Public and Patient Involvement Forums
Patient and Public Involvement (PPI) Forums have been set up for each local NHS Trust across the country. PPI Forums are made up of groups of volunteers who are enthusiastic about helping patients and the public influence the way local health care is organised and delivered. In the words of the Department of Health they will help “to improve the quality of NHS services by bringing to trusts and PCTs the views and experiences of patients, their carers and families”, and they are “part of a much wider Government drive to improve patient experiences across the NHS”. All trusts must listen to their PPI Forum and must respond to them. The Forums have powers to carry out inspections of facilities. They can also look at how wider issues in the local community such as social care, transport or housing affect health.
Membership of Forums is by application. In Staffordshire the Forums are coordinated through ‘PPI Forums Staffordshire’ and they are at 28 Salter Street, Stafford. ST16 2JU. 01785 600617. Email address: info@ppihstaffs.orq.uk. More general information about Forums can be obtained from the Commission for Patient and Public Involvement in Health, 7th Floor, 120 Edmund Street, Birmingham. B3 2ES. 0845 120 7111, or www.cppih.org
Voices 2005
The BBC is launching a huge, nation-wide study into the ways that we speak – the dialects, the regional languages, the accents, and the special words of our locality. Do you know words like ronk? Or nesh? Or blarting? If so, you can help.
Ways of speaking in Staffordshire are said to be those that closest relate to Old English, so the input of people in Staffordshire is especially valued!
What the BBC would like is that everyone who has access to an internet computer logs on to its website and fills out a short questionnaire about the words you know and use. It takes hardly any time at all, but the contribution will add greatly to our knowledge of our fast-disappearing regional dialects. All the results will be passed on to academics who will analyse and publish the results in one of the biggest surveys of English and other UK languages ever undertaken.
Please help if you can – or it may be too late.
Log on to http://www.bbc.co.uk/staffordshire/voices2005 and find out more.
Brown bins for Abbots Bromley
In a leaflet drop to homes in the village, East Staffordshire Borough Council have advised that they are about to implement a brown bin collection service for compostable garden waste.
The leaflet gives details of the collection service, explaining what can and cannot be deposited and when collections will be made.
It is expected that delivery of the bins will start in the week beginning Monday 14th February 2005.
Anyone concerned about their ability to store the extra bin, can ring freephone number 0800 269098 to discuss their issues.
Wind farm application
A planning application from AB Energy has been received and accepted by the local planning authority (East Staffordshire Borough Council). It was issued for consultation on 31 January 2005. Comments have been requested by 7th March 2005.
The planning application is accompanied by extensive documentation and is listed in an unofficial overview for anyone wishing to plan what they want to read, before visiting Burton or Uttoxeter to view the application.
Abbots Bromley Parish Council will have their copy of the application available at Church House between 10 and 4 on Saturday 19th February for residents of Abbots Bromley.
East Staffordshire Borough Council is also planning public meetings on Tuesday 1st March (see separate news item).
Public meetings – wind farm application
Details of the meetings are announced in a letter from Alan Wood, Head of Development Services at East Staffordshire Borough Council.
Erection of 7 wind turbines, upgrade existing access tracks from the site access off B5013, extraction of stone from borrow pits, construction of site access tracks and passing places, temporary hardstanding and site office facilities and sub station, Bagots Park Estate, Abbots Bromley
The Council has organised two public consultation meetings on 1st March 2005 at Uttoxeter Town Hall, High Street, Uttoxeter between 2.00pm and 4.00pm and Abbots Bromley Village Hall, Bagot Street, Abbots Bromley between 6.00pm and 8.00pm. The purpose of the two meetings is to enable Council Officers to explain the details of the planning application and answer any questions by way of clarification.
The meetings will not provide a forum for debate, it is simply an opportunity for interested persons to be better informed should they wish to make representations to the Council. Any views expressed at the meeting will be recorded and taken into consideration when dealing with the application. Both meetings will follow exactly the same format so it will not be necessary to attend both meetings.
Could you contact my secretary Doreen Smith on 01283 508519 to confirm your attendance at one of the two meetings.
Yours faithfully
A Wood
Head of Development Services