NEWS...

  MORTIMER MEDICAL PRACTICE

CATCH-UP FLU VACCINE CLINICS

KINGSLAND WEDNESDAY 13TH NOVEMBER 3.30-7.00PM – BOOKED APPOINTMENTS ONLY

KINGSLAND SATURDAY 16TH NOVEMBER 

9.00AM – 12 NOON

Surname A-H 9.00-10.00

Surname I – P 10.00-11.00

Surname P – Z 11.00-12.00

Mortimer Medical Practice 

-----------

Patient Participation Group News...

Dementia Research Claire Brown, Herefordshire Primary Care Research Nurse, attended our meeting to talk about dementia research. Claire is encouraging anyone to sign up for this including those with dementia and their carers. Sign up can be done via the Join Dementia Research website 

https://www.joindementiaresearch.nihr.ac.uk/signup or by telephoning 0300 1115111. This is an NHS project and is not funded by drug companies.

Staff changes  The practice has appointed a new reception apprentice, Rosa Ingram. Steph is now back at work almost full time following her accident. We have a new year 5 medical student from Keele University, Joseph Toner. He will be with us until November.

Ear Irrigation  This service should be starting in November but there will be strict criteria.

Herefordshire One Record  This will be launched in November. The idea is that all health providers in the county will be able to look at patient’s records using one system. There will 

be articles in the Hereford Times etc.

CM PPG Rep.

Two Christmas collections forthcoming, on December 3rd and 17th, at the Co-op in Knighton raising money for the Knighton and East Radnor Food Bank, based in Knighton and Presteigne. Other charities supported will be the Air Ambulances and local Rotary supported groups.   

November 2019 news and update

As we look back over last month’s activities, we realise how busy we have been. It started off with the fourth of our monthly “Afternoon tea and dance” events at St Edwards Church Hall in Knighton. These free afternoons are becoming an increasingly popular way to meet new friends in a relaxed environment. This was followed by our support of the Vintage Sports Car Club’s 80th Welsh Trial by organising the car parking, while raising funds for our charitable efforts in the community. Later in the month we celebrated Knighton Rotary Club’s 43rdbirthday, had a stall at the Knighton Farmer’s market to increase awareness of Rotary’s efforts to eradicate polio, and supported the Presteigne Community Fair. We also discussed the possibility of a charity auction in the spring, along with the local Young Farmers’ Clubs and the Samaritans. More on that exciting event soon! You can find out more about what Rotary does by visiting Knighton Rotary Club website or Facebook page, or come visit us on a Wednesday lunch or evening - you will be very warmly welcomed. Contact Norman Thorp 01547 529666 or Cathy Jones 07813 733240 for more details. Catch up next month!

PLANNING APPLICATIONS ON HOLD

River pollution fears put building plans on ice

WATER pollution has forced Herefordshire Council  to put planning applications on hold across a large part of the county. 

 Phosphate levels in the river Lugg catchment area are so high that the council is understood to have placed new development proposals on hold until it finds a way forward. 

 The Lugg catchment area in Herefordshire spreads from the Welsh border near Kington  as far east as  Bromyard and from the northern outskirts of Hereford to almost as far north as Orleton.

 Several years ago, the council launched a nutrient management plan to minimise the amount of pollution in the county’s rivers. 

But Natural England now says it isn’t doing enough to address the problem. 

 Arrow ward councillor Roger Phillips told full council his area was affected. 

 “We have now had Natural England make a decision on phosphate levels in the river Lugg catchment area,” he said.  “This has resulted in all planning applications in my ward being halted and none until the foreseeable future until this is resolved actually being granted.  He said he found out about the serious matter through thanks to a local resident. 

 “There should have been a briefing note sent to all of us that are affected. 

 “It can be seen as some degree of contempt with which elected members are dealt with. It isn’t good enough.” 

 A Herefordshire Council spokesperson said: “Natural England has recently raised concerns that the actions proposed for the river Lugg in the Nutrient Management Plan may not be sufficient to achieve favourable status and have therefore raised concerns about future development in the Lugg catchment until it is satisfied that the Nutrient Management Plan is back on target”. 

 “We have worked with our partners to better regulate sources of phosphates, where this is possible, but there is more work to be done. We will continue to work with our partner agencies to find a solution as soon as possible.”  HT 10/19

Vital studies into early diagnosis, prevention and new treatments for dementia are taking place in the UK – but more volunteers are needed.
 

  Every 3 minutes someone in the UK is diagnosed with dementia. There are numerous questions about diagnosis, treatments, prevention and best care for which there are no clear answers yet. Only research into dementia will help  find these answers, and this research is reliant on people like you volunteering to take part and making a difference for the future.


To find out about new studies looking for participants, anyone over the age of 18 can register with Join Dementia Research. You do not necessarily need to have a diagnosis, but we are encouraging those with dementia and their carers and relatives to sign up. You can do this online, by phone or by post, and  you can sign up for yourself, or on behalf of someone else. Join Dementia Research is a service which allows people to register their interest in national dementia research, by signing up you are merely agreeing to be contacted and the choice is always yours  as to whether you take part in individual studies.


Once registered, your details will be stored securely, and will be regularly checked to see if you match to studies. Once matched with a study, information is sent to individuals to allow them to decide whether or not they  might be interested in taking part, participation is always voluntary. There are lots of types of studies, such as those looking at prevention or new ways to diagnose the condition; drug studies trialling new treatments; or simple surveys  and questionnaires.


You can sign up today at www.joindementiaresearch.nihr.ac.uk, by calling Alzheimer’s Research UK on 0300 111 5 111 or Alzheimer’s Society on 0300 222 1122, or by collecting a registration form from Mortimer Medical Practice.
 

LINGEN WEB ARTICLE AUTUMN 2019 

Autumn is now upon us and for many of us our holiday is just a distant dream. The weather was variable and I do hope all of you involved in the organisation of local community events were not affected by the weather. I know how hard many local people in the community work to organise such events and they should all be congratulated.

The condition of Letton Lane is still of major concern to myself and local residents and I have included it in my list of priority roads for resurfacing or surface dressing in 2020/21. All lists submitted by councillors will be considered by Balfour Beatty and prioritised. I will not know until the Annual Plan is published whether Letton Lane has been included but I will continue to press for improvements to be made. I have been advised that to resurface the whole lane would cost in the region of £113,000 and to resurface the worst areas £40,000. 

As you may be aware Border Group Parish Council has invested in a Speed Indicator Device which at present is being used in Brampton Bryan and Walford. As soon as a suitable site can be found it will be used also in Lingen in the hope that this will slow traffic down. Unfortunately, such equipment cannot be kept in one place permanently and it will therefore rotate between the 3 villages.

The Nursery application has not yet been determined due to some outstanding issues but there are a significant number of applications within the River Lugg catchment area which cannot be considered at present as Natural England advise that a Habitat Regulations Assessment is required. The Lugg currently suffers from the effects of point source and diffuse water pollution and levels of phosphates have exceeded the conservation objectives, therefore Natural England are unable to respond to casework in the Lugg catchment in the short term, while they seek guidance from national specialists and their legal team regarding their position on proposals that are not phosphate neutral or ecologically inconsequential. The have also suggested that local authorities seek legal advice.

I recently attended a briefing on Community Resilience and there was discussion around what plans parishes had in place in the event of an emergency. It concentrated on what local communities could do in such circumstances whilst either waiting for emergency services to arrive or in the worst-case scenario if emergency services were unable to easily reach the area. This obviously covers, flooding, major road accidents, significant fires etc. Parish councils have now received information from the Council on how to collect information from residents who may have certain expertise which could be called upon in an emergency and to identify a community building that could be used as a shelter. This information would be shared with all the emergency services and the local authority. 

Herefordshire Council is now administered by a coalition of Herefordshire Independents, Its Our County and The Green Party. The Leader of the Council is Cllr David Hitchener who has never been a councillor before and he is supported by 11 other Herefordshire Independents, 7 Greens and  8 IOC  The rest of the Council is made up of 13 Conservatives, 7 Lib Dems and 5 True Independent and 1 Independent Independent.  

I have been fortunate to once again be elected as the Chair of the Children & Young Peoples Scrutiny Committee.

An independent organisation has rated local authorities across the country on their performance in providing support for High Needs children and of the top 10 authorities Herefordshire came 2nd behind York City. Our nearest neighbour in the top 10 was Gloucestershire who came 7th. We have also for the second year running performed well above average in our YR6 SATs tests. We have come a long way over the past few years and it is very pleasing in particular that we are demonstrating excellent work being undertaken with our most vulnerable children.

If you need to contact me about a particular issue or just to have a chat please do not hesitate to do so either by emailing me carole.gandy@herefordshire.gov.uk, or telephone either 01568 780583 or 07792882133. I am always happy to come out and visit you at your home if you feel that would be helpful.

We’ve had a couple of e-mails asking about our Lingen Daffodils. These daffs were planted by villagers (under licence) in 2006 to brighten up the verges beside our village nameplates. The daffodils were purchased for this purpose by the local group ‘Lingen Arts All Inclusive’ (LAAI) with the majority of the forerunning snowdrops being donated by residents from their gardens.

The full story can be seen on the Lingen Arts All Inclusive web page https://lingen.org.uk/arts-all-inclusive

Our daffodils are Narcissus Pseudnarcissus; the wild Tenby daffodil. Of these in the late 16th century John Gerard wrote that wild daffodils grew almost everywhere in England. Since then they’ve become increasingly rare due to agricultural intensification. 

These spring flowers have been given many names across the ages and counties, for example ‘fairy bells’ in Dorset and ‘lenty cups’ in Somerset.

In folklore, they are considered lucky and not to be stepped on. In giving a loved one a bunch of daffs, you are sending them good luck.