Hospital “bed blocking” on increase in York

Bed blocking

The number of delayed discharges from hospital is increasing as the York Council struggles to provide care in the community places.

The delays mean that the Council has to pay substantial “fines” and in turn the “blockage” can prevent new patients being admitted to NHS beds.

The delays have reached record levels as the weekly average figures (for patients awaiting discharge to community placements) for the last few years reveal.

  • 2009/10 – 7.98
  • 2010/11 – 10.13
  • 2011/12 – 8.69
  • 2012/13 – 10.67
  • 2013/14 – 11.00 (to September)

The figures were reported to both the York Council’s “Cabinet” on 5th November and its Health Scrutiny Committee on 27th November

Neither minuted any action which they planned take to address the growing crisis.

Some of the delays are being put down to inadequate capacity in the “reablement” unit. This team seeks to train former patients to be more self-reliant.

It is the winter period when demand for NHS beds is at its highest.

The last thing that the City needs is for those that are available to be blocked by people who could, with support

Housing figures to be questioned as Tories try to “sack” cabinet member

rural-housing

Two questions have been tabled for Thursdays York Council meeting, which may shed some light on the demand for affordable housing in York.

The questions spring from the decision to remove over half the applicants who were registered on the waiting list in September.

The impact of this major decision – which was taken behind closed doors – will be questioned by Liberal Democrat Councillor Ann Reid.

She has tabled the following question,

“Does the decision to remove 2400 applicants from the Housing Waiting List, which means there are now officially fewer residents in housing need, mean there will be lower affordable house building targets?”

Last week the government announced that developers would, in future, not have to provide a fixed number of affordable units on developments of 10 homes or less.

In addition, Councils will be able to borrow money to acquire more social housing.

The Labour Leadership’s claim, that the additional homes that they plan to build in and around the City over the next 15 years would be occupied by local residents, is also being challenged.

The following question has been tabled.

“What proportion of the 22,000 additional homes that the Cabinet Member feels should be built during the next 15 years under Labour’s Local Plan proposals, does she believe will be occupied by York residents and their families and how many by inward migration?”

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Meanwhile Conservative Councillors are trying to force the resignation from the Cabinet of Cllr Tracey Simpson Laing.

Acomb Council branch office closed by Councillor Simpson Laing

Acomb Council branch office closed by Councillor Simpson Laing

They have put down a motion of “no confidence“, but cite only the Councillors failure to provide additional affordable homes in the City.

While housing building rates over the last 3 years have been disappointing, and the failure of the Council to buy on the open market to supplement the rented stock lamentable, the more serious shortcomings of the present administration are in danger of being overlooked.

Labour only have themselves to blame though, as they tried a similar “no confidence” stunt in 2008.

LibDems back York community centres

Foxwood Community Centre

Foxwood Community Centre

Liberal Democrats are calling on Labour run City of York Council to cancel planned cuts to community centre grants.

 

In recent weeks Foxwood, Chapelfields and Oaken Grove centres have all warned they could face closure or be forced to scale back activities as they are set to lose their grants from York Council.

 

At next week’s Full Council meeting the Lib Dem Group Leader, Cllr Keith Aspden, will challenge the Labour Cabinet to address these concerns.

 

He is calling for the second year of planned funding cuts, due to be rubber-stamped in February for Labour’s 2014/15 Budget, to be scrapped.

 
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Safer cycling videos

A series of informative videos have been created to promote cycling in a safe and courteous manner around York.

The videos, which are part of the i-Travel York initiative, feature an alien cycling along some of York’s well known cycle tracks, giving tips and advice to cyclists along the way.

The videos encourage cyclists to ride with lights, lock their bike securely and ride on the road and designated cycle paths.

The project is supported by the council’s four-year i-Travel York initiative, made possible by £4.6 million of government funding which the council successfully bid for in 2011.

The videos can be viewed at

http://www.york.ac.uk/admin/estates/transport/cycling/security/meet-the-alien/

Highways maintenance cuts for York revealed.

The Council has revealed how it plans to spend £2.6 million on highways and footpath resurfacing over the next financial year.

road works

The provisional expenditure is down on the £3.4 million being invested during the current year.

That in turn was well down on the budget agreed by the last Liberal Democrat administration which held power until 2011 and which regularly invested over £5 million a year in the highways network.

Carriageway surfaces are now breaking up and the repairs backlog is growing.

In the Dringhouses and Woodthorpe ward only part of the Moor Lane carriageway will be resurfaced.

No footpaths in the area will be resurfaced.

Behind closed doors logo

A full list of streets where repairs are planned can be downloaded by clicking here

A final Council highways budget for next year will be announced in March.

The decision, on which roads to resurface, was taken in another “behind closed doors” meeting. There was no consultation with residents on the options.

Boost for young unemployed in York

Nicjk Clegg and young person

The drive to help young people get jobs in York will be boosted by plans to abolish employers’ National Insurance Contributions (NICs) for under 21-years-olds, York’s Lib Dem Group Leader Cllr Keith Aspden said today.

The news means businesses will no longer have to pay tax on their employees aged under 21-years-old. For example, companies will save £1,000 each year for every young employee earning £16,000.

In York the plan to abolish NICs for young people from April 2015 means companies will not have to pay the contributions for 5,750 young people.

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Shopper numbers down 10% in City Centre.

285,000 fewer people have visited the Parliament Street area since new traffic restrictions introduced in August.

Shambles empty
The number of visitors to the City has dropped dramatically since the new restrictions were introduced on Coppergate and on Lendal Bridge.

The latest figures have been released by the York Council following a Freedom of Information request

In total, footfall cameras on Parliament Street recorded 2.695 million people between 1st August and the start of the St Nicholas Fayre on 28th November.

The equivalent figure for 2012 was 2.980 million, a fall of 10%.

Figures recovered over the 4 days of the St Nicholas Fayre although the concentration of footfall may have been influenced by the positioning of the market.

The figures are even more disappointing given the relatively good weather that we have experienced so far this autumn.

They confirm that the new restrictions are having a major adverse effect on the economic viability of many retailers in the City centre.

The Council has previously resisted calls for the restrictions to be suspended at least until the busy pre Christmas period is over.

  • The detailed figures are:
  • August 746,340 visitors (780,646 in 2012 – 4%)
  • September 699,042 (798,182 – 12%)
  • October 717,634 (775,144 – 7%)
  • November 532,157 (646,226 -18%) to start of St Nicholas Fayre on 28th November

By contrast, in the first 7 months of the year, visitor numbers had fallen by a total of 5% with the decrease being blamed on a large increase in car parking charges.

A spreadsheet showing individual figures for each day can be found by clicking here.

A Council survey on residents and visitors reactions to the traffic restrictions can be found here

https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/lendalsurvey

 

Christmas concert and open day announced

Students, tutors and organisers from the council’s arts academy for young people are issuing an open invitation to come and get in a festive frame of mind listening to their work at the annual Christmas Concert, and to find out more about the academy at its Open Day.

A_Group_Of_People_Singing_Christmas_Carols_Royalty_Free_Clipart_Picture_091125-143996-205042

York Arts Academy’s Christmas Concert will take place on Saturday 7 December at the University of York’s Central Hall. Performances will take place at 11am, 2pm and 7pm and feature around 250 instrumentalists and singers from the academy’s ensembles who will be joined by pupils from Huntington Primary School.

The groups taking part in this festival of seasonal music are:

· 11am – First strings, Huntington Primary School, Folkestra, String Orchestra, Junior Guitar Circle,

· 2pm – Umbu Drummers, Brass and Wind Ensemble, Young Voices, Improvisation Group, Intermediate Band

· 7pm – Concert Band, Chamber Choir, Senior Guitar Circle, Minster Minstrels, Big Band, String Quartet, Symphony Orchestra.

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