Bishop urging a re-think on fire station closures

THE BISHOP of Warwick has waded into the debate over proposed fire station closures, saying officials need to “seriously rethink” the idea.

The Rt Rev John Stroyan claims the consultation process is biased, and that lives could be put at risk.

He spoke out after a series of heated meetings between residents and senior fire officers came to an end.

“The people of Warwick and Warwickshire are hugely concerned about these proposals,” said the bishop.

“The questions in the consultation document are highly skewed to get the answers they want.

“If there is to be a genuine consultation, given the almost universal public concern about the proposals, there will need to be some serious rethinking, taking into account the legitimate concerns that are being raised.

“After all, surely we are all after the same thing: increased public safety?”

Warwickshire Fire and Rescue service wants to close Brinklow, Kenilworth, Bedworth, Warwick, Studley, Fenny Compton and Bidford stations, and cut the number of retained firefighters by 100, although there would be 20 new full-time firefighters.

The proposals have angered thousands of residents across Warwickshire who have started campaigns and petitions to keep their local fire stations open, despite assurances that response times would be unaffected

A march through Warwick town centre will also take place on
Sunday December 6, from Shire Hall.

Consultation on the proposals closes on Tuesday December 8.

The outcomes will then be presented in a report to cabinet on January 28, which will be made public, before a final decision is made by Warwickshire County Council on February 9.

n To have your say visit www.warwickshire.gov.uk/fireandrescue or email fireandrescue@warwickshire.gov.uk.

Crackdown targets driving ‘fatal four’

A CHRISTMAS crackdown on drink and drug drivers has been launched by Warwickshire Police who are warning people to think of the consequences before they get behind the wheel.

And as part of this year’s festive warning, officers have vowed to breathalyse more motorists than ever before.

Police will be carrying out roadside breath tests on drivers they suspect are over the limit. And an advertising crusade, which includes a series of posters and leaflets warning of the dangers of drink-driving, are also part of the plans.

Chief Inspector Chris Lewis, who heads the Operations Task Force, said: “Last year in Warwickshire we breathalysed more people than ever before in December but there is no room for complacency.

“Christmas time is party season and we want to tell people, if you’re going to a party, plan ahead. Think about what you’ll be doing the next day. Alcohol will still be in the system. If you’ve only had four or five hours sleep and you get up and think you’re all right, you won’t be.”

This year’s leaflets warning people not to drink and drive have been printed in a number of different languages, including Portuguese, Polish and Farsi.

Chief Inspector Lewis added: “These are the most requested translations across the county and are an indicator of the communities there are. For example, there are distinct Polish communities in Leamington.

“I feel quite excited about this added dimension as it will help to make sure Warwickshire’s roads are safer.

“In future we will look at other languages but this is a good starting point to spread the road safety message.”

During last year’s Christmas campaign 2,055 drivers were stopped in Warwickshire and were given roadside breath tests, of which 65 proved positive – a fall of 0.8 per cent from 2007.

In December 2007 police arrested 62 drivers, four per cent of the 1,549 stopped and tested, over the festive period, which was down on the same period in 2006, when 92 drivers were arrested and seven per cent of 1,325 motorists breathalysed.

Chief Inspector Mike Slemensek, the force’s diversity manager, has welcomed the move to get the message about the dangers of drink driving to more people.

He said: “Warwickshire Police takes every opportunity to reach all members of the community to protect them from harm and by providing this information in their own language we can make sure that they fully understand the rules of the road and the dangers of ignoring them.”

This year’s campaign has also widened the warning to include three other key causes of death and serious injury on the road – speed, lack of seat belts and distraction.

Chief Inspector Lewis said: “We call these three, along with impairment because of drink or drugs, the fatal four. They are behind most deaths on roads and we are sending out the message that we don’t want people to do these things.

“We want people to enjoy themselves and we’re not against parties. People can have a drink and relax but just make sure you plan what you’re doing.”

n What do you think? Write to us or email timesletters@mrn.co.uk

Death rates in Warwick Hospital higher than the national average

DEATH rates in Warwick Hospital are higher than the national average in six categories, according to a damning new report.

Independent health watchdog Dr Foster has named South Warwickshire General Hospitals NHS Trust, which manages the hospital, as one of the worst performing in the country for patient safety.

Its report reveals there were more deaths than expected for patients who had suffered a stroke, a heart attack, a broken hip and for those who had been admitted for a low-risk operation like a tonsillectomy, compared to the national average.

Significantly, deaths from emergency admissions and the overall death rate are also above the national average for the trust, which also runs the outpatients part of Stratford Hospital.

For these latter two mortality rates, when 100 people were expected to die given the circumstances, there were actually 116 deaths.

The Dr Foster report says that because this figure is so much higher “chance is an unlikely explanation.”

It has placed the trust’s patient safety score 121st out of the 146 trusts in England – giving it a patient safety summary score of just 17.81 out of a possible 100.

But a spokesman for the trust said they are “frustrated” with the Dr Foster analysis, as the trust has been making progress with patient safety, according to a national campaign. And the hospital’s mortality levels have been falling over the last three years.

She said: “The trust has not received any mortality alerts during the year from quality regulators which are the formal channels to flag any concerns.”

But mortality alerts occur when the odds of dying following a diagnosis or procedure are doubled for a number of groups.

The trust has also questioned the way Dr Foster calculates its Hospital Standardised Mortality Ratio (HSMR), which is used as a benchmark for expected deaths.

The trust’s medical director Steve Mather said: “The Dr Foster HSMR calculation takes its data from that which each hospital provides to the Department of Health.

“That data may not be completely accurate which then calls into question the validity of the calculation.

“A further complicating matter is the secrecy surrounding the methodology used by Dr Foster which does not allow individual trusts to scrutinise their own results.”

But research director and co-founder of Dr Foster, Roger Taylor, said: “We make every effort to check with the hospital trusts the data they supply to us, and to accommodate changes where they have made a mistake.

“Dr Foster has been analysing and publishing mortality data for almost a decade and the methodology has been extensively peer reviewed in academic journals.

“HSMRs are published by the government on the NHS Choices website and used by many leading healthcare organisations around the world.”

But Mr Mather said: “The index does make the trust aware of a potential problem, which is why the hospital has established a mortality group to look at all deaths occurring within the hospital, examining the causes and making recommendations to individual departments.”

Other areas of Warwick Hospital showed good progress according to its own records. No patients have contracted MRSA while in hospital since April 2009, and in the same period there have been 33 cases of C. difficile when its target was 63 or less.

Paul Jennings, chief executive of NHS Warwickshire, said: “South Warwickshire is a good trust and patients can be confident of high quality NHS care when they go there.”