Private Firm To Run Entire NHS Hospital

Private Firm To Run Entire NHS Hospital

Hinchingbrooke Hospital in Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire, will be operated by the private sector from next summer in a franchise expected to last at least seven years.NHS East of England, the area's health authority, is announcing which of two private bidders will run the hospital.The companies - Circle Health and Serco - have submitted comprehensive plans to improve patient care and make services more efficient.The hospital is nearly £40m in debt and previous attempts to turn it around have failed.The only NHS bidder for the contract pulled out in early negotiations.Dr Stephen Dunn, director of Strategy at NHS East of England, earlier said the aim was to ensure a sustainable future for the hospital.

Re-Bloged by Nigel Rumble, Yahoo Breaking News

The Chalcots "Where Are We"

CHALCOTS: With all what has been going on in Belsize with 133+ children in Camden without primary school places and the near collapse of the Government one may wonder what is happening to the Chalcots with "mould" and other serious problems reported in previous blogs.

So here is a timely update. After many high level meetings with Camden who still has yet to officially report back on all of the concerns raised by representatives of residents through the Housing and Adult Social Care Scrutiny and Hampstead DMC. Through the Operational Forum meeting, which meets monthly with representatives from all sides, it was stated by the PFIC CEO that on the question of “mould” that samples would be taken from THREE flats only and then for the rest of the 717 properties it would be up to the residents to report any re-occurring “mould” for a “TWELVE” month period.

This is in my opinion a disgrace, as I have stated in my previous blogs on “mould” and the problem of the “windows”, I feel that residents deserve better treatment.
I will continue to campaign for this better treatment and to receive acknowledgement that a serious problem exists.

I have received further news that I cannot yet blog about which is as vital and carries a significant H&S risk if unchecked. However, the implications of this particular matter which for legal reasons I cannot go into fully here presents a picture of a Camden Housing department which I have already stated for its failure to deliver "value for money", let alone quality of provision and adding to this an inability to monitor the capital works in the “regeneration” projects on matters of vital H&S standards. As soon as I am legally free to discuss these matters I will inform here in my blog fully the details. Rest assured however, that I will continue to actively campaign to get to the “truth” on these serious matters involving H&S standards.

Author: Nigel Rumble

Sarah Urges Residents To Stay Safe And Warm

Local Liberal Democrat MP Sarah Teather has today urged residents to stay safe and warm following the cold snap that has hit London. The Brent East MP is particularly concerned for the safety and wellbeing of elderly residents.

The current spell of cold weather has been the longest and deepest for more than ten years, with the coldest December since 1996. The Met Office predicts the cold spell will continue until the weekend and has today issued severe weather warnings for London as temperatures are expected to dip to minus 3C (26.6F) overnight.

Local Liberal Democrat MP for Brent East Sarah Teather said:

"I would urge all local residents to stay safe and warm in these conditions. If you are elderly and susceptible to the cold it is important to take extra precautions by staying warm and keeping active.

"If you have an elderly neighbour or relative I would encourage you to check up on them to make sure they are okay. They may be struggling to get out and about."

London Liberal Democrats 4.06pm GMT Tue 6th Jan 2009

Useful info: Help the aged

BLACK MOULD (FUNGUS) hits the Chalcots PFI £150M project

Black mould (Fungus) growing on the NEW window frames hits the £150M PFI "Chalcots" project. This serious and potentially hazardous situation has continued to become worse due to the moisture condensation during these cold and dump winter nights.

The new "state-of-the-art" window metal frames (with poor internal thermal insulation) conduct heat from the warm inside surfaces to the colder outside surfaces. Therefore, all the inside metal frame surfaces become very COLD which acts as a condensing surface for the moisture in the air of resident homes.

It is believed that the condensates (upto 50ml per window) which collects on the lower window frame and window ceils is responsible for the development of black mould spores in the "silicon" sealant, which appears NOT to be the "anti-fungicidal" type which would have helped to control these bacterial growths.

It will be asked at the next PFIC meeting that all 710 properties be checked and repaired to comply with building regulations and Health and Safety legislation of mould spore prevention.

It is widely recognised by medical experts that mould spores are responsible for potentially causing allergic reactions and respiratory problems. Some moulds also produce mycotoxins that can pose serious health risks to humans and animals. Exposure to high levels of mycotoxins can lead to neurological problems and in some cases death. The health hazards produced by mould have been associated with sick building syndrome.
If you are concerned and wish to know more Read Wikipedia here, APSNET

The thermal efficiencies of the NEW window frames is thus compromised by not having any thermal insulation properties, heat (energy) is being conducted straight out from all the window frames in this £150M PFI scheme, this energy conservation inefficient and poor design requires an investigation at the highest level.

PFI Contract info here

Author: Nigel Rumble

Dioxins in "our" food supply chain

Animal feed is one of the most prevalent causes of ingested dioxins. Farmed salmon feed on contaminated pellets with high concentrations of dioxins many years ago. This continues to be a problem also for most seawater fisheries taking fish from the sea, which in many locations around the world have high concentrations of dioxins.

I disagree with the lead story quote from the referred BBC News story that, a Food safety expert Professor Hugh Pennington who told the BBC the health risk was very, very low. He said: "You have to have a lot of these compounds. You have to eat a lot of them, enormous amounts to have any visible effect." http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/7769391.stm

In an isolated incident such as this it would probably be true, but the Professor is not taking into account the constant exposure to dioxins in our food chain, mostly as a result of contaminated animal feed. In point of fact we do consume considerably more dioxins than “official” reports suggests. It is sustained “life time” exposure to dioxins that carries greatest risks.

Read for further information about dioxins:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/medical_notes/358889.stm

Author: Nigel Rumble 7th December 2008