Calderdale and Kirklees Councils’ Joint Health Scrutiny Committee is examining the Clinical Commissioning Groups’ proposals to cut hospital services (including the whole of Huddersfield Royal Infirmary acute and emergency services) and replace them with “Care Closer to Home”.
They want to hear from the public and have arranged two “drop-in” sessions so that people can discuss the proposals and share their views with Councillors, one to one.
The first drop-in session will be on Thursday 7 July from 4.00pm to 7.00pm in
Huddersfield Town Hall.
The second session will be at Halifax Town Hall on Tuesday
12 July from 4.00pm until 7.00pm.
Councillor Liz Smaje from Kirklees Council, Joint Chair of the Committee said:
“We always have representation from the public at our meetings and have received some interesting and helpful comments. However, we know that some people have not been able to get to our formal meetings or perhaps are a bit nervous about talking in a public setting. So the drop-in sessions are an opportunity to have a quiet one-to-one discussion about the proposed changes to the hospitals with one of the Councillors who sits on the Joint Committee.”
She added:
“We know that not everyone will be able to make these times, so we welcome views via email at scrutiny@calderdale.gov.uk or at Scrutiny.governance@kirklees.gov.uk.
We need to finish our work by the end of August, so it would be really helpful to have any views by the end of July.”
If the Joint Health Scrutiny Committee finds that the proposals are contrary to the health needs of the Calderdale & Kirklees population, they can refer them to the Secretary of State for Health for review.
Members and supporters of Calderdale and Kirklees 999 Call for the NHS have made statements at all the Joint Health Scrutiny Committee meetings held this year, but still have not got answers to many questions we raised at these meetings.
This is another chance to ask questions and to urge the JHSC to get answers from the Clinical Commissioning Groups, Locala, the Hospitals Trust and the many voluntary organisations that are going to be bidding for contracts to provide services under the proposed new clinical models.
Please go along with your questions and let Calderdale & Kirklees 999 Call for the NHS know what answers the Councillors give you. You can do this by email or by commenting on their facebook page.
Calderdale & Kirklees 999 Call for the NHS are particularly concerned that not all groups – particularly ethnic minorities, people on low incomes, the elderly and people with disabilities – have been adequately informed about the consultation, so their views will not have been heard. So please ask about this, and also spread the word about the JHSC drop ins if you are in touch with any of these groups.
The Kirklees and Wakefield Joint Scrutiny Committee ruled that the changes in the Mid Yorkshire Hospital Trust consultation, were not in the best interests of the local people, but the Chair was not a Conservative councillor. The Kirklees Health Scrutiny Committee of which Elizabeth Smaje is also Chair, has been shown that access to ‘Care Closer to Home’ was and is denied by the less than effective single point of access, put in place by the provider. Greater Huddersfield CCG put the provider on ‘notice to improve.’ Elizabeth Smaje needs to be reminded.
Good point. There is an email address in the report, if you want to remind Cllr Smaje about Locala’s poor “single point of access” to Care Closer to Home, Christine.