The Weekend Read: Hexham Hospital Car Parking -good news as the NHS Trust change their policy and halve the cost

Parking charges will be reduced by half at Hexham General Hospital from next week. This is extremely welcome news that we have been able to find this compromise with the NHS Trust.

I have long campaigned for a reduction in car parking charges and Hexham being the pilot for the halving of the daily parking rate is a fantastic step in the right direction. Over many years we have campaigned for reduction in parking charges in Hexham and when the town went free I then called on the Trust to reduce their parking charges; and I am pleased they have listened.

Visiting friends and family in hospital can be a deeply worrying time. The last thing people need at such times is to worry about parking. Northumbria NHS Trust is an outstanding Trust with exemplary staff and quality service, and this change in parking policy is one I very much welcome. I hope they also consider their approach to parking charges to their staff as part of this review.

The details of the change are that:

- The new pilot scheme will see the maximum daily charge for parking reduce from £4 to £2. In addition, patients and visitors paying to park for an hour (£1.20) or a day (£2) will receive a free regular hot drink available at either the hospital’s café or restaurant.

- For patients and visitors to claim this, the trust is introducing a split ticket – where one part is left in the vehicle and the other part detached to present in the café/restaurant.
- The daily charge will apply for 24 hours from the time of payment so someone visiting in the evening will also be covered should they need to return the next day. 
- Patients and visitors who only need to stay for short periods can still make use of the free 20-minute period in place to assist pick-ups and drop-offs.
- Payment machines and signage are to be changed for the new system, which comes into effect on Monday 1 December.

Hexham Hospital is 1st Hospital in UK bought out of a PFI and back into public ownership

Raised the good news in the House this week:

Guy Opperman (Hexham, Conservative)

Hexham hospital is outstanding but was built under a very expensive Tony Blair PFI. Does the Minister welcome the fact that Northumbria NHS trust is the first in the country to buy out the PFI and put it into public ownership, thereby putting millions more into front-line care?

Hansard source (Citation: HC Deb, 21 October 2014, c747)

 

Daniel Poulter (The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health; Central Suffolk and North Ipswich, Conservative)

My hon. Friend makes an important point. The PFI schemes negotiated by the previous Government were, quite frankly, disastrous for many hospitals. His hospital has seen that the way forward is to buy out the PFI and free up more money for front-line patient care. We will support as many more hospitals in doing that as can be achieved, because this is about making sure that we deliver more money for NHS patients.

Full story here:
http://www.thejournal.co.uk/north-east-analysis/analysis-news/hexham-hospital-changes-hands-private-7975734

The Weekend Read: Hexham Hospital Car Parking Charges debated in Parliament

The full debate, and my speech, is here: http://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2014-09-01a.67.0&s=speaker%3A24962#g85.0
I believe the Northumbria NHS Trust are wrong not to reduce, or take away entirely, the car parking charges that are required of both patients and NHS staff.

The previous argument that this was required otherwise locals and tourists would use the Hospital car park if it was free, I entirely supported. However, the town centre is now free: the debate is well argued with several very interesting ideas and suggestions. In my speech I went out of my way to make it clear that I have nothing but respect for the managers at the NHS Trust. They, like the NHS staff are doing a great job. But the managers are in the wrong on this issue. Patients, their families who attend them, and the staff themselves, who are effectively having to pay to park close to their place of work deserve a better deal.

The Weekend Read: why does Hexham Hospital charge for parking now we have free parking in Hexham?

I have probably spent more time in hospital than any other MP - by reason of jockey injuries or more recent mishaps in 2011. My grandmother was an NHS Matron and I can genuinely say that I have had my life saved twice by the NHS.

When you are a visitor or a patient in hospital, you are at your most distressed, emotional and concerned. The last thing people need in such times are the worry of how long they’ve got left on the parking meter.
For many years we have fought for free parking in the town of Hexham. This last year we have had success, and parking is free in Hexham now.

Yet the Hospital are continuing to charge for parking. I met with Health bosses and their answer was evasive; they promised to get back to me. They have not done so despite several prompts.

Around a quarter of hospitals in England do not charge for parking at all, and car parking fees have been abolished in Scotland and Wales. The reality is trhat local people are now parking in the town car parking spaces rather than using the hospital car park and paying. So the Trust is running a loss making service. The trust still refuse to change.

I beleive the best approach for the trust is to say that where parking is paid for in a town and free in a Hospital they have to guard against people abusing a situation to park free in Hexham by using the Hexham Hospital car park. Now bizarrely, Hexham Hospital is charging - and the rest of the town is free. This cannot continue.

There are a huge number of emotional and practical benefits that parking brings to patients. For many patients, driving is the only option. As Macmillan point out, “public transport and hospital transport are often neither adequate nor suitable for cancer patients”. Equally, patients who live in rural areas or have to come to hospital at unconventional hours barely have a choice. In the last National Patient Choice Survey, 46 per cent of patients rated car parking as one of the factors in choosing a hospitals.
Patients should have the peace of mind to be able to focus solely on getting the best care available.

Of all those whom our taxes go to help, none are more vulnerable or more guiltless than those whom the NHS serves. Hexham Hospital need to do the right thing - with free hospital parking helping those most in need; we ought to protect these most vulnerable and unfortunate, and provide a service that is equal and fair for all, and to make it as easy as possible for families to be together in their time of need. The Trust are good people but on the wrong side of our argument on this one.

Tynedale Plans this week

I am campaigning every evening this week for Martin Callanan but also having
- several surgeries with individual constituents, local businesses and one of the higher education providers
- visiting a couple of first schools in Greenhead, Henshaw and Beaufront.
- holding a short meeting with the new head teacher of Prudhoe CHS
- popping into Hexham Hospital to discuss the plan for long term free parking there

Great news as the Hexham Hospital gets an upgrade

Last week I was pleased to open the new scanner at Hexham Hospital. This scanner is a further example of the improvement in the health facilities that are on offer for us in Tynedale. I was shown the new kit by Radiographer John Richardson, previous patient Pauline Gilroy, and consultant Rita Robson. The scanner will help diagnose a range of conditions quickly.

This bit of kit costs in excess of £500,000, and is state of the art advanced diagnostic equipment.
The scanner, which can be used for any part of the body, provides high quality images to enable clinicians at the hospital to quickly assess patients.
The machine is genuinely state of the art, and I should know as I have used them a lot when I was a jockey; this is excellent news that local people are able to have their scans here in Hexham, without having to travel out of the area, and be able to have their appointments sooner.
More details here:
http://www.thejournal.co.uk/news/north-east-news/hexham-general-hospital-new-scanner-6764161

2013 in review - September, October, November + December

Locally in September I did everything from the Macmillan coffee morning in Heddon, to the Sill project launch, to the great Scottish campaign week, designed to ensure that Scotland stays part of the UK. 

I spoke at events all over - from Aberdeenshire to Loch Lomond to Tweeddale and beyond. It was a fascinating week and well worth the efforts. 

October saw us full on back in parliament but I still managed to get home to make the Tynedale Hospice at Home charity fundraiser at Hexham.

In November we made skills and apprenticeships our priority and I helped Michael Egger open his new engineering academy. You can read my keynote speech on skills and apprenticeships in the House of Commons here: http://www.theyworkforyou.com/whall/?id=2013-11-27a.93.0&s=speaker%3A24962#g93.1

Also this winter we have spent huge amounts of time supporting our NHS - whether it is my two visits to Haltwhistle Hospital [middle picture, with Local Councillor Ian Hutchinson], portering in Hexham hospital [pictured below with Barry, the head porter]or spending a half day with the team at the Haltwhistle GP clinic, along with multiple other visits and meetings with our Ambulance Service, Commissioning Group, NHS Trust and all the key workers who make the NHS what it is today. I never forget I owe my life several times over to the NHS.

Unsung Heroes - time spent with Barry and Elsie in Hexham Hospital

Last month I was lucky enough to spend some time in Hexham hospital, walking the wards with Barry, the head porter. I learnt a lot. Barry has worked in the new and old Hexham Hospital for over 30 years. There is pretty much nothing he does not know about how the hospital works. We spent a late morning, during the Children in Need day, delivering packages, moving blood tests, patients and their records, visiting the post room and the waste bins, and generally doing all the small jobs that make the hospital tick like a Swiss watch.  Also with me at the time was a Northumbria NHS Trust representative and we both learnt a lot as to how the hospital works from the bottom up. I am a big supporter of the new Cramlington Emergency Care Centre Hospital that is being built, but as we went round Hexham Barry was able to tell us of the tiny mistakes that were made in the building of Hexham that he would not want to see repeated.  None of these are life threatening or serious, they are just niggles, but it would be good if they were not there. For example, the entrance ramp to Hexham for the big lorries is on an unsuitable slope, and the unloading area does not have a differentiated height block to allow for easy unloading. Also the waste bins are kept in an area that is presently outdoors and uncovered, which is not ideal. All these sort of things are rectifiable in the new build at Cramlington. 

So I have asked that the Cramlington architect makes a special visit to Hexham to sit down with Barry, and the teams of core workers from the post men to the kitchen staff, to make sure that all the small details are not overlooked.

I also want to make a special mention of the wonderful Elsie, from Prudhoe, who I also met last month. Elsie volunteers as a greeter at Hexham Hospital and does an amazing job of putting people at their ease, when they first walk through the doors of the Hospital, whether as a patient or visiting a loved one. She is truly an unsung hero. It was a privilege to meet them both. 

Hexham Hospital New CT Scanner

Tynedale will soon benefit from a new state-of-the-art CT scanner at Hexham General Hospital thanks to a substantial investment from Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust. Work will begin next week to install the new CT scanner, which is one of the most advanced pieces of equipment available anywhere in the world and will provide the fastest and highest resolution imaging for any patients who need a CT scan.
The new scanner, worth over half a million pounds, is part of Northumbria Healthcare’s commitment to developing local healthcare services. It will help medics at the hospital to diagnose a range of conditions.
The investment comes as Northumbria Healthcare continues to expand the services at Hexham.
Technology changes very quickly and we need the very latest diagnostic equipment in Hexham.
I am advised by the Trust that there will be slight disruption to the usual services as we install the new scanner but it will be fully operational by 25 November.
I for one will certainly be popping in before christmas to see the new bit of kit and to meet the teams in charge.

Health Minister Dr. Dan Poulter MP and I at Hexham Hospital tomorrow

Dan is the health minister who helped save my life and together tomorrow we will be going to the wonderful Hexham hospital.
The story of how Dan helped me is well known, as he is not only a Health Minister, but a good doctor.
On April 26, 2011, almost exactly two years ago, I collapsed, and was suddenly violently sick. Dan arrived to help. He conducted a review of my symptoms and summoned an ambulance. That night and the following 2 weeks was scary but the NHS did a great job and I am better than before.

The full story is in today Journal: http://www.journallive.co.uk/north-east-news/todays-news/2013/04/24/hexham-mp-guy-opperman-set-to-help-launch-northumberland-hospital-61634-33225486/#ixzz2RMsI5F8k

Update: apologies but the schedule for tomorrow changed and it appears we are going to Hexham hospital and the RVI and not laying the foundation stone at cramlington. That will be for another day I am now told.

The Hospital Tour - visits to Hexham Hospital and the Freeman Hospital in Newcastle

Last night I was asked to speak at the Cancer Support Group meeting at Hexham Hospital. It was a privilege to be asked and to be in the company of such a brave bunch of men and women, who each had extraordinary tales of their battles with cancer. We spoke at length and then discussed local and regional Health Policy. Line of the night was one lady who described her ongoing treatment with great fortitude before finishing by saying " At least I am still looking down at the daisies not up".

Then on to the Freeman Hospital today: they had great news with the recent survey as reported in the Journal: http://www.journallive.co.uk/north-east-news/todays-news/2011/08/24/north-east-children-s-heart-unit-receives-strong-support-61634-29292801/

I had a good meeting with the Chief Executive and Chairman of the Foundation Trust and then was lucky enough to go round the Childrens Heart Unit, meeting the doctors and their teams, who do such an amazing job there. Bumped into Graham Wylie, who has personal experience of the Unit, through his daughter - he has done a great deal to support and promote the Unit. It was a very moving 24 hours.

Libya, and Equal Pay

Amazing scenes from Libya. Great credit to those who saved Benghazi from wholesale slaughter, and all our brave troops for their role in enforcing the UN Agreement.
Full credit to David Cameron as this was a tough call. But biggest credit goes to the Libyan people. The power of one is proved again.

My day is a little less dramatic but I have high hopes:
Off to County Hall to meet Council representatives concerning our Equal Pay campaign. Then meeting local councillors, dropping in at the Morpeth Herald and finishing up in Hexham Hospital tonight: not as a patient I add! I am giving a speech to the Cancer Support Group; much looking forward to it.