“Protesters were seen marching in red lines from every direction along Sidwell Street, Fore Street, Queen Street, North Street, South Street, and Paris Street.
Protesters then gathered in Bedford Square where the speeches began.”
It included a rousing speech by DCC councillor Claire Wright:
Here is the picture with a first entry!
Be very grateful that Claire Wright is a DCCCouncillor!
“Sidmouth GPs are angry after an NHS property company gave a misleading update to Devon County Council health scrutiny councillors, on controversial plans to redevelop Blackmore Health Centre.
A written briefing was circulated to councillors from NHS Property Services on Monday 7 November, claiming that agreement with the practice had been reached on rent and service costs.
But Dr Joe Stych said he was infuriated at the claims. He asked that the committee be put straight at its meeting on 8 November.
He said: “I don’t know who they get their information from but it is wrong and should be made clear to the Health and Wellbeing Scrutiny Committee – they are trying to pull the wool over their eyes.
“There is no agreement with the practice about rent and service costs. We met with NHPS about 1 month ago – the most senior manager for facilities management came to meet us and was clueless about why the costs we were being charged were so high. They confirmed costs for 2015-2016 to continue on our previous arrangement but since the meeing nothing in writing has come out. Nothing is agreed for this financial year 2016-2017 or moving forward.
“The only option for a redevelopment that is on the table is one we can not afford to enter a lease into as it sees non re-imbursable costs to the practice rise considerably and we have no control over rising costs.
“Lets be clear their redevelopment of the site is aimed at making as much profit as possible. Car parking is reducing considerably and we have seen no plans in writing which protect future expansion interests to the practice.
“Their plans are so unfavourable we are having to look at our options to relocate the surgery to a less convenient site.”
I raised the issue at the end of the meeting to put members straight. But it is deeply worrying that NHS PS is putting out such briefings that are clearly wildly wrong and misleading.
NHS PS now owns 12 Eastern Devon community hospitals and many of us are on high alert awaiting news of the rents, which if Sidmouth’s case is anything to go by, could suddenly be hiked beyond affordability at any time. NHS PS claims it is part of the “NHS family” yet it behaves like an amoral profit-making corporation, with apparently no accountability to patients who fund its existence and rely on its ability to treat its tenants fairly.
For MONTHS now I have been chasing the company, which is wholly owned by the secretary of state for health, on how much income it takes compared with how much it spends on maintenance. They clearly don’t want to provide this information. I first asked for it in JUNE. And have asked several times since.
From the little dealings I have had with NHS PS, I don’t trust them one inch and I am disgusted with a government that created this very system.
Hugo Swire labelled me a scaremongerer in May for my concerns about NHS PS. He refused to take up the matter of the transfer of our local hospitals, with health secretary, Jeremy Hunt.
I wonder if he would still has as much confidence in the company as he did in May?”
Doubt many people from East Devon will be interested but a few members of the LEP might attend – particularly those with nuclear and weapons interests.
Claire Wright would almost certainly have been battling to save NHS beds in East Devon if she was our MP!
“Britain after Brexit Publication Drinks Reception”
Event to be held at the following time, date, and location:
Wednesday, November 16, 2016 from 5:30 PM to 7:00 PM (GMT)
Conservative Middle East Council
55 Tufton Street
SW1P 3QL London
United Kingdom
We are pleased to invite you to celebrate CMEC’s latest publication Britain after Brexit: old friendships and new opportunities in the Middle East
CMEC Chairman
The Rt Hon Sir Hugo Swire MP KCMG
will host the event and Crispin Blunt MP, Chair of the Foreign Affairs Select Committee, and Kwasi Kwarteng MP, CMEC Vice Chairman, will offer brief remarks.
You can read the series of articles included in the publication on our website here:
https://cmec.org.uk/depth/news-analysis?page=1
“Figures supporting proposals to cut community hospital beds are ‘sketchy at best’ and ‘misleading at worst’ – according to a member of Devon’s health watchdog.
County councillor Claire Wright believes she has uncovered evidence which sheds doubt on a claim by the NHS NEW Devon Clinical Commissioning Group’s (CCG) ‘success regime’ that ‘a third of beds are not being used’.
Cllr Wright says this statement issued to Devon County Council’s health and wellbeing scrutiny committee is at odds with figures detailed in a public health audit that shows occupancy in acute and community beds now averages 96 per cent.
The ‘success regime’ is putting forward proposals for a new model of home-based care in a bid to plug an expected £384million deficit by 2020/21 and says its proposals will be better for patients.
But Cllr Wright – a prominent hospital campaigner – argues the authority is basing its case on flawed evidence.
Cllr Wright said: “The information given to residents to help inform them of the reasons these proposals are being made, I believe, is sketchy at best. At worst, it is distinctly misleading.
“The success regime is relying partly on a public health audit published in October last year to argue its case for more bed cuts.
“The regime submitted a report to the health scrutiny committee last month that stated a third of beds in community hospitals are not used. When I enquired where this information came from, I was told that it came from the public health audit.
“I have studied the audit carefully and cannot find this statement anywhere.”
But she said the audit does refer to bed occupancy that for community and acute hospitals has increased to a 96 per cent average.
She also highlighted reasons given for delays in discharging people from hospital – with the most common being patients awaiting a community hospital placement or social care package.
A CCG spokesman responded to the claims and said: “These figures are not comparable. The first measures how much of the space available for beds within a community hospital is being used, while the second measures whether or not the beds themselves are occupied.
“Every day, there are 600 people in hospital beds in northern, eastern and western Devon who no longer have a medical need to be there.”
The report submitted to DCC’s health and wellbeing scrutiny committee in September says: “In community hospitals there are people in a hospital bed who could be cared for at home, as well as more than a third of beds not being used at all.”
The consultation document can be viewed at http://www.newdevonccg.nhs.uk, as well as libraries, GP surgeries, hospitals and leisure centres.”
… that Hugo Swire only seems to visit his constituency on Fridays, crams as many photo ops in as many Tory places and tweets as possible then … that seems to be it till the next Friday.
Claire Wright is here every day, including weekends, battling for the NHS, schools, highways, the environment, planning, flooding …
No wonder Mr Swire bans her from meetings on her ward issues – on a Friday! It must worry him a lot.
At least we know where he was on 17 October:
Hugo Swire says he is “fighting for” Exmouth and Sidmouth community hospitals. Though his idea of fighting for them whilst suggesting the NHS must economise, is somewhat disingenuous.
Neil Parish, whilst fighting for his own, says MPs should also be fighting for all of them.
Parish is right.
What happens if you live in Sidmouth and Exmouth and Sidmouth hospitals are full?
What happens if you live in Swire’s constituency and yet your nearest community hospital is in Parish’s constituency?
What happens if your hospital is closed because of infection? What happens if your hospital is closed for repairs?
What happens if the RD and E has a major incident on the M5 or Exeter Airport and has to ship out the least ill patients to other areas to cope?
People do not live in isolation and do not get sick in “efficient” places.
We need ALL our community hospitals for ALL of us everywhere.
Though East Devon’s MP, living as he does in mid-Devon and usually in the constituency on the odd Friday (when he fills his diary with photo opportunities and meetings from which he excludes the district’s county councillor) will quite likely never experience these choices.
Claire Wright has been battling to save our local NHS for YEARS while our two local MPs only noticed the problem a few weeks ago. The voice of common sense:
Claire Wright meeting with Devon Senior Voice about health service cuts in Honiton:
“MP, Neil Parish, had submitted a statement saying he was opposed to the cuts. He has offered to meet residents … in Tiverton.
The meeting resolved to set up a campaign group to fight the plans. I wish them lots of luck.
“Hugo Swire bars me from a meeting about Tipton St John Primary School flooding problems
I was bizarrely barred from a meeting in my own ward this lunchtime, with East Devon’s MP and the chief executive of the Environment Agency, James Bevan, who met with Tipton St John school staff about the ongoing challenges of flooding at the school – an issue I have been active on for three years.
I have been involved in discussions on how the situation at Tipton St John may be remedied since I was elected as a Devon County councillor in 2013.
I asked to attend the meeting this morning, however, was informed by Hugo Swire’s office that I would not be welcome as he was “keeping the meeting very small and focused and had to limit numbers.”
I was very disappointed about being excluded as crucially important issues would be discussed that I have been actively involved with. Last year I provided funding from my county council locality budget for a flood survey and helped to clear up after at least two flooding events, arranging with the chief fire officer for Devon and Somerset, for the fire and rescue service to be involved in these clear ups.
I have attended meetings with residents about the future of the school and worked with the school – and the community on trying to find a solution to the flooding problems.
As the Devon County councillor for Tipton St John with a clear interest and involvement in supporting the community I would have thought it was entirely appropriate that I should have been invited to a meeting with the chief executive of the Environment Agency.
It was a poor decision”
“The Success Regime’s consultation document which proposes to close half of the remaining beds in Eastern Devon, was published this evening – link here –
http://www.newdevonccg.nhs.uk/about-us/your-future-care/102019
I have been invited to give a talk at a public meeting next Wednesday evening (12 October), 7.30pm at the Mackarness Hall, in Honiton, on the proposed bed losses.
Honiton and Okehampton Hospital beds are not even on the list of options for retention. This is unacceptable and undemocratic in my view.
We very sadly, lost our fight to save beds at Ottery Hospital, however, these proposed cuts, I am concerned could lead to the ultimate loss of services at Honiton Hospital which Ottery residents benefit from. And any further bed losses will take them out of the local health system and put more pressure on people to be looked after at home.
I believe that this could hit elderly people hard – especially those without family nearby, those living alone or those with elderly frail partners. I will be blogging much more about these plans in the very near future…..”
http://www.claire-wright.org/index.php/post/bed_cuts_consultation_document_launched_this_evening
Disquieting information here:
from ever-campaigning Claire Wright. It raises some very serious questions about where the “Success Regime” gets its ” numbers” from.
Well done Councillor Wright for not letting this slip through the net.
A Freedom of Information request needed here, methinks.
“This week, after a seemingly endless campaign, the Labour party will choose its new leader. For those of us who oppose what the Conservative Government is doing to our country, the end of this bitter internal battle within the Labour party can’t come a moment too soon. We need everyone playing their part in providing effective opposition and holding Theresa May to account.
On Friday 23 September, we launched our Green Guarantee to set out our role in that: a promise to members, voters and supporters about what it means to be Green. And at the heart of that promise is a new politics of public service that combines honest, consistent and principled Green opposition, with a willingness to do things differently and search for bold solutions.
We also have a message for the new Labour leader – stop wasting precious time on what divides you and instead invest in cooperation. Join us in making a persuasive case for doing things differently by looking to the future, not to the past. Commit to a progressive alliance.
With a snap general election looking increasingly unlikely, it seems Britain now faces three and a half years of a Conservative Government run by a Prime Minister who has, so far, done nothing to indicate she has a grasp on how to rise to the challenges we face. How to build a new resilient economy that values relationships rather than transactions. How to create a community immigration premium and the strong social connections that would allow us all to benefit from free movement. How to deliver smart, future facing, properly funded public services run by the people for the people. Nor has she risen to the biggest challenge of all – a world unlimited by climate change.
A one-off general election alliance between progressive parties to try to prevent the Conservatives forming the next government could be a game change. That’s why our Green Guarantee contains a pledge to cooperate rather than compete, if it will deliver the best future for Britain.
Such an alliance is, critically, also an opportunity to unite behind a pledge to replace our outdated voting system with a citizens’ democracy. In 2015 more than 1m people voted Green and they deserve to have their views represented in Parliament by more than one MP. Almost 2m voted Lib Dem and yet they have just eight seats, while almost 4m Ukip votes claimed one MP. If we want a future where decisions are negotiated, not imposed, where power and wealth are redistributed, fair elections are essential. And if we genuinely want to heal the divisions revealed by the EU referendum campaign, to tackle the fear, inequality and hopelessness that’s been laid bare, we need every voice to be heard and every vote to matter.
Taking back control means having a second referendum on the terms of any EU deal. It means we need to be clear what we would like our future relationship with the EU to look like, what we’ll be negotiating for, and Parliament having a full debate and vote on triggering Article 50. And it means a general election to decide who delivers the deal.
Our Green Guarantee puts the principle of working together to solve common problems at the heart of any agreement – we still think this is the best way to protect our environment, workers’ rights and free movement. In this age of insecurity, collaboration and partnership matter more than ever before.
They also underpin the innovative Green economy of tomorrow. A sharing and participative economy where the exploitative Uber model gives way to a taxi firm owned by drivers and passengers. An economy for the digital age where modern technology and a universal basic income allows us to live larger lives, and where work is about real purpose, not a means to an end. An economy that’s jobs rich, energy efficient and really means business.
Our Green Guarantee is that, as co-leaders of the Green party, we will embrace the rapidly changing uncertain world in which we live, not turn from it. Be brave enough to map the future, not simply react to it. We invite whoever is elected as the new leader of the Labour party to do the same.
Jonathan Bartley and Caroline Lucas are co-leaders of the Green party.”
From the blog of Claire Wright, Independent councillor at Devon County Council and member of its Health Services committee.
“Okehampton and Honiton Hospitals are set to lose all in-patient beds in a cost cutting exercise by local health services.
72 beds are to be cut from 143 in all, with four options that will be consulted on, although health bosses have a preferred option of keeping beds at Tiverton, Seaton and Exmouth.
Other hospitals at risk of losing all their inpatient beds are: Sidmouth and Whipton Hospital in Exeter
Health chiefs hope that the bed cuts will save £5-6m a year, with around 20 to 40 per cent of current running costs reinvested in creating health hubs and providing more care in people’s homes.
Some councillors had a briefing this afternoon from the chief executive of the “success regime” which has been drafted in by government to make significant cuts to counteract a deficit of around £430m by 2020.
We should remember that this area of Devon has already lost all inpatient beds at Ottery St Mary, Axminster, Crediton and Budleigh Salterton.
Discharging people from the RD&E in Exeter has never been more difficult.
Not only is there a funding crisis in the local NHS, there is also a funding crisis in social care locally, which is one of the reasons why people are unable to be discharged in a sensible length of time. This budget is hugely overspent at Devon County Council.
The consultation on the bed cuts is set to start on 7 October, with a decision made next February by the Northern, Eastern and Western Devon CCG (NEW Devon CCG). If agreed proposals will be implemented in March.
For my views on hospital bed losses see – http://www.claire-wright.org/index.php/post/health_scrutiny_committee_to_ask_to_health_select_committee_to_investigate
I was interviewed by BBC Spotlight about the cuts. Here’s how they reported the issue this evening, at 3 mins 43 – http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b07v2gpz/spotlight-evening-news-21092016
For more detail see http://www.exeterexpressandecho.co.uk/where-will-72-community-hospital-beds-be-lost-in-devon/story-29738533-detail/story.html#R9PAwLxGj62bsWFV.99
“12 acre industrial site proposed for Sidford – my objection
A planning application for a 12 acre business park in an area of outstanding natural beauty in Sidford has caused huge controversy.
The proposal first emerged when I was a local plan panel member in 2012. It suddenly appeared in the papers for our final meeting in the March. The proposal caused such uproar that it spawned the birth of Save Our Sidmouth, which ploughed much funding into fighting the allocation of this land in EDDC’s Local Plan.
Things looked up for a while after a full council meeting last year saw Stuart Hughes and Graham Troman manage to overturn the decision to allocate this land.
However, the planning inspector had other ideas and late last year, reinserted the contested piece of land back into the Local Plan.A planning application was submitted by Fords earlier this year.
Last Monday evening (12 September) I attended a public meeting at Sidford Village Hall where the application was discussed. The hall was absolutely packed with angry residents who wanted the plans thrown out. There was talk of a boycott of Fords to express the deep unhappiness with a local business who wants to build an industrial estate in sensitive countryside adjacent to houses. The meeting concluded that residents would fight the application tooth and nail.
I am familiar with the proposal as a former Local Plan panel member, however, it was a very useful meeting where I heard first hand from residents exactly how the application might have an impact on their communities.
I have now submitted an objection, which is below.
Highways The road through Sidbury is narrow, congested with parked cars and already experiences very high levels of traffic.
As Sidbury’s Devon County Councillor I have tried to address many complaints about the road, its narrowness, twistiness and the increasing level of traffic and heavy goods vehicles travelling through to the A30 at Honiton. Sidbury Primary School has a very difficult parking situation, with many parents having to park on the opposite side of the road and dash across with their children.
There are inadequate pavements around the school and any increase in traffic and HGVs could make things even more hazardous for parents and young children travelling to and from school. A school governor at the public meeting at Sidford Village Hall on 12 September, expressed huge concern about the increase in traffic and the impact it will have on parents and children at school pick up and drop off times.
I question the assumption in the developer’s highways report that only 20 per cent of traffic generated by the business park would travel through Sidbury, with the remaining 80 per cent opting to go via Sidford crossroads. I would have thought it was far more likely that a bigger percentage of the traffic would choose to travel to the nearest fast road – in this instance the A30 – via Sidbury. Much quicker than travelling to Exeter along the A3052.
I believe that the developers are vastly underestimating the impact of the traffic on Sidbury. There are many old listed properties which line the roads in Sidbury, which could be damaged by the increase in HGVs along this road. The NPPF states that a highways objection can be sustained if the traffic impact is severe. I agree with many Sidbury residents and local councillors, who believe that it would be. The application should be refused on highways grounds alone.
Landscape impacts
I agree with the AONB team and Natural England both of which assert that the proposed development would have a significant adverse affect on the setting of the AONB. The team also states that the current building plans, despite being in outline do not comply with NPPF policies relating to development in AONBs. It has the potential to set a precedent and so must be planned extremely carefully, which it is not. The landscape architect also believes that the scheme would have significant adverse impacts on the surrounding sensitive countryside, with information on design missing from the application. The landscape architect concludes that the application is unacceptable on landscape grounds.
Natural England recommends “substantial revision” on the grounds of visual intrusion. I believe that the application should be refused on landscape grounds and poor design within an AONB.
The cycleway from Sidbury to Sidford
As the Devon County councillor for Sidbury this cycleway is a significant project that I am anxious to finalise. Progress has been slow mainly due to matters outside Devon County Council’s control. I note the AONB team’s comments relating to the proposed cycleway as being disjointed, fully exposed to the road with the rural character of the route being removed.
The AONB team observe: “If approved, it would be completely at odds with the principle of providing an integrated and well connected and accessible development not to include a fully linked route at the outset of the development. Without this, at present, the proposal will not fully “deliver cycle and footway improvements which should aid sustainable travel in the area, not just the business park”; furthermore it could not be regarded as a “highly permeable and appealing walking and cycling environment”.
The application should be refused on the grounds of not providing an acceptable cycle route.
Flooding
The Environment Agency advises that new more stringent guidelines as set out in climate change documentation should be used as a material planning consideration for this application.
Given that the fields are close to a major watercourse and the area is prone to regular flooding, I very much hope that EDDC will use these guidelines to assess the application. Devon County Council flood and coastal risk officer has also recommended refusal on the grounds of insufficient information relating to water run-off. The application should be refused on these grounds.
It is clear that the evidential comments from residents and key consultees can only leave EDDC with no option but to refuse the application. Pic. The area of outstanding natural beauty close to where the proposal is targeting.”
We await Hugo Swire and Neil Parish’s plans on how to deal with devastating health and social services cuts in Devon. In the meantime, DCC councillor Claire Wright continues her long and tireless campaign on behalf of East Devon residents.
“Plans to cut nearly 200 community hospital beds across Devon by 2020/21 will come under the scrutiny of county council health bosses on Monday (September 19).
Councillor Claire Wright (pictured) described the proposals in a leaked document as ‘devastating’ and said the underfunding of the NHS should not mean that patients suffer.
More than 400 acute hospital beds in the county – one in six – could close, as the NHS in Devon looks to plug a predicted funding gap of £572million by 2020/21.
The leaked Sustainability and Transformation Plan (STP) for Wider Devon states: “The changes we are proposing will result in a reduction in the number of acute and community beds across our system of the order of 590 by 2021.
“NEW Devon Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) are developing consultation proposals on the overall strategic direction of travel and provision changes, the components of new models of care and specific intentions to close a number of community hospital beds.”
NHS bosses were approached for comment, but would not specify how the cuts would affect different localities.
Cllr Wright said: “My understanding is that the document was submitted to NHS England for its consideration in June.
“That’s three months ago – why on earth it has been kept so secret from residents, and councillors including those like me on the health and wellbeing scrutiny committee?
“As an Ottery St Mary councillor, I am very worried indeed now for Ottery Hospital’s future – and the impact that so many acute and community bed closures in general will have on patient care all over the county.
“The fact that the NHS is massively underfunded should not mean that patients have to suffer.”
A statement issued by NEW Devon CCG says more analysis and consideration was to be undertaken before a further submission is made in October.
It said: “The STP creates the opportunity for health and local authorities to work together and formulate plans to improve and secure the sustainability of services we deliver to people across Devon.
“The programme of work to review acute and specialised service across Devon will commence in October.”
A report on the STP will be given to Devon County Council’s health and wellbeing scrutiny committee on Monday.
http://www.sidmouthherald.co.uk/news/devon_s_devastating_hospital_cuts_to_be_scrutinised_1_4698027
Blogged by Independent DCC Councillor Claire Wright. We await Hugo Swire’s response.
Claire Wright and MP Hugo Swire with protesters at Ottery St Mary hospital on Saturday Ref sho 21-16SH 4964. Picture: Simon Horn.
Anyone who is keeping up with the news will realise that a growing and serious crisis is enveloping the NHS.
And Devon is at the very heart of it.
It is a crisis that is borne out of many years of successive governments messing about with our health service. In the 10 years that I worked in the NHS under the Labour government, there were two major wasteful reorganisations.
Since I left the health service in 2008, the difficulties in recruiting and retaining clinical staff has rapidly escalated. And funding has been steadily eroded.
GPs are leaving the profession in their droves, there is a mass exodus of nurses – and now junior doctors are said to be reconsidering their positions, with many of those who previously wanted to pursue a career in medicine said to be thinking again.
The government will now (disastrously) remove nurse training bursaries, which is bound to discourage further trainees from applying.
The annual growth funding increase, which used to be around 6 per cent each year has, under the last two conservative governments, flatlined. It comes at a time of more pressure than ever before with more older people who have complex health needs among us. This is especially so in Devon.
On top of this, the conservative government has demanded £22bn of so called efficiency savings. Or cuts, of course. The much vaunted £8bn promised to the NHS will only be supplied if NHS trusts slash £22bn first.
Where from you might wonder? Ask the staff, many of whom are tearing their hair out trying to do an immensely demanding job without adequate resources.
Nationally, alarming and damaging cuts are already taking place, which could easily be replicated in Devon, as we live in one of the top three financially health areas in the country.
Accident and Emergency departments are being closed overnight as a result of staffing problems, with potentially catastrophic consequences as people will need to travel further for life saving treatment.
Across the health service, a deficit of £460m was racked up in the first quarter of 2016/17. But this was only possible thanks to a cash injection of £450m over the same period.
Last year the NHS nationally reported a record deficit of £2.45bn. The disastrous health and social care act, which sold our health service down the river, cost £3bn.
Locally, across Devon if financial problems are not addressed by 2020, our health service will be in debt to the tune of around £440m.
The RD&E NHS Trust alone, has a £20m deficit.
The Royal Cornwall Hospital’s director of finance Karl Simkins told the Western Morning News earlier this year that the financial landscape was “challenging”.
He said: “We planned for a £5.5 million deficit and have ended the year with a £6.9 million deficit,” “The financial position is as challenging as it has ever been.”
A government task force has been drafted in to Devon to radically reduce the debt by cutting services.
As a member of Devon County Council’s health and wellbeing scrutiny committee, I am anxiously awaiting what is on the agenda. Plans are set to be published and consulted on shortly. Councillors are expecting there to be some significant and worrying cuts proposed.
Last month a public consultation was launched in South Devon on closing and selling off four community hospitals.
The team running the Success Regime already seem to be diminishing the role of community hospitals in their documentation I have seen so far. They claim that community hospitals, such as at Sidmouth, Ottery St Mary, Seaton, Exmouth, Honiton and Axminster, do not alleviate bed pressures at the Royal Devon & Exeter Hospital! This is counter intuitive and completely contrary to everything I have heard from medics and nurses up until now.
Ottery St Mary and Axminster Hospitals have already lost their beds of course and Exmouth Hospital looks like it will lose its overnight GP out of hours service.
All of this (and whatever else is to come) is at a time of unprecedented pressure – on beds – on staffing – and on services in general.
A major injection of funding is required to avoid major and widespread closures of services and hospital departments.
This government is, in my opinion, using the austerity argument to deliberately weaken our NHS for their own ideological reasons. They simply don’t believe in the state provision of public services.
Ministers have made a clear choice on how they spend our money. Public services are being slowly and steadily dismantled, while big business continues to enjoy preferential treatment.
David Cameron said in 2010 that he would protect the NHS.
We need to hold our conservative MPs to account on this.
http://www.claire-wright.org/index.php/post/a_growing_and_serious_crisis_is_enveloping_our_nhs
“A PIECE of land in the centre of West Hill could be transformed into more than 30 homes, a satellite doctors surgery and a gastro pub.
A coffee shop, pharmacy, bowling club, land for the village’s pre-school, and underground parking may also feature in pending proposals for a two and a half acre site opposite McColls in West Hill Road.
That is what scores of residents have been told by Councillors Claire Wright and Jo Talbot, who fear development of what is known as Copper Trust land could see more than 200 extra vehicle movements in the area a day.
Any such move would come hot on the heels of widely derided Blue Cedar Homes plans to build 50 dwellings on land near Eastfield that have garnered controversy and hundreds of objections.
“Either scheme, if approved, is likely to prompt other developers to submit their own applications, citing these examples as a precedent for their proposals to be accepted,” warned the Ottery town councillors in a letter to Ashley Brake, Elsdon Lane, Ford Lane, Beech Park and West Hill Road householders.”
http://www.eastdevon24.co.uk/news/west_hill_30_home_development_shocker_1_614147
East Devon Watch 