Finance drives hospital decisions

I have taken an interest in the PRU for a number of years, and have always admired the excellence of the service given by a highly motivated, and dedicated staff. In particular I would mention nurse manager Sue Hargreaves, her successor, Carolyn Winterburn, and the consultant physician, Duncan Cotter.

I for one am very sad to see the unit close. To be fair, I think that Airedale NHS Trust, and the PCT, are trying very hard to put a good service in its place, based at Airedale, and Castlebergh. This is a compromise, and we all know that compromises are never perfect.

There is a common misunderstanding that the PRU is a Craven- based service for the people of Craven. In fact it is a unit based in Skipton, run by Airedale Hospital, for a much wider catchment area, which for instance includes Keighley, Ilkley, and Bingley in West Yorkshire, and parts of East Lancashire.

On the face of it the closure of the PRU has been badly handled.

However, at the meetings I have attended, I have noted, in particular, that finance has hardly received a mention, yet I have good reason to believe that this has been a crucial factor. There is simply not enough funding available for the Airedale NHS Trust to continue providing so many 'Rolls Royce' services.

If the PRU had not been closed, we might have lost the obstetric unit, or paediatrics, or the special care baby unit, with the service chosen moving to Bradford. Can you imagine the outcry?

Airedale's financial difficulties are well known. Is it not surprising then that these difficulties, and their consequences, received such scant attention, and were not used by Airedale in defence of their position?

The only rational conclusion I can come to is that for some political reason, Airedale has been muzzled. Perhaps we should ask where is this "open and transparent" government we were promised?

In my 24 years as a GP in Skipton I saw a number of fine plans for Skipton General Hospital come and go, usually because of lack of finance.

I would love to see general practice in Skipton based upon a new Skipton Hospital - there were plans for this in 1972!

I have personal experience of working as a GP based in a hospital. It is highly efficient. The patient is able to see his/her GP or nurse, and at the same session see therapists, have tests, etc, - the so-called "one stop shop". This is a rewarding system for both patients and doctors.

A less obvious advantage is that the GPs and nurses are rubbing shoulders with the therapists, and with the consultants working in the out patient clinics. The resulting interchange of knowledge, and experience is invaluable and a most effective form of post-graduate education.

The division between primary and hospital care is, and always has been, an artificial one. However, we must ask ourselves two questions. Can it be afforded? Will the GPs be willing to leave their modern, purpose-built surgeries?

Finally I should like to comment on the feeling of hostility to Airedale NHS Trust at the meetings I attended. If or when we have our heart attack, break a leg, have a cancer, or catch pneumonia, etc, this is the organisation to which we will turn for the trust can only provide services that are fully funded by its commissioners - the PCTs with responsibility for its catchment area.

The Airedale NHS Trust has to view the whole picture and, within Government guidelines, make a fair distribution of the resources available to it for the benefit of as many patients as possible in the area it serves. Dividing the cake fairly is never easy: it is a thankless task, and subject to much criticism by pressure groups.

We should be defending, supporting, and encouraging Airedale - our hospital - albeit not uncritically. Airedale has an outstandingly good record in national league tables. If we want to "bash" anybody, perhaps it should be the Government for setting priorities for the NHS that take little account of the diverse needs of rural communities like ours.

Dr Tom Gibson,

Stirton, Skipton.

SIR - Your editorial in the Herald of March 19 regarding house building fails to looks at the wider picture, particularly on the question of the Embsay Tannery site.

For a site like this, housing is the easy - and profitable - option. For the people of Embsay with Eastby, as well as Skipton, it is a different story as we all, including those potential residents, have to live with the results.

This means pressure on all local services. For example, has anyone looked at the capacity of the dentists and GPs in Skipton to take extra patients?

What about secondary school places in Skipton, as well as the primary school in Embsay?

There are the more fundamental services as well. Yorkshire Water has already objected to the current application on the basis that the Embsay with Eastby Treatment works has no spare capacity for the sewerage. Where is it to go? What about domestic waste: how soon will the landfill site be full?

The Embsay with Eastby Action Group on Tannery Development wants to look at all the options for this site. This is why the group is called 'on' the development, rather than 'against' it.

The main thing is that we want to see something which is sustainable for the village and which enhances it and leaves something worthwhile for the future. Is that too much to ask? It does not mean ruling out housing, it is just that 72 - or even 42 - are just too many for this site, the village and the locality.

This isn't just our view: other agencies such as English Heritage, the Yorkshire Dales Society, the Council for Protection of Rural England, to name a few, have also objected to the application.

The other issue is one of industrial use. This does not mean a smelly boiling offal-type industry, as environmental legislation would prevent that these days. What should be considered is that this site has planning permission for continued industrial use. This could mean using it for small craft units which, in a national park, are in short supply and/or an industrial heritage centre which could complement the steam railway site.

Everyone has been keen to see the back of the tannery, but let's not forget that it has been part of the industrial history of this site and the building of which it forms part has been here since at least the 1790s.

The dams in the village are also very old, featuring on the 1853 map.

Use could be made of this industrial history and bring business and tourists into the area. The proposed nursery, which is at a terrible junction, could be incorporated into the site and the children could have the advantage of being safe, away from the traffic, and be near the nature reserve. Incidentally, the nature reserve is likely to be destroyed by the building process. Is that progress?

So let's not rush into housing. Let the villages have an opportunity to look at other uses and not housing alone. The villages do not have a bowling green, for example, and apart from a small play area, there is no parkland or other recreational area.

Finally, it must be remembered that this is a site in a conservation area in a national park. If these designations are to mean anything, then the park planners should be looking at continuation of the existing use or a development which is in keeping with the villages and the park.

Easy and profitable options are great for those who do not have to live with the damaging results of them.

Jean Robinson

Embsay with Eastby Action Group on Tannery Development.

Pasture Road, Embsay.

SIR - Thousands of drivers in Lancashire and North Yorkshire have been caught by speed cameras and a high proportion of those who have been trapped, state that at the time of the offence they were unaware of the prevailing speed limit. This is no excuse or defence.

It is ironic that where the border of the two counties crosses the A59 south of Thornton-in-Craven, there is a serious omission in the road signing.

Two de-restriction signs at the end of the 30 mph section are missing. This means that from a legal point of view, for a good length of the A59 the speed limit is 30mph going south and 60mph going north. I believe that this has been the situation for several months.

It could be argued that police officers of either force driving along this stretch of road and failing to detect and notify this anomaly to the highway department are considered to be negligent.

As Chief Constables are responsible for the failings of their officers, may I suggest that that they both fine themselves £60.

MJ Berger,

Dunstarn Drive, Leeds.

SIR - By now everyone should have had their new improved council tax demands dropping with a heavy thunk through their letterboxes.

The fact that North Yorkshire County Council has increased its precept by twice inflation at 5.75 per cent is hidden by the fire authority precept being removed and listed separately.

The bill also hides the fact that Craven District Council would have increased its bill by around four times inflation except for the fact that they sold off part of the family silver (housing stock) in order to keep the increase down.

This selling off cannot be duplicated every year, but still, we have the words of Coun Doyle to tell us that it was a "right good budget!"

From a person who voted himself a 60 per cent increase in his police authority attendance allowance a few years ago, I suppose 5.75 per cent is chickenfeed but perhaps voters will tell him otherwise in forthcoming elections.

The response from the leader of Craven District Council, namely "it is better that we spend the money rather than having it sitting in the bank" indicates what is wrong with all rating/precepting authorities.

It is our money, and if there is a surplus it should be returned in the form of a reduction or zero increase, for a welcome change!

The Police Authority have kept their increase down to a mere 10 per cent but the authority's own members' expenses last year would have paid that 10 per cent increase for the whole of Skipton.

Why the Chairman alone receives over £14,000 per annum in attendance allowance for attending four meetings per annum in addition to her other expenses, and this is just one of ten 'jobs' she has!

Council tax and water rates (which used to be paid as one) now represent around £1,400 per annum (band D) which is around 21per cent of total pensionable income.

If you are as angry as we in Craven Ratepayers Action Group (CRAG) are, then why not join us?

Or at least turn up on March 29 at 7pm in Skipton town hall to voice your displeasure?

Alan Perrow

Craven Ratepayers Action Group

Bannister Walk, Cowling.

SIR - I am writing about the question of the possible move of Townhead surgeries in Settle to Castleberg Hospital.

My concerns are: 1 The hospital is on Raines Road which already carries a lot of traffic to and from Giggleswick Primary School, the post office and to Giggleswick School. This lane is narrow and bendy and very few people adhere to the 20 mph speed limit.

2 The surgery needs to be fairly central for OAPs, the disabled and people without transport (which it is in Settle).

3 It needs to be near the chemist for prescriptions, as it is now.

The current site could be improved by: 1 getting walkers/visitors to Settle to use the car parks and not park up Townhead, the road beside the surgery .2 Allowing local people to have free use of Whitefriars car park (also near the surgery) for up to one hour, enough time to allow for an appointment and even the longest of delays at the surgery. 3 Dispensing at the surgery, so that people leaving with their prescriptions don't have to re-park their cars in Settle to get their medication after their appointments.

This would have the added bonus of freeing off parking places in the centre of Settle.

J Canaway, Giggleswick.

SIR - What a joy to see the photo of the then great Ribble Bus Company's Skipton depot (Craven Herald March 12). It is inevitable that when a staff photo of a bus company is taken, not all members are available. One or two notable omissions from the photo are drivers Cyril Allen and Dick Jolly, who later replaced Inspector Edmondson and conductor Hazlewood, who I believe emigrated to South Africa.

One or two giants of the bus world cut their teeth in Skipton. I am referring to Tom Strange, who became general manager of Devon General, and Len Waller, who became general manager of Trent. A couple of years or so after this photo was taken Ted Butcher became DTS at Skipton.

Skipton was one of our smallest depots and as such enjoyed, along with our neighbour Pennine Motors, a fairly unique family atmosphere. Skipton Depot and Pennine had a joint sports and social club which organised many events.

Sadly the whole situation fell apart when the company became state-owned on the formation of the National Bus Company. When two companies had a depot in one town, as in Skipton for Ribble and West Yorkshire Road Car Company, they were amalgamated and things were never the same again.

I often wonder what became of things such as staff records when the National Bus Company itself was broken up and privatised.

I was a young driver at Burnley depot at the time of the photo and went on to become senior inspector, eastern area and finally retired as senior district official based in Kendal. If there should be any retired Ribble staff around who may be interested in an afternoon get together they could contact me by phone on 01282-870716.

David Uttley,

Phillips Lane, Colne.

SIR - Grace Willerton of Settle says she is all in favour of a small zoo being added to the Falconry Centre (craven Herald Letters, March 19), but I'm sure she'd change her mind if she'd seen how the new owners of the Falconry Centre had kept their animals at Southport zoo.

By popular consent, it was without doubt one of the worst zoos in the country (and was certainly the worst zoo I have ever visited!) and if she thinks the new owners will do things differently at the Falconry Centre, I fear she is mistaken.

A leopard doesn't change its spots (and certainly not after 35 years!) and if this new zoo opens it won't be long before the complaints begin.

I'll say one thing, though, it'll certainly put Settle on the map - but for all the wrong reasons. The new zoo to be a tourist attraction? Don't make me laugh!

Mr J Armstrong

Gargrave Road, Skipton.

Bus station despair

SIR - I was interested to read the article about Skipton bus station (Craven Herald, March 19). As a bus passenger I agree with Mr Simpson's view about the appalling state of the station. I would add that the information for passengers is totally inadequate and badly displayed.

As the "Gateway to the Dales" it is unlikely to encourage visitors to use a bus service for expeditions into the Dales. Compare it with Keighley's bus station and despair.

Alan Foster,

Moor Lane, Addingham.

SIR - I agree with all the points made by Elsie Crook (Craven Herald Letters March 12) regarding the loss of amenities in Gargrave.

I have lived in Gargrave for 17 years and during that time an equivalent (and more) number of businesses and shops have either closed down altogether or relocated.

As one resident who has lived here most of her life said: the high street of Gargrave compares poorly to the centres of Cross Hills or Barnoldswick for shops, banks etc.

I don't have any answers Elsie but I do have a question: Anyone out there own a mobile chippy?

Wendy Milner,

Church Street, Gargrave.