Figures obtained by Lynne Featherstone, Liberal Democrat MP for Hornsey and Wood Green, reveal an increase in the number of patients who failed to attend their NHS appointments from 2004/5. A total of 82,383 missed appointments were registered in 2005/2006 in England alone.

Commenting Lynne Featherstone MP said:

“Appointment systems must be designed around the needs of patients, not government targets.”

“The Government needs to investigate how to make the appointment system more effective in order for it to work. A lack of co-ordination means that resources are wasted and additional appointments are needed. This could easily be improved upon with some imagination. Why not remind patients by the mean of texts or email for example?

“Obviously, individual responsibility of patients is sometimes at fault but patients are not always to blame. Inflexible government targets have led to inconvenient appointment systems and patients being unable to get through to the surgery to cancel an appointment.

Notes:

The figures were obtained by a parliamentary question (837311) asked by Lynne Featherstone MP.

They show the number of patients failing to attend for inpatients admission to be up from 79444 in 2004/2005 to 82383 in 2005/2006, i.e. 3.7%.

The 10 worst NHS trust in 2005/2006 are:

Guy’s and St Thomas’ Hospital NHS Trust: 3512
The Newcastle Upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Trust: 2740
Pennine Acute Hospitals NHS Trust: 2046
Central Manchester & Manchester Children’s University NHS trust: 2004
Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust: 1778
North West London Hospitals NHS trust: 1654
Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust: 1652
Barnet & Chase Farm Hospitals NHS Trust: 1401
Barts and London NHS Trust: 1383
Northern Lincolnshire & Goole Hospitals NHS Trust: 1274

The 10 best NHS trust in 2005/2006 are:

Princess Alexandra Hospital NHS Trust: 8
Northern Devon Healthcare NHS Trust: 15
SW London & St Georges NHS Trust: 17
East Somerset NHS Trust: 18
Royal Marsden Hospital NHS Trust: 27
Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre NHS trust: 29
Bradford Hospiotals NHS Trust: 41
Milton Keynes General NHS Trust: 42
Queen Victoria Hospital NHS Trust: 50
Birmingham Women’s Healthcare Trust: 53

Lib Dem Leader Neil Williams has condemned Haringey Accord for its continuing failure to get on top of the rubbish collection problem following the recent strike, and for its derisory treatment of local residents.

In some cases, streets have not received a collection for four weeks, with Talbot Road, N15 a particular problem area. Cllr Williams has condemned as outrageous the treatment of Haringey residents phoning up Accord, who do not even log complaints on the telephone. Worse still, they refuse to consider priority cases where the situation is particularly bad – despite officially advising that residents can do so.

Collections are now falling further and further behind, with residents who were due a collection early this week being told they may not get one until the end of the week.

Cllr Neil Williams comments:

“Despite the end of the strike, the situation is still terrible in many areas, and collections seem to be slipping further and further behind. Why couldn’t contingency plans be brought in to speed up collections at this late stage?

“It is also terrible that even now there is no system in place for prioritising acute problems in specific streets, despite the Council advising us that this is in place. It is an appalling treatment of council tax payers who deserve a proper service.”

Haringey’s Labour councillors are coming under fire due to Haringey Council’s poor record on investment in the borough’s roads and footpaths, as it emerged that the estimate for outstanding claims for compensation for injuries due to poor road maintenance is a staggering £1.7 million.

A report submitted to a meeting of the Council’s lead members confirmed that underinvestment in the London Borough of Haringey’s roads and footpaths was a crucial factor. Labour members are being criticised for the level of neglect.

Deputy Lib Dem leader Cllr Wayne Hoban comments:

“The report states that £300,000 has been paid out in compensation for injuries suffered through poor maintenance over recent years. Worse still, the estimate for outstanding claims is an incredible £1.7 million. This money would have been far better spent on ensuring that Haringey’s footpaths and roads are properly maintained so that accidents do not happen in the first place.”

Cllr Martin Newton, Lib Dem Spokesperson for the Environment comments:

“It is incredible and completely unacceptable that Haringey Labour has historically chosen to spend so little on footpath and road maintenance. This is yet another example of their poor record on funding regular and effective maintenance programmes, which is ultimately costly to Haringey ratepayers.”

Note:

To view the Executive Response to the report of the Scrutiny Review of Repairs to Highways and Footpaths, please see http://www.minutes.haringey.gov.uk/Published/C00000118/M00001441/$$ADocPackPublic.pdf (pages 389-436). (This is a large file and may take some time to display).

Residents and councillors alike are calling for Labour councillor Brian Haley to come clean on the CPZ consultations in Haringey.

Lib Dem councillors claim that they are being stonewalled by Labour over the CPZ consultation proposals, and that the people deserve answers.

Labour’s lead councillor on the controversial parking plans, Cllr. Brian Haley, has not responded to requests to provide specific information on the “second stage of communication” he promised residents in late July.

Liberal Democrat group leader Councillor Neil Williams wrote to Cllr. Haley on the 9th August, asking that he “set out clearly and precisely what form any further consultation on the CPZ/stop and shop schemes will take place, including a detailed time line that takes us through to the Executive decision making process.” Cllr. Williams pointed out that, “There is considerable confusion about what you intend.” The Lib Dems have received no response.

Councillor Williams comments:

“Councillor Haley really must make clear his plans. It is clear he had no idea how to proceed when he made his promise. We worry that Councillor Haley is floundering on this issue. If plans have not yet been drawn up, then residents will rightly draw the conclusion that Labour are still not capable of conducting a meaningful consultation, and that they have no intention of listening to the people of the borough.”

Councillor John Oakes, Lib Dem spokesperson for Community Involvement, adds:

“Once again, Labour are dodging the bullet and failing the people of Haringey. Residents are beginning to believe that Cllr. Haley promised further consultation simply to save his skin and buy himself some time, following his descriptions of residents as ‘selfish, abusive bullies’. He must come clean and present his plans as soon as possible.”

Reacting to Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Ian Blair’s recent comments that London is now safe enough to leave doors unlocked, Haringey’s Lib Dems are urging caution.

As The Times reported, the Met chief’s comments followed a visit to a Haringey tower block. “How long is it since police patrolled the corridors of a tower block?” Sir Ian asked.

“It’s as if, when the slums they replaced were flattened, the police stopped patrolling. People are opening their doors, leaving their doors open now, or leaving them unlocked, certainly, in a way they haven’t done for 25 years.”

Haringey’s Liberal Democrats are urging residents not to take the Met chief seriously in this case. Lib Dem spokesperson for Crime, Policing and Community Safety, Councillor Ron Aitken, comments:

“While we very much welcome the enormous benefits of the community policing that the Safer Neighbourhood Teams bring to the borough, it is too early to be nostalgic about home security.

“There were 3782 burglaries in the last year in Haringey. People should still take plenty of precautions to secure their home, and I know that local police agree.”

Note:

The Times article reporting on Sir Ian Blair’s is at http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2-2321643,00.html

To add to the nightmare of the mounds of rotting rubbish caused by Labour-run Haringey Council’s lack of contingency plan for rubbish collection during the recent strike, Muswell Hill residents have had their problems worsened by missing rubbish bins.

Lib Dem councillor Gail Engert spotted two missing bins whilst walking down Muswell Hill Broadway in her ward.

The first, outside a newsagent on the Broadway, has entirely disappeared, leaving just the open base which has become a magnet for discarded cans and wrappers. The second is next to a bus stop and has been set fire to. The bin has entirely melted and although the metal insert still provides a litter-disposal facility, the bin is extremely unsightly and a trip hazard.

Cllr Engert comments:

“I have written to Haringey Council explaining that they need to replace the bins as soon as possible. We already have a rubbish crisis and the missing bins in popular locations will only add to this. Not only are they eyesores in their current state, but they are health and safety hazards too, and need to be dealt with quickly.”

Haringey’s residents breathed a sigh of relief this morning as Haringey Accord’s refuse collectors ended their strike and returned to work. Workers voted to accept an offer made this morning, though it became clear quickly that the rubbish was likely to remain on the borough’s streets for some weeks to come.

Lib Dem councillors have been furious that no plans were in place to reduce the build up of rubbish. Labour-led Haringey Council have known that the dispute was very likely to take place since May, yet no contingency plans were put into place.

Brian Haley, the Labour councillor in charge of waste collection in the borough, explained that crews would be collecting rubbish from streets on normal collection days, and that there was now “three weeks worth of rubbish to clear”.

Commenting on the end of the refuse strike, Lib Dem Leader Neil Williams comments:

“This will come as an enormous relief to residents, but questions remain as to how well prepared Haringey was for this dispute, given the very long lead in time. We will be pressing to ensure that a proper contingency plan is put in place by the council to ensure that residents do not have to suffer this sort of misery again.”

Lynne Featherstone, MP for Hornsey and Wood Green, adds:

“The sickly smell of rotting rubbish is something that residents have been forced to get used to over the past weeks. I am frankly amazed that our Labour council, who have known that there would be industrial action since May, put no contingency plans in place to prevent this. Ensuring that rubbish is collected from our streets is one of the most basic and important responsibilities of a council, and we must ensure that Labour understand that they cannot pass the buck. They must ensure that this does not happen again.”

Haringey Labour have been strongly criticised over the standards of care that are provided to residents, following the publication of annual performance figures. Of 13 Key Performance Indicators used to assess Haringey Council’s Social Service, eight missed their annual target and showed either a worsening trend or no improvement on the previous year.

The number of people who received a statement of their needs and how they would be met fell well short of the 95% target at just 69%, and just 44% of those cared for by Social Services received a review of their needs – the Council aims to review at least 75% of those receiving a service.

Lib Dem Spokesperson for Health and Social Services Richard Wilson comments:

“The fact that this Labour council has missed not just one or two, but eight of its 13 targets, is a cause for major concern. Labour have failed to carry out effective reviews of care, have failed to provide many with information as to how their needs will be met and failed to carry out timely assessments of need for new clients. This continuing underachievement year on year is simply not acceptable.”