First Minister challenged over health shake-up

Plaid Cymru leader Leanne Wood AM has accused the Welsh Government of “being in the dark” over failures at Betsi Cadwaladr Health Board.

 

The First Minister of Wales indicated that he knew nothing of governance failures at the health board until a recent report was published.

 

Leanne Wood said it was concerning that the First Minister had no awareness of these difficulties yet was pushing ahead with radical re-configuration plans.

 

These include closing four community hospitals, including the one in Llangollen, and moving neonatal intensive care across the border to Arrowe Park.

 

She also warned that in the Francis Report in England, the Department of Health accepted that it bears some responsibility for the failure of the healthcare system to detect and prevent healthcare deficiencies.

 

Ms Wood said:  “In recent weeks, three of  Betsi Cadwaladr’s senior people have left and now we see their failure to deal with deadly superbug infections in Ysbyty Glan Clwyd and concerns over mental health policies at Ysbyty Bangor.

 

“Today, consultants told a National Assembly committee that they had no faith in the governance structure and that it is not fit for purpose.

 

“Yet despite these clearly deep-seated problems of governance and policy the First Minister has apparently only just heard of them. Where has he been?

 

“Health is completely devolved and the Welsh Government is responsible for it.

 

“In England, the Francis Report found that the Department of Health accepted some responsibility for the failure of the healthcare system to detect and prevent healthcare deficiencies, such as those at Mid-Staffordshire.

 

“Using those same principles, the Welsh Government must take responsibility for what has happened at Betsi Cadwaladr.

 

“While these failures have been taking place, reconfiguration plans for NHS services in the north have been pushed forward, including attempts to move neonatal intensive care over the border to England.  

 

“There is talk of new plans to change health facilities in the north of Wales, which could include sending more patients across the border to a service that the First Minister himself criticises.

 

“Given the Welsh Government’s lack of awareness of the problems at Betsi Cadwaladr, they should look again at the reconfiguration proposals. Any reorganisation to the NHS in the North has to put these problems right.”

Thousands turn out in the sun for eisteddfod parade

Parade pictures by Gareth Ceidiog Hughes

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

THOUSANDS lined the sun-drenched streets of the famous Denbighshire tourist town to watch Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod’s traditional opening parade pass by yesterday afternoon.

Temperatures soared well into the eighties as competitors from across the globe marched through the heart of Llangollen to the accompaniment of rousing cheers and applause from one of the largest crowds to watch the event in years.

A rainbow array of banners and national flags fluttered above them as singers and dancers from a host of nations walked in procession from the Eisteddfod field, down Abbey Road, across the historic centuries-old bridge and on into the town centre where the main roads had been closed off specially for the occasion.

Heading the parade, which took around 20 minutes to go by any one point, was the Welsh dragon flag and Llangollen’s bearded town crier, known as Chem, ringing a bell to let everyone know the main event was beginning.

Pace for the big parade was set by some stirring tunes from Llangollen Silver Band.

Behind them came a colourful cavalcade of competitors beneath their national flags including those of countries as far away as the United States, New Zealand and China.

The riot of colour continued when contingents of performers from Indonesia, South Africa and Canada passed by.

Interspersed with the overseas competitors in the parade line-up were a number of Welsh and English choirs and youngsters from local schools who had earlier enjoyed visiting the festival on the opening children’s day. 

TV cameras whirred and cameras clicked to record the unforgettable scenes as the world went by in the sizzling heat.

As usual, there was special applause for Llangollen stalwarts, the Heritage Dancers of India, in their vivid national costumes.

The crowd also reserved an especially warm welcome for Eisteddfod President Terry Waite who waved to them and smiled broadly as he drove past in his usual classic car, which this year was a red open-topped Triumph Herald from the 1960s.

And keeping up a pulsating beat as they brought up the tail of the parade were Llangollen favourites, the Karamba drum band.   

llanblogger celebrates its first successful year

* The couple who had their wedding reception aboard a steam train - still our most popular story.

* Above: snowbound A5 in March.

* Below (1): A dramatic rescue from the River Dee.

* Below (2) Part of the parade at last year's Christmas Festival. 

 

Today llanblogger celebrates its first birthday.

Since we launched on July 9 last year we’ve brought you over 1,000 stories which, we are delighted to say, have attracted close on 90,000 page views from our readers.

It’s been a momentous 12 months when our town has been at the centre of a number of big, long-running stories.

These have included the controversies over the axing of our Cottage Hospital and plans to replace it with a £5.5 million new health centre, and the construction of a Sainsbury’s supermarket on the site of the current Dobson & Crowther factory on the A5.

There has also been on the on-going argument over the future of the former River Lodge in Mill Street and the recriminations over how its fate has been handled by the Welsh Government.

Our blog started in a small way by reporting on how a fallen tree had blocked the canal one Monday last July. It attracted just a handful of page views.

But as word of the new blog spread, thanks to our presence on Facebook and Twitter, later stories we covered sent the viewing figures soaring.

For instance, when freak heavy snowfalls hit the town in March this year, we were bringing you almost hourly updates on how the white deluge was affecting Llan and its surrounding areas.

That led to the number of our page views hitting the 600-700 a day mark.

Our most popular story to date, however, remains the lovely tale of how a couple held their wedding reception aboard a steam train from Llangollen Station. Because the bride and groom had strong American connections, llanblogger went international by attracting many page views from across the other side of the Atlantic.

In fact, stories about our heritage railway are always popular with our readers and regularly lead to a high number of page views.   

The railway is just one of the local attractions we feature. As often as possible we highlight events at the Pavilion, Plas Newydd and in the Town Hall.

And entertainment isn’t the only reason llanblogger makes regular mention of the Town Hall because we go there every month to bring you comprehensive reports on the meetings of our Town Council. We are also represented on the group which is currently bidding for Cittaslow status for the town.

Politics features strongly in our range of coverage. Apart from the deliberations of the town and county councils, we also bring you stories about our local Assembly Members and Members of Parliament.

A range of local clubs and organisations and their activities also find regular space on our blog – from the group which nurtures our excellent community garden to the brilliant Silver Band, the moving funeral of whose stalwart member Albert Hammonds we reported on last summer.

Another area we take very seriously is providing our readers with information about things such as local roadworks and warnings on crime and safety matters from the police, fire and health services.

Quite a few local organisations now get in touch with us on a regular basis so that we can feature their events and activities on the blog but we’d love to hear from more of you.

All you have to do to get your information on the blog – completely free of charge – is email us at the usual address, llanblogger@gmail.com

As we celebrate our first successful year, we hope that you’ve enjoyed reading llanblogger as much we’ve enjoyed creating it, and please keep logging on!

Keep homes secure in warm weather, say police

Almost 30% of burglaries in Conwy and Denbighshire happened at insecure properties.

 

This startling figure rose to over 40% in the months of August ’12 and October ’12 according to statistics for the past 12 months.

 

The figures are being released by North Wales Police as part of a two-fold drive to reduce the number of offences and encourage residents to keep their homes secure – whatever the weather.

 

“As the warmer weather increases, so does the temptation to leave windows and doors open during the day and night – which is why we are urging householders to remain security conscious,” said Detective Inspector Sion Williams, who is leading on the initiative.

 

“Burglaries are down 12% compared to the previous 12 months however we cannot escape the fact that many more could have been avoided,” added DI Williams. “Sadly, a door left ajar or an open window could prove more than enough of a temptation for an opportunist thief to strike. It is therefore important for people to remain security conscious and maintain personal security so that criminals don’t get the chance to exploit opportunities associated with the summer time.”

 

From April 2012 to March 2013 alone 490 burglaries happened in Conwy and Denbighshire – 146 of these were in insecure properties.

 

Since 1st April 2013, burglaries in the Denbighshire area have reduced by almost 5% and police are determined to keep them on a downward spiral.

 

Much work is already underway across Conwy and Denbighshire to tackle the issue and reduce burglaries. Members of the local Neighbourhood Policing Teams have been speaking to residents individually and at specific events about home security. Posters and leaflets have also been produced and are in the process of being distributed in a further effort to drive home the importance of keeping homes secure and out of reach of the sneaky thieves. Regular feeds on the forces Twitter and Facebook accounts will also be issued on the subject.

 

“Once inside a property, offenders will take anything that is of value,” added Insp Julie Sheard of Community Safety. “Laptops, handbags, mobile phones and anything left visible inside a home have been taken. Along with taking the simple steps of closing doors and windows, residents can also help themselves by making sure they security mark their property and taking advantage of registration schemes such as Immobilise.”

 

“Marking your property can also prove an effective deterrent to would be thieves,” Insp Sheard. “If your property is clearly identified it will be more difficult for a burglar or thieves to sell on the item. Another advantage is that should you become a victim of crime or if you lose the item – you increase the chance of having the property returned to you.”

 

 

Advice to residents

 

Residents can take positive steps to help avoid becoming a victim of crime by:

•             Make sure that all windows are closed and locked, even when you are at home or in the garden. Use the security measures on modern windows, which allow them to let some air in but are still locked.

•             Only have ground floor windows open if you are to be in that room for a period of time.

•             Do not leave upstairs windows open when you are going out.

•             Always lock your front door from inside - in particular UPVc front doors are often left unlocked when people are in their house.

•             Do not leave back doors open or unlocked if you are to be upstairs for any length of time.

•             Keep all valuables out of the line of sight of prying eyes, never put car keys or purses on window-sills or in view of a window or door. Always avoid keeping large amounts of cash in your house.

•             Lock away all your garden tools and equipment including ladders. Secure your shed and garage properly.

•             Use a good quality padlock on a back gate.

•             When going on holiday make sure milk deliveries are cancelled, that post is collected and if possible get friends or family to check on your property.

 

For more information on home security click here to visit our advice and support section.

 

Residents are being reminded to remain vigilant and to report any suspicious activity to police. If you see anyone acting suspiciously, call North Wales Police on 999 if it is an emergency or dial101. Alternatively you can call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.

Sun promises to make for sizzling Llan Eisteddfod

* Ann Eagar, left, and Jane Jones on the floral displays.

Sunny skies and soaring temperatures are expected to make this a bumper year for the 67^th annual Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod which starts tomorrow (Tuesday).

Ticket sales are already racing ahead of last year’s successful event with top attractions like keyboard king Jools Holland and Strictly Come Dancing stars James and Ola Jordan attracting big audiences to evening concerts.

But ticket sales to all the concerts are going well, according to Treasurer Selwyn Evans, who said: “We are already within £85,000 of our target of £440,000 and we would expect to pass that comfortably now.

“The weather seems set fair to and that is great news because there is so much on here on the field during the days and that makes an outing to the Eisteddfod a fantastic experience.

“Ticket sales for the concerts are going really well but we still have tickets left for each one.”

Thousands of people from around the world will again descend on the town for the Eisteddfod which began as a festival of peace in the aftermath of the Second World War and has since grown into one of Europe’s premier music and dance events.

It has attracted cultural icons like Dylan Thomas and the great Italian tenor Luciano Pavarotti, who began his international career as a member of a choir from Modena at Llangollen in 1955.

In recent years artists of the stature of Bryn Terfel, Katherine Jenkins, Kiri Te Kanawa, James Galway and Montserrat Caballe have performed at the final Sunday Evening Gala Concert.

Most importantly the competitors have continued to come from all over the world – this year they will be here from Alaska, the Philippines, Russia, South Africa, Hong Kong, Australia, Canada, China, India, New Zealand and Ghana as well as from all over Europe and the UK.

This year’s event runs from Tuesday, July 9, when the colourful traditional procession through the town will be led by Eisteddfod Patron Terry Waite, through six days of competitions and concerts to Sunday’s spectacular fireworks extravaganza.

The evening concerts start with Tuesday night’s Carnival of Nations featuring four of Wales’s finest male voice choirs, the Rhos Orpheus, Cor Godre’r Aran, Cor y Brythoniaid and the chart topping Fron Choir, performing on the 60^th anniversary of the historic visit of Germany’s Oberkirchen Choir. They will be joined by the St Melodians Steel Band, from Trinidad and international competitors.

Wednesday night will feature An Evening with Scottish percussionist Evelyn Glennie who will be joined by the rising American tenor Noah Stewart and harpist Claire Jones, former official harpist to HRH the Prince of Wales, along with the Eisteddfod Orchestra and the Santo Tomas Choir from the Philippines, twice Choir of the World winners.

Thursday will be Strictly Cuban, a celebration of Latin dance rhythms with James and Ola Jordan and the Buena Vista Social Club while Friday will be VERDI 200, a performance of Verdi’s Requiem by to mark the 200^th anniversary of the composer’s birth with Claire Rutter, Mirouslava Yordanova , Gwyn Hughes Jones, Jonathan Lemalu and accompanied by the Eisteddfod Orchestra conducted by Andrew Greenwood.

Saturday is Choir of the World which this year will also feature Only Men Aloud, Last Choir Standing TV winners while for the first time dance will be teamed with choral music on Saturday night as the Eisteddfod’s top two dance troupes dance off for the new Dance Champions 2013 Trophy.

On Sunday keyboard king Jools Holland will bring the house and the curtain down with his Rhythm and Blues Orchestra before the spectacular firework finale.

The Eisteddfod field will also be alive and buzzing every day of the week with international performances on the new and improved undercover Outside Stages.

Visitors can enjoy live music at the 200-seat S4C Stage, join in with a dance workshop on the Amphitheatre Wrexham Lager Stage or listen to live storytelling on the Lawn Stage.

And in the early evenings the S4C Stage will be transformed into an amazing window on world music for The World @ 6 programme of song and performance from Persia, the Indian subcontinent, Africa and more.

Throughout the week world-class competitors perform in a spectacular celebration of cultures with stunning choral music and lively traditional dance, especially on Folk Friday when the outdoor stages will feature world-class music and dance.

The Eisteddfod is a complete international experience and that goes for the food too. Home-cooked Welsh produce is on the menu but so are the cuisines of Europe, China, India and the rest of the world and there’s excellent local Llangollen ale.

There are gifts and clothes from South America, jewellery, wooden toys and Welsh-made products at more than 40 stalls, including exhibitions of festival supporters, Extreme Animals and Owl Rescue Display, charity groups and more including jugglers, escape artists and magic tricks.

For tickets for this year’s concerts and for more information go to the website at www.international-eisteddfod.co.uk and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/llangollen

Drop-in session planned on Etape Cymru

A drop-in session is being planned for people to come and have their say about a major cycling event coming to Wrexham and Denbighshire in September.

Wiggle Etape Cymru 2013 is arranged by Humanrace and fully supported by Wrexham and Denbighshire County Council.

The  route starts and finishes at Bangor on Dee Racecourse and passes through communities in Wrexham County Borough before it enters into Denbighshire through the Clwydian Range and Dee Valley Area of Outstanding Beauty The route takes in several well-known climbs including the legendary Horseshoe Pass which incorporates a timed King of the Mountains challenge.

The drop-in session will take place on Tuesday, 23 July at the Royal International Pavilion, Llangollen between 6pm and 8pm, where officers from the organisers and both councils will be available to talk about the route, proposed times and any other queries.

For further information about the Wiggle Etape Cymru event, please visit: www.humanrace.co.uk

Report says man has died after Ruabon railway incident

The Leader is reporting on its website today (Monday) that a man has died after being struck by a train near Ruabon railway station shortly after 10am.

See he full story at: http://www.leaderlive.co.uk/news/124399/man-dies-after-being-hit-by-train-near-wrexham.aspx