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Makemost of dying ash trees, group urges
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THEY have dominated our coun- tryside for about 12,000 years – but people arebeingurgedtomake the most of our ash trees before they disappear forever. It is feared that up to 98% of the
trees, the dominant ones in the Downs, will be wiped out in the next 10 years as ash dieback – or Chalara – runs through them. The trees inMote Park are among
those to be hit by the disease, and most of the towns andvillages in the area are populated by ash trees. MadeleineHodge, of theAshProj-
ect, set up to highlight the trees’ plight, said: “It’s not scaremonger- ing to say this is a large-scale eco- nomic catastrophe. Itwill change the landscape of theDowns forever. “We can’t stop it, but we want to
celebrate the trees that we have whilewe still do.Wewant people to take photos andrecordwhat it’s like –we’ve seen lime and elmtrees die out andwe have no records of them, and we want people to love the landscape before it’s too late.
“What is happening to the ash
trees is a real concern. It is a seri- ously degraded landscape. The ash tree isprominent inKent andwe are already seeing a dramatic change.” It is not just the visual effect of the
landscape that needs attention,with a number of species also at risk if the ash trees fall away – and even some risk to road users. Volunteer tree warden David
Carey said: “Wemight expectmost ash trees in woods around Maid- stone to be badly affected or die in
Ash trees dominate the north downs – but for how
much longer? Pictures: Fiona Fyfe and Kent Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty
the next 15 years. “Itwillmean a loss of diversity of
trees and fewer specific insects. It’s also badfor thewoodowners as ash sellswell as firewood. Itdoesn’t look good. “Even the largestwell grown trees
in more open areas will be increas- ingly affected. They could pose in- creasing dangers to pedestrians and traffic, unless they are expensively managed, as they die slowly and lose larger branches over the next couple of decades.”
downsmail.co.uk
Health | News Local GPs ‘to retain power’
FURTHER planned changes in strategic control of the localNHS has raised concerns regarding pa- tient services in theGP-led budget-holdingNHSWestKentClinicalCommissioningGroup (CCG).
These local commissioning
groups took over nationwide al- most five years ago, in April 2013, fromprimary care trusts and eight now serve Kent (West Kent, Dart- ford, Gravesham& Swanley,Med- way, Swale, Canterbury&Coastal, Ashford, Thanet and South Kent Coast). The appointed commissioners
are allGPs practising in their areas, supported by teams of officers. In west Kent, there have been 12
GP commissioners on the group’s governing body, but these have re- cently been reduced to seven to match the number of newGP clus- ters now formed in this area. Those elected are: Dr Garry Singh (Maidstone Central), Dr Tony Jones (Malling), Dr Andrew Rox- burgh (Sevenoaks), Dr Nick Cheales (Tonbridge), Dr Bob Bowes (Tunbridge Wells), Dr An- drewCameron (Weald),Dr Stefano Santini (Maidstone Wide). Dr David Chesover will hold his seat ex-officio and continue as clinical lead formental health. Now, a newrole of area strategic
commissioner forKent andMedway isbeingestablishedwiththe full sup- port ofNHSWestKentCCG. It will start working in shadow
form from April 1, for 12 months, during which time decisions will be taken about what will be commis- sioned locally bywestKent commis- sioners and what will be done at scale across the county. Dr Bob Bowes, chairman of NHS
West Kent CCG since its inception, has assured the group that it will
retain “its statutory accountability and the proposed arrangementwas only for a transitional phase”. He reiterated the importance of
Kent and Medway groups work- ing together. He also gave assurances that pa-
tient and local care would not be compromised and remained a key focus forWest Kent CCG. Maidstone area GPDr Singh has
expressed concerns that local key voices could potentially be un- heard beyond April, 2019. The current proposals have
not yet addressed this issue and Dr Bowes explained it was pos- sible for the CCG to influence this process.
the group that it would still be re- sponsible for “total control”.
An assurance has been given to A lile more
The emergence of an area strate- gic commissioner comes at the same time as all clinical commis- sioning groups in Kent are work- ing closely on a sustainability and transformation plan for the future of health and social care in the county. A key thrust is more care in or
closer to home with less depend- ence on hospitals.
The CCG is encouraging local GPs to make robust use of an in- vigorated “quality inbox” to raise any concerns.
150 foreign GPs destined for Kent
THE serious shortage of local NHS staff, including GPs, is in- creasingly evident in reports to the GP-led West Kent Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG). Kent has been approved to re-
cruit 150 international GPs for the area. Interviews have started and west Kent will receive an agreed percentage. A bid has also been made to set
up a medical school and the group has been informed this “would have a significant im- pact” for the new GP clusters with regards student placements. Some see west Kent as having a
geographical advantage for re- cruitment because of its proxim- ity to Europe and London
(“currently saturated”). The GP shortage is causing
concerns about the impact on the existing workforce trying to cover the shortfalls and the pro- posed local care plan requiring seven-day working by practices. There have been previous re-
ports about the extent of vacan- cies in local hospitals and in the ambulance service. Shortages are increasingly evi-
dent elsewhere, including in mental health. Kent and Medway Partnership Trust in-patient units have a vacancy rate of 35%. Both Maidstone Community Mental Health and West Kent Crisis Res- olution Home Treatment Service have a rate of 17%. Many patients
complain of lack of a care plan and do not know what their treat- ment and options are.
New staff can add to problems while they are in training. This is a major reason for an increase in serious incidents (including pa- tient trips and falls) within the hospital trust, where the quar- terly figures have jumped from 27 in Q1 of 2016-17 to 54 in Q3 of 2017-18.
The local ambulance service (SECAmb), still in special meas- ures, is not helped by a report which says only 32% of staff rec- ommend it as a place to work and only 75% recommend care pro- vided by the trust.
cash to spend GOVERNMENT funds for CCGs (including West Kent) are to in- crease by £1.4bn in 2018/19 aimed at “realistic levels of emergency ac- tivity”; additional elective activity to tackle waiting lists; adherence to mental health standards; transfor- mation commitments for cancer services and primary care. West Kent expects to have almost
£8m extra to deploy on top of the current year’s budget of £627.14m.
Need to improve
ALBION Place Medical Practice, Maidstone, remains in special measures and the CCG works closely with it to improve.
Cancer care trend
AN improvement of 7.22% to al- most 81% of patients starting can- cer treatment within 62 days of urgent GP referral has been achieved by increasing capacity – a trend expected to be sustained.
Care home liaison
ALMOST 50 of 71 care homes in west Kent are now covered by a new strategy of liaison and care by local GP practices. The CCG expresses concern for
seven homes where nearby prac- tices are unwilling to sign up at this stage and suggests “positive expe- rience by other practices may help in this process of persuasion”.
Maidstone Weald April 2018 27
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