins replied that some of the benefits of the system are that if a patient has an accident the hospital will know what medication the patient is on so they can treat the patient accordingly.

Member of public: The smoking outside the hospital is completely unacceptable.

Cllr Mountney also agreed with this statement and asked what action NHS Wirral was taking to rectify the situation?

Pat Higgins: This is correct and the hospital is working hard to stop this, unfortunately not all people adhere to it and it is a hard issue to stop. There is such a high turn over of patients at A+E that it is hard to police and is particularly bad at visiting times. There are security officers at the hospital but this is only one of many duties they have. The current focus is to stop the smoking outside of the maternity unit.

Jane McLear suggested there should be an area away from the entrance where smokers can go, like the smoking shelters at other buildings and they should be away from where non-smokers can see.

Chair: The whole site is a non-smoking site which is obviously not being adhered to, can NHS Wirral take this issue back and maybe investigate how other hospitals deal with this problem.

Hazel Kelly: As the governor at the hospital trust she will take every comment back to the committee for patients and bring a response back to the forum.

Minute resolution: NHS Wirral to investigate what other hospitals do to enforce no smoking on the site.

Merseyside Police

Inspector Peter Kolokotroni advised the forum that there was a partner update leaflet on the chair for members to read, and also a flyer with the details of the next Have Your Say meetings which are for residents to decide which issues the Neighbourhood policing team will deal with over the coming month.

All police targets within the neighbourhood are on track except burglary which is off target by 2. This is due to a spate of incidents at the blocks of flats within Sandbrook estate. This is nothing to worry about the flats were targeted as they were unoccupied and 6 people have been arrested and charged.

Mischief night is fast approaching and the police will be working hard with partners to ensure any illegal fires or fireworks are stopped. Operation banger has seen letters to schools shops and other areas to help them deter youths from buying eggs flour etc around this time. There will be extra police to support the neighbourhood police and target individual hotspots.

Inspector Kolokotroni urged the public to continue providing information to him and his team as they do use it, it is extremely useful and they have even issued several warrants due to information from the public.

Member of the public: I have previously reported that there are a number of people repeatedly causing trouble in the bus shelter on Pasture Avenue as they are drunk. It is extremely intimidating to walk past this area.

Inspector Kolokotroni: I have seen these people and moved them on from the area, 1 of the people has since died and the others have been warned they will be arrested if they continue to loiter in this area.

Member of public: The Sandbrook community centre will be undergoing refurbishment early next year so there could be possible disruption in the area, if kids try and mess with the scaffolding etc.

Chair: Sandbrook community centre should inform Wirral Partnership Homes who should make sure the area is secure whilst the refurbishments take place. Please ensure the dates are passed through to the neighbourhood police team who can ensure that patrols of the area are planned in advance.

Inspector Kolokotroni also advised the forum that the trial period of opening Moreton Police station on a Saturday was now postponed and they would not continue this service as the demand was so low. Unfortunately, one weekend there was only 2 callers which does not justify removing a police officer off the streets to man the office. People who need to contact the police can call 0151 709 6010 24hrs if the issue is not an emergency.

Merseyside Fire & Rescue Service

Ian Maxwell advised the forum that there was a partner update leaflet from MFRS within the Area forum packs.

Updates include the Fire service planning to knock on as many doors as possible within the area to provide information on accidental dwelling fires. They are specifically targeting work on reducing the number of kitchen fires. If anyone has any concerns please contact the Fire Service on 0800 731 5958 which is the non-emergency number.

Also, the Fire service is implementing the Bonfire Strategy this year with vans collecting waste materials which kids may use to start bonfires. If you see anything which gets missed please ring the non-emergency number.

Older Peoples Parliament

Margaret Testo, Older People’s Parliament representative advised the forum to read pages 28-29 of the area forum pack, and if they would like to join please ring up. All issues can be dealt with such as offering support for grandparents looking after grandchildren full time or being a carer.