Health Changes to Ease Hospital Load
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
downsmail.co.uk Maidstone South Edition Maidstone & Malling’s No. 1 newspaper FREE September 2017 No. 245 N News Rain can’t stop Wilko’s jobs fear JOBS at Wilko in Maidstone are in park rocking danger after the retailer 3 RAMBLIN’ MAN Fair music fans braved announced redundancies. heavy downpours at Mote Park to enjoy some of the biggest names in rock perform in the Tilly tours with Billy county town. TALENTED Maidstone teen Tilly An estimated 20,000 people attended the Cook has been on tour with the event, which boasted Saxon and ZZ Top stage version of Billy among the headliners. Elliott, the musical. 5 Initial reports suggest the event – now in its third year – has not been plagued by complaints about noise levels which be- Local plan agreed came a feature of Ramblin’ Man in 2016. MAIDSTONE’S blueprint is The festival is due to return to Mote Park capable of adoption, next year. says an inspector. 8 Full report and pictures, page 8 Brothel boss jailed A MAN who trafficked women to work in a Maidstone 14 Health changes to brothel has been jailed. ease hospital load MASSIVE changes to improve health care and ease pressure on hospitals are on the way for Maidstone, Malling and West Kent. Faced with challenges of an in- The CCG is particularly concerned creasing and ageing population, the By Dennis Fowle about cancer care – late diagnosis in budget-holding GP-led NHS West particular – and access to services Obituaries 36 Kent Clinical Commissioning Group Surveys and consultations showed and poor outcomes for mentally ill. (CCG) says primary health care is the public supports hubs - main con- The CCG says the local care model Parish Councils 37 “extremely fragile in some areas”. cerns were about time and distance also needs to: A key change will see GP practices to travel, especially by public trans- Educate the population to moni- A PCSO was unable to attend the scaled up to work in clusters or fed- port. tor, improve and manage their own parish council meeting at Loose; erations (four clusters have been The CCG wants to close gaps in health and promote self-care. it was agreed to donate £36 formed by GPs for Maidstone Cen- services with poor outcomes, espe- Co-ordinate and integrate health towards the cost of a bench at tral, East Maidstone, Weald and cially for long-term conditions and and social care services. the YMCA pre-school in Tovil; Malling) with many providing a frailty. Provide an easy access service – there is a danger in barbecues much wider range of treatments and Local hospitals are not always best an alternative to A&E attendance. being lit at Brooks Field in Loose; services. to care for the frail, but services out- Provide short-term care on hos- the overhanging foliage in In addition, local care hubs could side hospital are not always able to pital discharge for independent liv- Newchurch Road, Tovil, does not be based in larger buildings to de- cope. Every day more than 1,000 ing in own residence. need parish council intervention. liver a range of services that do not people are in Kent hospitals who Avoid referrals where possible Crime Reports 37 need a hospital setting but serve a could be elsewhere if services were with easier specialist opinions for population bigger than GP clusters. available. GPs. TWO bay trees were stolen from a garden in Tovil; a number plate Position mental health staff con- was stolen from car in Perryfield sistently in all care settings to direct Street; a window was smashed in and support care for patients. Carlton Gardens; A BMW was The CCG recognises it has to in- keyed in Hubble Drive; a house in crease capacity in several areas and Milton Street was broken into and overcome current high levels of staff a handbag and keys were stolen. YOUR LOCAL PROPERTY EXPERT vacancies, turnover and skill short- 01622 690290 [email protected] ages. Comment 46-47 23 Pudding Lane • Maidstone • Kent Health special, pages 18 & 19 webexpand.co.uk 01622 880840 web design •• google promotion ecommerce Advertisement feature downsmail.co.uk Expand your business on the web with Webexpand IF you are considering a new website, or “A Website should make you updating your existing website in line with your growing business, Webexpand can help. money, not cost you money” Established in 2004, by David McCord, local business Webexpand has helped hundreds of David genuinely took the time to business owners to achieve a strong on-line web fully understand our business and presence that is vital for creating and developing Webexpand created a fantastic new customers. website for us. We have had Webexpand became a limited company in 2008 many comments about the look and now has offices close to M20 Junction 8 and style of our website and it has Maidstone. helped us stand out online, which Webexpand cut out the tech jargon and provide is tough being a start up! Since expert advice in simple, plain English. With more It’s been a great pleasure to work with David than 30 years experience, Webexpand will listen then we have used Webexpand to – he deserves recognition for his excellent further develop our website to your ideas and then provide the best solutions work and customer service for you. The firm will show you how many people content, build an e-commerce per month search for your business services and positions for many businesses across a diverse site and more recently for SEO advise on the best marketing methods to help range of sectors and helped them expand, so if work. Our e-commerce site went your business grow on-line. you wish to expand your business on the web, call live for deliveries and we have David said: “You can increase your enquiries by us now on 01622 880840.” already had an unprecedented nearly five times if your website is mobile phone Webexpand can either advise over the telephone, level of sales through our web friendly. We have achieved Google page 1 or if you prefer, face to face in a meeting. platform. What more can we say! Main Services include: Thank you Webexpand! • Marketing / Search Engine Promotion • Web Site Design Alex Auger - The Juice Executive • E-Commerce Websites • Hosting • Email • Web Site Maintenance www.thejuiceexecutive.co.uk 01622 880840 Webexpand Ltd www.webexpand.co.uk Tanyard House, Eyhorne St, Hollingbourne, Kent ME17 1TS 2 Maidstone September 2017 downsmail.co.uk News Reynolds ban A MAIDSTONE driver who failed Parking fears as plans to provide a specimen of breath for analysis has been banned from the road for 30 months and placed on a curfew. for flats are announced Oliver Reynolds (36), of Bar- grove Road, admitted failing to provide a specimen on July 13. RESIDENTS have voiced concerns He was sentenced at Mid Kent about plans for nearly 100 houses Magistrates’ Court to 56 days in and flats on two car parks in Maid- prison, suspended for 12 months, stone. banned from driving for 30 months The schemes would include 47 and given a three-month curfew to units on the Union Street East site, remain at home between 10pm and currently a long stay car park with 6am daily. He must also pay £85 51 spaces, and a similar number on costs and a £115 victim surcharge. the nearby Brunswick Street car park, which has 66 spaces. The es- tates would include allocated park- Wilko job woe ing spaces for residents as well as JOBS at discount store Wilko in gardens and landscaping. Maidstone could be lost after the The two proposals were outlined chain posted an 80% downturn in by Maidstone Council officials at pre-tax profits. public meetings after they were ap- Almost 4,000 staff are employed proved by the policy and resources us and one for visitors, but we have parking allocated. If there was one by the group and Wilko manage- committee. A planning application to go everywhere by bus. When peo- space per flat and two spaces per ment is looking to make reductions has not yet been submitted. ple come to stay, they have to pay to house it might be more manageable. in in-store numbers, blaming But local residents are angry, ar- park in the car park and walk into They just don’t care about the qual- Brexit in part for the slowdown. guing that parking problems are al- town, even though we have paid for ity of life of local residents.” ready at crisis level and the a permit. There are not enough MBC spokesman John Foster said: proposals will make matters worse. spaces now – where will all the new “Following the public meeting...we Art exhibition Lisa Benn, of Tufton Street, said residents park?” are aware of the concerns of the ex- MAIDSTONE artists are being cel- that she and her husband, Gregory, Michael Low, pictured with Lisa, isting residents regarding parking. ebrated in a one-day exhibition at travel by bus because if they move said only one space was allocated to MBC is considering ways of mitigat- The Barn in Broad Street, Holling- their vehicle, they will not be able to each house and there was one space ing the impact of the new housing bourne, from 2-6pm on September park near their home when they re- for every three flats. He said: “It’s development on existing reported 3. turn. She said: “We pay £50 a year completely insane. The general con- parking pressures in the N4 parking A quarter of proceeds from sales for two resident’s permits – one for cern is that there is a woeful lack of permit area.” will be given to the Hollingbourne Meadows Trust.