News


Health targets stillmissed


MISSED health targets, especially on cancer investigations and treat- ments, continue to causedeep con- cern acrossMaidstone and Kent. The 62-day target for commenc-


ing cancer treatmentwas achieved in just 65.6% of cases in February, against the NHS requirement of 95%. The CCG and hospital trust are now discussing an investment plan “to ensure all recovery action can be supported”. One in five patients electing to


have surgery missed the target, and 69 52-week breaches have been reported so far this year. The local ambulance service hit


the target for themost urgent calls in February, butmissed targest on all four other categories. Only 67.99% of NHS 111 calls


were answered in 60 seconds. The CCG expressed concern


about lack of improvement. It is investigating patient experiences and complaints about the G4S pa- tient transport system and con- cerns that it is not responding to complaints in the target time. Pressure on urgent care services continues to grow in West Kent. One week in February was the busiest ever, with 3,338 urgent at- tendances – 15.9% higher than ex- pected.


Homeless care THE health and well-being of Maidstone’s homeless was dis- cussed at a conference held last month at the town hall, Guest speakers included Jeremy


Swain of theMinistry ofHousing’s rough sleeping initiative. It was organised by Maidstone


Homeless Care and a spokesman said: “The purpose of the confer- encewas to share best practice.”


Diabetes aid


PATIENTS inWestKentwithType 1 diabetesmeeting inclusion crite- ria may now be eligible for FreestyleLibre sensors, preventing the need to take their own blood samples. The area has been granted NHS funding of about £306,000.


Fertility help


WOMEN in Maidstone and the rest of Kent experiencing prob- lems conceiving a child are likely to be helped now the NHS in- tends to provideArtificial Repro- ductive Technologies across the county.


24 Maidstone June 2019


downsmail.co.uk


Children ‘missing out on special needs care’


A DAMNING report on disability and special educational services in Kent has been issued by the CareQuality Commission andOfsted.


Earlier this year they spent five


days judging howKent hadimple- mentedreforms set out in theChil- dren and Families Act, 2014, with visits to providers andin-depth in- terviews, including leaders for health, care and education. Inspectors decided a written


statement of action was needed “because of significant areas of weakness” – a responsibility for Kent County Council and all Kent’s budget-holding Clinical CommissioningGroups. The main finding is too many


childrenwith needs do not get the required support because the frag- mented system “has created too many opportunities for theseneeds to bemissed”. They say: “Parents andcarers are


overwhelmingly negative about their dealings with the local area. Some told inspectors they did not care about their children.” Children and young people in


need “experience unacceptable in- equalitywhen accessing services in Kent”, including health services. Educational outcomes are also not good enough. One parent said efforts to get


support was a constant minefield. Another explained eight out of 10 schools she contacteddidnotwant to offer a place to her son. Parents say they have not been


sufficiently involvedindeveloping newservices. A consortiumof re- gional charities is now in place to develop parental representation but is in early stages.


Improvements ‘onway’


ROGER Gough, KCC’s cabinet member for children, young people and education, and Glenn Douglas, accountable officer for NHS Clinical Commissioning Groups across Kent, apologised in a joint statement for the relationship with parents and carers breaking down. They said this reflected a national picture. There had been an enor-


mous increase in demand for assessments and resources across the county and there were things they were doing. Establishment of newparent/carer forums, recruitment ofmore staff and formation of an improvement board were a few examples.


No let-up for


GP practices THE CCG reports continued “high level of patient alloca- tions, especially in the Maid- stone cluster of GPs”. It says this reflects “the


challenges faced by practices in meeting the needs of the growing population”. But it adds: “It also high-


lights the importance of de- veloping


primary care


networks to help build prac- tice resilience.


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