North Wales Police begins recruiting Specials

North Wales Police has announced that the recruiting window for Special Constables is now open.

From today (Friday 8^th February) applications for the role of Special Constable are being accepted until Monday 25^th February.

The role of the Special Constable is to assist and support the regular force in meeting local policing needs. They are an important part of the police service and have a vital role to play in the future of policing.

Special Constables undertake valuable work and form a vital link between the regular force and the local community. Special Constables are volunteers, from all walks of life, who want to do something positive for their communities.

With North Wales Police you would be expected to carry out a variety of tasks. Duties could include assisting regulars on patrol, crime prevention work and community liaison projects.

Assistant Chief Constable Gareth Pritchard said: “We are really keen to encourage local people to get involved with policing their local community.

“Special Constables undertake valuable policing work within communities, but it is not only the locality that benefits from the work of officers. It is a two way process. Individuals joining can develop a whole range of skills including communication, self-confidence, teamwork and initiative. Joining the Specials also opens up a world of opportunity for personal and professional advancement. What’s more, the community also benefits from an increased police presence.”

He added: “We are an equal opportunities employer and are totally committed to the principles of equality and diversity. We welcome applications from all sections of the community. Indeed, to ensure our service is fully representative of the communities it serves we welcome applications from under represented groups, particularly fluent Welsh speakers.”

Special Constableswork alongside regular officers, and are expected to commit at least four hours service a week. They are given training and a uniform, and have all the powers and authority of regular officers.

Watchdog responds to row over health services

A watchdog body has given a measured response to claims that health chiefs have “jumped the gun” by making changes to some local services - including those at Llangollen Cottage Hospoital - earlier than expected.    

However, the Community Health Council concedes the changes made some people disappointed and even angry.

llanblogger reported on Tuesday that minor injuries services are to be withdrawn from Llangollen Cottage Hospital over the next two weeks 

The Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board (BCUHB) also revealed that, since Monday of this week, the hospital has been accepting no new admissions and that its staff are being re-deployed to other units.  

The Abbey Road hospital  is earmarked for closure as part of a major shake-up of health services approved by the board last month.  

But the two moves have come as a surprise blow to campaigners fighting to retain health services in Llangollen who thought they would have longer before the changes went into effect – at least until they had been fully considered by patients’ watchdog body, the Community Health Council (CHC), which has until March 1 to decide on whether to formally object to the change proposals.  

A spokesperson for campaign group Keep Llangollen Health Services (KLHS) said the moves made a “mockery” of the consultation process. 

BCUHB said the moves had been made because “There is a risk that other services could become more difficult to operate safely as staff start to look at alternative roles and opportunities within the Health Board.”  

Now, in its own response to the developments, the Community Health Council has issued a statement which says:  “Representatives of the CHC were at the Betsi Cadwaladr Health Board meeting on Friday 18th January to hear its decisions about proposals to change some health services in North Wales.  

“The Health Board has changed some of its plans in response to what the CHC and others said during the consultation – and we are very pleased about that.” 

It goes on: “A special meeting of the CHC’s Executive Committee was held on the 28th January 2013. This meeting was convened to give CHC members the opportunity to raise any further representations following the health board’s decisions on service changes.  

“The CHC is aware that the health board has now decided to implement some of the changes to services and that in some cases these changes have been undertaken on the grounds of patient safety.  

“Under the Guidance for Engagement for and Consultation on changes to health services, the health board can legally effect service changes and is not obliged to wait for the CHC’s final response on other issues.  

“The CHC has had many calls from people who are very disappointed - indeed angry that the board has turned its face against arguments made against some of its plans.  

“Our job now is to talk through the health board’s final decisions and the CHC is responsible for assessing the proposals in a detailed and consistent way.  

“If the CHC refers any of the decisions to the Minister, we will be called to explain to an independent panel exactly why we think they are not in the interest of local people or the health service. This is why the CHC has matched every proposal to the criteria it set out several months ago. And we will do the same for this final set of decisions. 

“We have until the 1st March 2013 to complete this work and decide whether we should lodge any formal objections.”

New plan to promote town as events venue

* Llangollen and the pavilion are to be newly promoted as events venues.

A blueprint for freshly promoting Llangollen as an events and conference venue will be unveiled during a special showcase session at the end of March.

That was the message from Llangollen Pavilion’s venue director, Bicki Shenton-Morris, as she spoke to members of the town’s Chamber of Trade and Tourism at their meeting at the Hand Hotel on Monday evening.

She outlined to them a new strategy by Denbighshire County Council to improve promotion of the whole town as an event destination and the pavilion for larger events.  

This will home in on the area’s strengths, such as its beautiful landscape, heritage and tradition, ease of access, value for money, and range of outdoor activities and special experiences. 

It is believed the area is capable of attracting a wide range of events. 

These include meetings and conferences such as those relating to heritage, transport, music and the arts, exhibitions and trade shows and outdoor events like mountain biking, walking and canoeing. 

However, Ms Shenton-Morris said that the town’s lack of a major hotel - larger than those already in Llangollen – put it at a disadvantage when it comes to attracting the larger-scale conferences.  

The new strategy forsees closer working between potential event venues and local attractions. 

Ms Shenton-Morris explained this could mean that if a Thomas the Tank Engine event was being held at Llangollen Railway, a toy train fair might be arranged at the pavilion. 

She said there could also be more co-ordination when it came to transport links, such as promoting the ease of accessibility between Ruabon railway station and Llangollen. 

To boost the new strategy there will be a new website, possibility with links to local B&Bs, guest houses and hotels, and new promotional leaflets and brochures are also being produced. 

The whole strategy is due to be outlined to events arrangers and other decision makers at a launch event to be held at the end of March.  

·        Last month llanblogger carried a story in which Llangollen resident Alan Found expressed concern that the pavilion was being under used. 

He pointed to official county council figures which revealed that from April 2011 to 2012 the pavilion projected a loss (or subsidy) of £183,611 and for 2012 to 2013 a loss (or subsidy) of £159,611.  

Mr Founds said: “Surely this facility should be a major contributor to the economy not a burden. Every weekend of the year should see the Pavilion full and buzzing, providing jobs and making a major contribution to the Llangollen economy through hotel room, restaurant and shopping sales.” 

At the time, a county council spokesman responded that the pavilion’s programme “continues to grow and develop”.

Banners on the A5 aim to promote the town

* Promotional banners will be fitted to lampposts down the A5 near

 the lights by the chamber. 

Llangollen Chamber of Trade and Tourism is to spend £2,000 on installing promotional banners in the town centre. 

However, half of this sum will be come from Denbighshire County Council. 

The chamber believes it will help boost tourism to the town if promotional banners are fixed to lampposts along the main A5 route through Llangollen and in the shopping  thoroughfare of Castle Street. 

After checking out the cost, chair John Palmer reported back to members at their meeting in the Hand Hotel on Monday night that 20 banners will cost about £2,000 to produce and hang from poles fitted to lampposts.  

They will bear a welcome message to potential tourists and the chamber gave the go-ahead for a designer to come up with ideas for how they will actually look. 

A representative of the county council at the meeting said Denbighshire would contribute £1,000 towards the cost of the exercise. 

John Palmer said: “People have said the town is looking a little tired, so this will brighten it up a bit.”

Cautious welcome for road casualty figures

Clwyd South Assembly member Ken Skates has given a cautious welcome to new statistics which show that the number of casualties on North Wales roads has fallen over the last year.

Data released by the Welsh Government shows that casualties resulting from personal injury road accidents in North Wales has fallen 8% over the last year and by 47% since the mid 1990s.

However, the AM said the figures needed to be treated carefully as the number of casualties has risen in the third quarter of 2012.

He called for a renewed focus on road safety and said important blackspots still needed to be tackled in North Wales.

Mr Skates said: “The figures show a reduction in the numbers of casualties on North Wales roads over the last year and a substantial reduction since the 1990s. This is welcome and shows the messages about road safety are starting to get through.

“However, we do need to keep a strong focus on road safety and bring down the numbers of people who are still being injured and killed each year on roads in this part of the country.

“Unfortunately in North Wales we still have some major problem areas. For example we have seen too many tragic deaths in the last decade on ‘B’ roads which attract a high number of bikers, and we continue to see fatalities along the A55.

“We also need to do more work to tackle particular accident blackspots, such as along sections of the A483. These will require further investment and infrastructure changes over the next few years.

“The Transport Minister Carl Sargeant has proposed ambitious targets for casualty reduction as part of a new approach to road safety until 2020, such as a 65% reduction in the number of children killed or seriously injured on our roads.

“Having made progress we must continue to work towards reducing the numbers of casualties on our roads. Local Government road safety budgets must be given better protection in these times of austerity if we are to continue to cut the numbers of people injured and killed on North Wales roads.”

Council seeks summit over health shake-up

A top level meeting between councillors and the chief executive of the Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board (BCUHB)  Mary Burrows, Denbighshire's chief executive Mohammed Mehmet and social services director Sally Ellis is to be convened to go through a number of concerns raised in light of the board's proposed service changes across the region.

The concerns among county council members centre on transition arrangements as the board prepares to close some services and facilities before any guarantee of funding for new capital investment is in place or temporary services established.

They are also concerned about the level of support for carers, transport and travel arrangements, the potential cost to the council as more services are moved out of the hospital setting and into people's homes and the future of Ysbyty Glan Clwyd as a District General Hospital.

After a three hour debate earlier today (Tuesday) councillors agreed that after the meeting with
Mary Burrows they will report back to members at the next full council on February 26 and will look again at taking a vote of no confidence if they are not satisfied with the responses they receive.

Cabinet Lead Member Bobby Feeley said: "We have agreed to a last ditch effort to have a high level meeting with CEO Mary Burrows to bring forward our concerns.

"On balance, we think it's preferable to keep the dialogue going until absolutely every avenue has been explored and we will report back to the next full council with the results."

* Commenting on Betsi Cadwaladr's confirmation of minor injury unit closures in Llangollen, Chirk, Flint, Ruthin, Colwyn Bay and Blaenau Ffestiniog within two weeks, Shadow Minister for Health Darren Millar AM said: “Today’s announcement is premature.

"The Community Health Council has until March the first to object to the board’s reforms and refer them to the Minister.

“Railroading closures through at this stage sends out a message of arrogance and indifference.

“Public views have already been discarded by health bosses in the region and today’s decisions require urgent examination.”

Services start to be withdrawn from Llan Hospital

llanblogger exclusive

Minor injuries services are to be withdrawn from Llangollen Cottage Hospital over the next two weeks, according to the Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board  (BCUHB).

The board has also revealed to llanblogger today (Monday) that since yesterday the hospital has been accepting no new admissions and that its staff are being re-deployed to other units.  

The Abbey Road hospital (pictured right) is earmarked for closure as part of a major shake-up of health services approved by the board last month. 

But the two moves have come as a surprise blow to campaigners fighting to retain health services in Llangollen who thought they would have longer before the changes went into effect – at least until they had been fully considered by patients’ watchdog body, the Community Health Council (CHC), which has until March 1 to decide on whether to formally object to the change proposals. 

However, this morning, unofficial word came from the CHC that the run-down of services at the hospital had already begun. 

llanblogger therefore asked BCUHB to confirm if this was the case. 

In a statement the board said: “At the meeting of the Health Board on 18th January it was decided to move forward with changes to the way some health services are delivered in North Wales. Planning is now underway to enable these changes to take place. 

“Understandably, the prospect of change creates uncertainty for staff and service users. Some services, such as minor injuries, already suffer periodic disruption due to staffing difficulties.  

“There is a risk that other services could become more difficult to operate safely as staff start to look at alternative roles and opportunities within the Health Board. 

“It has therefore been agreed that: 

“ • Minor Injuries Services will be consolidated in the hospital hubs over the next two weeks. This will ensure we can offer a dependable, 7 day per week service at the hospital hubs, further supported by the services at Bryn Beryl and Tywyn Hospitals.  

“Minor Injuries services will therefore no longer be available at Llangollen, Chirk, Flint, Ruthin, Colwyn Bay and Blaenau Ffestiniog Hospitals.

“ • Changes to X-ray services will go ahead as soon as possible, subject to the need to tie in with outpatient clinics that have already been booked. 

“ • Detailed planning to set up Enhanced Care at Home services across North Wales will start immediately. 

“ • From Monday 4th February staff at Flint, Llangollen and Prestatyn Hospitals will start their process of redeployment to strengthen other community and hospital services. This means new admissions to these hospitals will cease. Admissions to Blaenau Ffestiniog Hospital will continue at present.

 

“At the moment the Community Health Council is considering its response to our planned changes and we fully respect their position.

“However, we have to balance this with safety of services, our use of resources and our desire to implement the planned service improvements.

“The Board will continue to work with the Community Health Council over the next few weeks to address any outstanding concerns but it is right that, where appropriate, we move forward without undue delay.”

Llyr Gruffydd, North Wales Plaid Cymru Assembly Member, who has been prominent in the campaign to safeguard health services locally in Llangollen, said:  “It’s astounding that the health board has decided to close community health facilities including X-ray services, in-patient beds and minor injury provision without waiting for the Community Health Council’s final response.  

“The CHC, which is a statutory watchdog, has expressed grave concerns over a number of changes being proposed by Betsi Cadwaladr and this rush to closure seems to be ignoring those concerns completely.

“It’s also a snub to health minister Lesley Griffiths, who only this week announced that the buck stopped with her regarding any NHS changes.

“Will she now intervene to prevent community hospitals such as Llangollen and Flint from closing?”

A spokesperson for campaign group Keep Llangollen Health Services (KLHS) said: "The Health Board is closing hospitals despite the Community Health Council still pondering its final decision. This makes a mockery of the whole consultation process. We’ve got evidence that the health board planned for Llangollen to lose its rehabilitation unit back in October,while the public meetings for the consultation was still taking place!

"Patients have told us that they were denied blood tests in November because the hospital was closing and now we have this, further evidence that the consultation process was part of a stage-managed smoke and mirrors act.

"The Health Board has lost all credibility. Our health services are neither safe nor sustainable in their hands and the Health Minister must intervene as a matter of urgency."