April 2018
Dear Resident,
Please find below the latest edition of my e-newsletter and I trust you had a good Easter. I'm always grateful for your feedback so please contact me if you have any thoughts.
This month, it was particularly pleasing to see Newtown come third in the inaugural Ramblers' Association award for the Best Walking Neighbourhood in Britain, coming close to the eventual winner, Hastings. It was the only Welsh town to have been shortlisted so congratulations Newtown!
I was also pleased to be able to support the WWF’s Earth Hour campaign 2018 – the global movement to protect our planet - by encouraging people in Powys to switch off their lights for an hour at 8.30pm on Saturday 24th March (picture below).
I was also pleased to meet with the Dovey Fishery Association in Machynlleth last week to discuss the proposed new by-law on compulsory catch and release on Welsh rivers (picture also below).
As always, please don't hesitate to contact me if you would like any further information or would like help with any issues or concerns.
Russell George
Assembly Member for Montgomeryshire
UK Government announce new £300 million Shropshire Hospital
Ever since I became Assembly Member for Montgomeryshire back in 2011, the delivery of the best possible health services for the people of Mid Wales has been a priority for me and judging by the overwhelming response to my health survey a couple of years ago, healthcare is also an issue which is especially important to the residents of Montgomeryshire.
The overwhelming message which I received from the 5000+ responses to the survey was the deep frustration that access to healthcare is moving further away from our local communities as services are centralised in more densely populated areas, meaning that we have to travel longer distances to obtain quality health provision.
It is your responses which empowered me to lobby hard for services to be retained and strengthened in Shrewsbury which is centrally located to serve the healthcare needs of the wider region and those of us here in Montgomeryshire who access health services from across the border. It is simply a common sense approach that NHS services should be delivered as close as possible to home.
It's fantastic news that we are now one step closer to making this a reality after the UK Government announced last week that capital investment of up to £312 million will be allocated to fund the building of a new Emergency Care Centre (recommended to be located in Shrewsbury).
Following the announcement, the Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust can now proceed with a consultation on changing the services it provides at the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital and the Princess Royal Hospital, Telford, and it will now be essential for Montgomeryshire’s views to be heard loud and clear.
Your response to the "Future Fit" consultation will have an influence on the final decision which is made so I would like to encourage everyone to take part in this important consultation so that we can see diggers in the ground as soon as possible.
I will provide further details when the consultation is published on how you can make your voice heard and I will also keep you posted with the series of public meetings which are being planned by Glyn and myself to discuss what has been a long journey to get to this promising point.
Tourism Groups meet with Minister at Lake Vyrnwy
Last week, I was pleased to host a meeting at Lake Vyrnwy in an effort to ensure that the industry is in the driving seat in promoting Mid Wales’ unique tourism offer. A number of tourism groups had the opportunity to meet with Lord Dafydd Elis-Thomas AM, the Welsh Government's Minister for Culture, Tourism & Sport, to discuss the future of Mid Wales Tourism and to hear from the Lake Vyrnwy Marketing Association about their vision for the future.
Last year, I discovered that the Welsh Government didn’t spend a single penny of its £8.3 million budget on specifically promoting Mid Wales as a tourist destination, something which has to change.
I'm therefore pleased that Lord Elis-Thomas took the time to meet with me and representatives from the tourism industry to hear our thoughts on how we strengthen Mid Wales Tourism. The Lake Vyrnwy Marketing Association are a very proactive group and I was particularly pleased they had the opportunity to discuss ideas with the Minister, along with representatives from the Montgomery Canal Partnership.
From my perspective, it will now be essential for both Lake Vyrnwy and the wider Mid Wales tourism industry to be plugged in to the potential Mid Wales Growth Deal which has the potential to transform the economic fortunes of the region.
New Water company for Montgomeryshire approved
Ofwat, the water regulator, has approved Severn Trent's application to vary its licence, enabling them to create a company dedicated to the interests of its customers in Wales.
Headquartered in Packsaddle near Wrexham, the new company, Hafren Dyfrdwy, will bring together all of Severn Trent's Welsh customers in Wrexham, Powys and Monmouthshire for the first time and will be dedicated to providing services to around 100,000 customers and 7,000 businesses.
I have recently attended meetings of the Consumer Council for Water in both the National Assembly in Cardiff and here in Montgomeryshire where I championed the need for the consumer voice to be heard loud and clear throughout these changes.
Customers don't need to do anything at this point as the changes will not happen until 1st July at the earliest. Severn Trent will be writing to everyone to explain the proposed changes in the coming weeks and my job will be to ensure that the customer's voice continues to be heard and disruption is kept to an absolute minimum.
Update on Future of ShropDoc
As I have reported previously, Powys Teaching Health Board has proposed changes in the way in which our "GP out of hours services" are being provided.
Our local Health Board have put in place a programme to agree and implement the future delivery of an integrated advice service (111) and out of hours service for Powys.
This will include a single free number for patients to call 24 hours a day for health information and advice —111; Out of hours call handling and initial triage through NHS 111 Wales, provided by the Welsh Ambulance Service NHS Trust; and a Powys-specific secondary triage and face-to-face service.
I will be meeting with the CEO of Powys Teaching Health Board later this week to discuss these plans further. There are a number of reassurances which I am keen to have, such as having appropriate levels of GP availability under the new arrangements.
Patients and members of the public should continue to contact NHS Direct 0845 46 47 for 24-hour health information and advice, and to contact Shropdoc for GP Out of Hours services on 0333 222 6655. I will of course continue to keep you updated on this issue.
Mid Wales Dental Shortage raised
A few weeks ago, I sponsored an event in the Senedd hosted by the British Dental Association to mark World Oral Health Day.
The event sought to raise awareness of the importance of good oral health and I also took the opportunity of highlighting the current crisis in both the recruitment and retention of dental practitioners in Mid Wales and the lack of access for new patients.
This is a growing problem for many people in Mid Wales with only 20% of dental practices taking on new NHS patients and some areas also see long orthodontic waiting lists of upwards of 4 years.
This is compounded by a recruitment and retention crisis here in Mid Wales with practice owners having to offer larger salaries to attract associates to rural areas. This is not sustainable in the long term and I will be urging the Welsh Government to break down these bureaucratic hurdles and tackle the issues of access, recruitment and retention as a matter of urgency to resolve this emerging crisis facing dental practices in Mid Wales.
I was pleased to sponsor the event to raise awareness among other AMs and colleagues.
Ambulance Waiting Times
A few weeks ago, a Welshpool resident was forced to wait for seven hours for an ambulance and there has been a significant increase in reports of worrying delays in the time it takes for an ambulance to arrive following a 999 call.
Ambulance staff work extremely hard in difficult circumstances to deliver the best possible care and residents often speak of the outstanding support and service which they receive from paramedics and the ambulance service when they are in their care. That’s why it’s so sad to hear stories where people are forced to wait in pain for many hours.
Another constituent, who fell over on the street in Newtown, waited an hour and a half on a cold pavement for the ambulance to arrive. In that time, the constituent's situation seriously deteriorated. The ambulance trust confirmed that this was unacceptable, and pointed out to me that of the nine emergency vehicles available in the Powys locality at that time, seven were waiting outside hospitals to transfer patients to the care of hospital staff.
These incidents are unacceptable, and its distressing for the patient, those waiting with the patient, and indeed for the Ambulance staff themselves.
There is a widespread problem which highlights that hospital handover delays are impacting the Welsh Ambulance Service’s ability to respond to incoming emergency calls.
The issue of handover delays is a concern across all hospitals that support Mid Wales. I am aware that the issue is a particular concern at Wrexham Maelor hospitial, and as such, I raised these concerns with the Welsh Health Minister last month and will continue to pursue this issue.
Forthcoming Advice Surgeries
Here is a list of my forthcoming advice surgeries and no appointment is required:
Newtown
13 Parker's Lane, Thursday 5th April (14.00 – 16.00)
Llanfyllin
Cain Valley Hotel, Thursday 12th April (11.00 – 13.00)
Meifod
Meifod Village Hall, Thursday 12th April (13.30 – 15.30)
Llansantffraid
Llansantffraid Football Club, Thursday 12th April (16.30 – 18.30)
Welshpool
20, High Street, Friday 27th April (12.00 – 13.00)
You can also make an appointment with me in either my Newtown or Welshpool office most Fridays.
You can contact me by email at [email protected] or on 01686 610887.