Little Lever Health Centre

Where do we start?

I suppose the bottom line is Doctor & Patient - One to One. You go along and say you're ill. If you're lucky, he figures out what's wrong with you and gives you some treatment.

The point I'm getting at is that this could take place in the middle of a field. All the things that are built on top of this simple truth are bolt-on bells and whistles, primarily for the Doctors convenience but hopefully also for the patients.

From what I can gather there are two centres of GP activity in Little Lever, one of course is the 'Health Centre' run under the auspices of the NHS and the other is Springview which is a privately owned building with a two doctor practice who I assume get paid by the NHS.

The Health Centre seems to contain three GP practices involving to a greater or lesser degree some 11 doctors. (On various internet sites there are 11 doctors names logged against the Health Centre - How accurate this is I don't know.

The building I guess dates from the 60's or early 70's, brick built with a flat felted roof and a front facia which seems to be of painted wood. Anecdotally has become dilapidated with leaking roof and certainly the front facia has not been maintained for years.

Have a look at some piccys. The first one tells you all you need to know.













I suspect that apart from this, the real problem with the physicality of the building is that it simply isn't large enough to accomodate all the ancillary medical procedures which GPs now get involved in (and get paid extra for).

So along come the Bolton Primary Care Trust ( Now NHS Bolton ) with the proposition to build a series of state of the art buildings in several areas of Bolton. And that's it. They are providing the building ( and maybe equipping it).

From remarks made by representatives of the PCT at the Area Forum there is no agreement yet made with any of the doctors that they will in fact move into the building if and when it finally arrives.

The question is if it were to be built and occupied tomorrow, would the patient experience be improved?

Found this little gem on the NHS Complaints site.

Posted by VERY WORRIED PATIENT two weeks ago

"We have been patients at Little Lever health centre for several years and have always been pleased with the support of the staff and the care of the doctors and nurses.
However, I think in the past few months there seem to be many problems concerned with the reception people.
One morning I waited 10 minutes with their phone ringing to gain an appointment with a nurse. No one answered, I rang back and it then was engaged, I rang repeatedly but I think the phone seemed to be switched to engaged as they were unobtainable. I tried for two hours to get through. I find this is not an isolated incident, it happens frequently.
Although they state you can order repeat medication via the internet, I find this is not the case. I put items on the internet, when no one gets back to you (we have left as long as two weeks and been completely out of medication,) you call in and inform them. They then check the internet and print the items, you have to wait until a doctor is available to sign. I believe this is worse than just calling in, dropping your prescription and going back the next day.
This morning as stated I received a letter to request I have my check up for hypertension, I ended up having to walk to the centre to speak to the reception. I asked also if I was supposed to have nothing to eat or drink prior to the test, she did not know and had no one to ask. I mentioned that there was a notice about suggestions for the centre and could I have a form. She was unaware of any forms and gave me a blank piece of A4 paper!
What is concerning is that if there is an emergency, there may be no one will answer the phone.
I wish someone would look into this and help rectify what is going wrong"

To which the reply last week was :-

"Hi - Sorry to hear you've been worried. As the Primary Care Trust for the Bolton Area we've alerted all three of the GP practices based at Little Lever Health Centre to your posting as we're not sure which one you are registered with

It's important that you take up these issues with the practice concerned - your feedback will help them improve their service. If the Practice Manager is unable to resolve matters to your satisfaction please don't hesitate to contact NHS Bolton and we'll be happy to look into it.............................I hope your discussions with the practice are fruitful

Contributed by Communications Manager, NHS Bolton"

Practice Managers? - Communication Managers? - Just pick up the bloody phone!!!

Remarks made by the public at various Area Forums left no one there in any doubt that the biggest bone of contention is the appointments system. Typically you can't get an appointment till next week -

" But I'm not ill next week I'm ill now"
" Well, can I make an appointment for next week?"
" No - you can only make an appointment 48 hrs in advance"

Say no more !!!

This is followed by the allegation that patients from Moses Gate & Farnworth were being treated at the Health Centre thus making getting an appointment more difficult.

Ask yourself - If they cannot or unwilling to sort this out in the existing building, would it be any different in the new building?

This now brings me on to the likelyhood of the new building ever being built.

Make no mistake about it, the glory days of pumping squillions into the NHS have gone. From next year, whoever is in government, there will be cuts and particularly cuts in Capital Projects. If the money for Little Lever Centre is not already in it's own seperate bank account, then the odds are there will be no money.

In an article in the Bolton News of last week, NHS Bolton admitted it couldn't balance it's books at the present moment and were looking at cuts in budgets and rescheduling projects such as the District Health Centre Building Programme.

This is a copy of a letter I have written in response which has yet to be published.

"Dear Sir

So, now it is out in the open. The local Primary Care Trust - NHS Bolton - has admitted that they are intending to save £4m by rescheduling the building of the planned six District Health Centres. As far as I am aware these were all to be completed by 2011.

At an Area Forum Meeting for Little Lever and Darcy Lever on 14th July the PCT's Chief Executive gave a presentation which left many of us in no doubt that since, in health terms, Little Lever was not considered to be deprived, then the Little Lever Health Centre was likely to be the last of the six to be built. Although he has promised to report back at the end of Autumn, it is likely that if we see this new Health Centre this side of 2015 then we'll be lucky.

The problem is that the existing Health Centre is falling down. Buckets are catching the rain leaking through the roof. The service to patients is anecdotally pathetic. The place is at least twenty years beyond its planned lifespan.

Surely, after the billions of extra cash that the Government has ploughed into the NHS on our behalf, Little Lever Residents should be able to expect a decent building within which to consult with our doctors. Not some great palace full of wizard technology - just a decent building.

The building money should have been ring-fenced from the cost of sophisticated procedures elsewhere.

Little Lever should stop always being seen as the well off Auntie when it is in fact becoming impoverished and we should receive equal, if not greater, priority with other Districts on the basis of the dilapidation of the existing building.

Councillor Hornby has convened a Public Meeting on the subject which will take place
on Tuesday 6th October at 7pm at Mytham Road Primary School.

This subject has raised the blood pressure of the residents of Little Lever which must be a matter of great concern for the PCT."

Enough for now - apart from - Have you heard about the proposal to move the Library into the new Health Centre when it is built - "because it's not big enough". Who says so - " The Librarians" - No they don't, I've asked them. Apparently there's £1 million available in some fund or other that can be squandered by the Council on this.

Paul

JUST TO BRING YOU UP TO DATE ON THE £50K

Not blogged for ages but that doesn't mean that I've been inactive on matters of the Village Centre.

Just to bring you up to date, the biggest specific problem recently has been the prospect under the current proposals that a large proportion of the £50k will be spent on Block Paving the Co-op side of Market St from the Village Chippy to the Library.

It isn't that this project would have no merit, if there were squillions of money to spend, but I, for one, maintain that if it were to go ahead soaking up 63% of this limited amount of money, then the other visible signs of dilapidation around the centre would never get fixed.

Anyway, I've measured up the pavement and it comes to 350 square metres. I've got professional quotes from several companies and the most I can get it to is £22,750. - £65 per square metre. This is against £31,500 pounds costed in the proposals. I'm not really suprised because quotes for other aspects of work such as signage seem to my mind to be equally inflated. Why do Councils allow contractors to get away with inflated quotes or, if it's done in house, why are the Works Departments so un-competative?

Following on from this, I have contacted the Executive Member for Development & Regeneration (who signed off the spending of the £50k against these proposals) about apparent differences of opinion on the proposals and also the Public Consultation (or lack of it).

He informs me that he has referred the whole thing back to the Director of Development & Regeneration and I'm led to believe that the Officers and Councillors will meet shortly to review the proposals.

It is perhaps wise, therefore to wait for the outcome of this.

Should there be no change then I am minded to ask that the whole thing be discussed in public as a substantial part of the next Area Forum Meeting in November.

If, in the event, that request is either refused or cannot be accommodated, then a series of written questions from several members of the public being submitted to the Forum should liven things up.

Finally, of course there is such a thing as the Council's Scrutiny Committee who might be interested to ask why this large amount of money is being used to rip up a pavement that's only been down five years or so.

There is another meeting of the 'Love Little Lever' Forum on Tuesday 21st Sept at 6.00pm at Hardy Hall.

I think that this meeting should steer away from discussing the £50k whilst the Council are getting there ducks in a row.

I have distributed letters to all the businesses in the Village Centre not currently involved in the 'Love Little Lever' Group inviting them to this meeting with a view to expanding our base of views, opinions & ideas.

I, personally, would be keen to see the 'Love Little Lever' group (aka the Little Lever Business & Residents Forum) being officially recognised by the Council as per the 2006 Little Lever Action Plan.

I also think that a decision should be taken to proceed with repainting the cream walls without further ado.

I have sought the opinion of professional painters and decorators about the possibility of removing the paint from the walls (as has been alternatively suggested). Their collective opinion is that the nature of the brick precludes the blanket strip method and the only way we could get the paint off would be to sandblast it which would be horrendously expensive and damage the lack of porosity of the brick.

Let's just repaint the bloody things to make them look clean.

Litter is becoming an issue again, this week not on the square but on the Co-op side, the Precinct Car Parks and particularly the whole length of Fletcher St.

I don't think we are left with any other option than to take up the offer of Street Litter Control Notices and embarass the Police and CPSO's into taking the matter seriously.

Sorry no piccys on this Blog

Next Blog - a bit of light relief from the Village Centre - THE HEALTH CENTRE !!!

Things I don't know. Freedom of Information Request

In order to complete the history of the Little Lever Action Plan and the proposals for spending the current amount of £50,000, I have sent a Freedom of Information Request to Bolton Council about the items I listed in a previous Blog where I couldn't easily find the info from the Council's Website.

These are the questions I have asked.


Information consequent of and subsequent to report EMCR/16/06 presented to Executive Member for Corporate Resources by Director of Development & Regeneration on 18th April 2006. That part of the document relating to Little Lever Town Centre.

Combined with information consequent of and subsequent to the presentation on the same subject by Mr Phil Lamb, Project Officer, Development & Regeneration Department to the Leverhulme Area Forum on 5th April 2006.

Specific information sought.

1) At what point in time, roughly speaking, did the Full Public Consultation take place, what range of methods was used for this consultation?.

2) In what way was the Draft Action plan amended in response to this consultation?

3) In what way was the Draft Action Plan modified for other reasons?

4) Please provide a list of Traders supplied with copies of the Draft Action Plan.?

5) One what date was the Draft Action Plan approved to become the Action Plan.?

6) At which Area Forums on what dates were Progress Reports provided.?

7) Subsequent to the approval and implementation of that part of report EMDR/35/07 relating to the CCTV system, what was the final invoiced cost of the installation?

8) Subsequent to the approval and implementation of report EMDR/04/08, what was the final invoiced cost of the installation.?

9) In relation to report EMDRS51/09, in which ways was the Little Lever Action Plan updated in May 2009?

10) Who, or at least which Department, was the author of the specific proposals contained in report EMDRS51/09?

11) Was any consultation with elected members or the public sought prior to the inclusion of these proposals in EMDRS51/09?

12) When and by what means is it proposed to consult with the public regarding the efficacy, desirability or cost effectiveness of the proposals in EMDRS51/09 against the Projects listed in the original Action Plan, taking into account the accelerated economic decline of the Village Centre in the last twelve months.?

The form asks for reasons why the request is being made and the following is the reason I have given

To illuminate, educate and reassure Village Centre traders (of which my wife is one) and residents and stewards of Little Lever's heritage that the spending of the current amount of £50,000 has the greatest and most direct and cost effective impact on halting the decline of trade in the Village Centre by increasing it's attractiveness and by tackling the most visible signs of dilapidation illustrated in the photographs which can be viewed online by typing 'LittleLeverBlog' (all one word) into Google.)

Paul

Action Plan. What's been done - What hasn't been done

In September 2006 the Executive member approved the Action Plan for Little Lever Town Centre and also approved the proposal that the District Centre Improvement Fund should be allocated bi- annually so that Little Lever would be allocated £50,000 in 2007/2008 and £50,000 in 2009/2010.


Against the Projects listed in the Action Plan the following is what has actually happened.

On the 2nd July 2007, the Executive was asked to ' Approve the expenditure of £50,000 for a CCTV system in Little Lever from the District Centres Improvement Fund'

On the 25th February 2008, the Executive was asked to ' Approve the expenditure of £10,514 for Christmas lights in Little Lever from the District Centres Improvement Fund'

On the 27th July 2009 the Executive was asked to 'Approve the improvement works as listed' (This is the list of current proposals mentioned in my Blog of the 23rd August titled ' Little Lever - Spending the £50k')

That's it -folks.

.....................................................................................

Against the Projects listed in the Action Plan the following is what hasn't happened.

To improve the environment of Little Lever Precinct by a partnership between Development & Regeneration and the Precinct Owners using resources of both.

As far as I can ascertain, contact has been made by the Council with the Managing or Letting Agents for the owners of the Precinct who have indicated that they are reluctant to spend any money on improvements. Thus this partnership has not been achieved and it looks like at this moment the point is not being pursued.

Promote anti-litter initiatives by a partnership between Environmental Services and Town Centre Traders.

I have no information of any concerted effort between Environmental Services and the Town Centre Traders to put into place an ongoing scheme to minimise litter and for Traders to fulfill their legal responsibility to clean up litter caused by the wrappings of what they sell. Nor, does it seem, there is any enthusiasm shown by the Police or other authorities to utilise the CCTV to this end. Following an Area Forum Meeting, an Environmental Enforcement Officer was tasked to liaise with me in tackling this problem but no partnership with all of the traders has been achieved.

Investigate the feasibility of moving the recycling bins to a less prominent location

I am aware of some discussion in the last couple of months about alternative sites, none of which seemed to be practical or desirable. Apart from on this Blog I have yet to promote the idea of the pavement at the side of the Conservative Club facing Tesco Car Park. ( See Blog 25th August - 'Relocating the Recycling Bins'


Shop Front Grants Scheme. Investigate the potential for a grant regime by a partnership between Development & Regeneration and Shopkeepers.


As far as I am aware no attempt has been made to establish such a partnership. It is likely that the Shopkeepers would be reluctant to put their hands in their pockets however, since no details of a Grant scheme have been put to them,then their response cannot be anticipated. It has been mooted that the £50,000 cannot be spent on private property but would the Grant Scheme be funded out of the £50k or would it come from elsewhere?

Investigate the feasibility of establishing a business watch scheme in the town centre.

I have no information as to whether any attempt has been made to investigate this. There is certainly no result.

Establish a forum between the Council and town centre businesses.

As a result of discussion between myself and Sean Hornby from twelve months ago, a forum, 'Love Little Lever' has been established involving several Traders and Residents with the attendance and input from the three Ward Councillors. It has received Start Up Funding from the Area Forum and has jet washed the Precinct Square Floor and some of the shutters. It's deliberations seem to have slewed off at a tangent and run into the sand for whatever reason.

Citizen’s Panel - Consult the panel to gauge users’ views of the town centre.

I know nothing of the existence of such a panel.

.....................................................................................

Paul

History of the £50k. Little Lever Action Plan.

In March 2005 the Executive Member for Environment and Housing Strategy gave approval for the production of action plans for Farnworth, Horwich, Little Lever and Westhoughton.

According to documentation I have, in the case of Little Lever, the purpose of this was two-fold.

1.To develop and implement an action plan that enhances the vitality and viability of the town centre
2.To develop and deliver action through partnership

The following is stated in this document

Little Lever town centre environment is dominated by the 1960s precinct; and following discussions with local Ward Members a decision was taken to concentrate on improving the environment and building the partnerships required to see this happen. As a result only the following three objectives were identified:

1.To ensure Little Lever offers a high quality environment
2.To make Little Lever accessible to everyone
3.To work in partnership with stakeholders to ensure common goals are achieved



All local Ward Members were consulted in order to ascertain their views and gain their support for the actions contained within the plan. The plan was subsequently presented to the Corporate Resources Policy Development Group (PDG) on 5th April 2006 and they suggested amendments which were reported verbally as there is insufficient time between meetings to incorporate these into this report.

Once approval was given the plans would be presented in the local press and Bolton Scene and a formal consultation period would commence after the May elections. All town centre businesses would receive a copy of the plan.

Following consultation an amended action plan would be presented to Members prior to final approval.

.....................................................................................

LEVERHULME AREA FORUM

On the same day that the plan was presented to the Policy Development Group, (5th April 2006) a meeting of the Leverhulme Area Forum was held chaired by Councillor Tony O'Connell.

The Forum received a presentation from Mr. Phil Lamb, Project Officer, Development and Regeneration Department, on the draft action plan for improving Little Lever Town Centre.

This presentation at a Council Sponsored Meeting with the residents explained the points made above and specifically promised the following.

1) Consultation with Elected Members;

2) A report would be submitted to the Policy Development Group and Executive Member to seek approval of the draft plan;

3) Full public consultation through a range of methods;

4) All traders to receive a copy of the draft plan;

5) Amendment to the plan in response to consultation;

6) Approval of the amended plan.It was stated that progress updates would be brought back to future meetings of the Forum.

.....................................................................................

THINGS I HAVEN'T YET FOUND OUT

As stated above the Draft Action Plan for Little Lever Town Centre was presented to the Executive Member for Corporate Resources by Director of Development and Regeneration. This was on 18th of April 2006.

•I assume that the Plan was approved as 2) -above but have no documentation to show that

•I have no details of the full public consultation, whether it took place, by what means or the results of that consultation

•I have no information as to if or when copies of the Draft Plan were distributed to the any or all of the Traders.

•I have no information as to if or how the Draft Plan was amended as a result of this consultation.

•I have no information about progress updates at subsequent Area Forum Meetings.

.....................................................................................

EXTRACTS FROM THE DRAFT PLAN AS IT WAS ON 18TH APRIL 2006

I have extracted from the plan those points which I judge to be relevant


•The draft boundary of the town centre covers the area bounded by Market Street, High Street to its junction with William Street, Fletcher Street and land to the rear of Little Lever Precinct

•Little Lever’s strength is as a centre which caters for the community it serves

•The environment of Little Lever town centre is dominated by the 1960s built precinct which gives the town centre a rather harsh appearance. As a result of this and given the low vacancy rate of the retail units this plan will concentrate on improving the environment of the town centre.

•Sustaining a successful town centre, like Little Lever in economic, cultural and social terms is a key part of the Bolton Community Strategy 2003-2012 developed by Bolton’s Vision for the Future Partnership.

•In recent years Government policy towards centres such as Little Lever has changed significantly. At the heart of this approach is the Government’s key aim of achieving ‘urban renaissance’. The Government recommends reinforcing the role of town centres and of the need to maintain their vitality and viability as attractive, safe and economically active places.


•As the town centre is dominated by the precinct a dialogue is urgently required with the owner to form a partnership that will see improvements to the general appearance.


•Only through a successful partnership will a healthy and viable town centre be achieved. However, Little Lever currently lacks any formal traders association or business forum and as such a much needed link between town centre businesses and the Council to discuss issues affecting the town centre is missing. .....................................................................................


EXTRACT OF SOME OF THE PROJECTS LISTED IN THE PLAN


•To improve the environment of Little Lever Precinct by a partnership between Development & Regeneration and the Precinct Owners using resources of both.

•Promote anti-litter initiatives by a partnership between Environmental Services and Town Centre Traders.

•Investigate the potential for Christmas Lights in the Town Centre.

•Investigate the feasibility of moving the recycling bins to a less prominent location

•Shop Front Grants Scheme. Investigate the potential for a grant regime by a partnership between Development & Regeneration and Shopkeepers.

•Investigate the business case for establishing a CCTV system for the town centre

•Investigate the feasibility of establishing a business watch scheme in the town centre

•Establish a forum between the Council and town centre businesses

•Citizen’s Panel - Consult the panel to gauge users’ views of the town centre

.....................................................................................


So that was the plan in 2006. The next blog will examine what has happened since.

Paul

More on floral decoration & the £50k

Welcome back to Little Lever. Not blogged for a bit. Been to York for a break for a couple of days. Got a couple of nice piccys of street floral decoration there.
Seems these things are all the rage everywhere - except Little Lever of course.





Last Friday did some digging on the Council Website to clarify the history of the £50k spending plans. Very informative. Although I haven't managed to dig out all the documentation I can now tell you a story in the Council's own words.

This will be the subject of my next blog which should appear by the end of tomorrow night.

Paul