Month: June 2011

West Wirral Area Forum – 29th June 2011 – Part 15 – Older Peoples Parliament, Southern Cross

They had approached the hospital and asked them to allow visitors at meal times rather than visiting times. They had also done work on dementia and a pilot project regarding helping older people on wards who had dementia. Age UK Wirral had given them 3 years of Comic Relief funding to work with GP to help them identify long term carers.

For those who had been diagnosed with a condition for the rest of their life, it was easier to help if carers were identified. This could also inform social workers to work with carers. Helping practices to identify carers as they might not be at the same practice as the patient they’re caring for.

At the Floral Pavillion there had been a two day event with 1,500 people on the wellbeing of Wirral with stalls and workshops. There was also a meeting coming up on crime that Merseytravel was sponsoring.

It was also hard to get feet looked after, the service was fine but was hard to get, other people had problems with mouth and tooth care especially in residential homes. If dentures were lost it could be weeks before they were replaced which was awful for dignity.

A member of the public asked about Southern Cross and whether they were remaining open. Kevin Adderley said they were not aware of any closing. Cllr Ellis said that was good news. Cllr Watt said they had had a weekly briefing, the Director of Adult Social Services had said his department was committed to looking after the people affected and there was no chance they would be left out in the cold.

West Wirral Area Forum – 29th June 2011 – Part 14 – Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service, Older Peoples Parliament

Myles Platt also said they had started a scheme at Wallasey Fire Station. In open spaces it was down to the public to advise them of accumulated rubbish in areas such as Bidston Hill, Caldy and Heswall. Accidental dwelling fires were down on this side of the Wirral which he attributed to the partnership. They had a target of 22,500 Home Fire Safety Checks for this year which they were on target to achieve. They were going to vulnerable people, doing a risk assessment and if they saw any health related issues were referring these on. They did this using special teams and fitted free smoke detectors.

A member of the public said he had had a fire in his home for an unusual reason. A concave mirror had been placed near a window, sunlight had concentrated on one point and burnt a hole in nylon curtains. When they returned they smelt smoke so he warned people to be careful of putting mirrors near windows. Myles said it was great advice, but a smoke detector also detects the invisible products of combustion. Not only did they prevent damage to property but also damage to people.

Sandra Wall of the Older People’s Parliament said they had 1,200 members. It was free to join for the older half of the population. Some had suggested they don’t have a lower limit of fifty. They had been working with the hospital with regular meetings and lobbied the hospital and Merseytravel for a better bus shelter at Arrowe Park hospital. It was not good that people had to wait in freezing conditions. There was also work on nutrition and they had asked the hospital to let family members help at meal times.

West Wirral Area Forum – 29th June 2011 – Part 13 Merseyside Police, Community Safety, dog fouling, Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service

Cllr Ellis said he thought the PCSOs were great and moved to Jim Thompson of the Community Safety Team.

He said it was always difficult when the police stole his thunder and he didn’t have much to add. They had seen a 60-65% reduction in crime. The more deprived areas had seen crime fall at the same rate. There had however been a slight upward trend. Wirral was a safe place, he repeated the advice about uPVC doors. He also asked people not to leave their car keys visible to criminals. Only six crime partnerships were better than Wirral which were the Eden Valley, Ribble Valley and Fylde where there was no deprivation. Antisocial behaviour was tackled with the police service, fire service and youth service.

The Paclite packs were being used to put out small fires. However as things were tinder dry even a discarded bottle could cause a fire. The mobile police station was being moved. Mike Collins responsible for dog fouling said they had brought three offenders to court and issued fixed penalty notices. Two people had been prosecuted in Thingwall, another in Tranmere had given the wrong name and received a fine of £500. The PCSOs and police were also trained in giving out fixed penalty notices to offenders.

Myles Platt said the report was outlined in page 15-17 with page 16 covering the key areas. The District Manager was using intelligence to prioritise resources with an emphasis on partnerships being the golden thread due to financial pressures. They had had success in reducing secondary fires, engaging with young people and taking the fire engines to community events.

West Wirral Area Forum – 29th June 2011 – Part 12 Merseyside Police

There was a plan to deal with sunny weather in West Kirby and Hoylake. They wanted people to come and behave and to keep antisocial behaviour down. The Have Your Say meeting only were attracting one or two, but now got a lot more. The Hoylake and West Kirby meeting had been merged, they were now held in the evening and they had got rid of the paperwork replacing it with a presentation. He asked if any members of the public had questions?

A member of the public asked how Hilbre Island was being handled? Inspector Blease said they had two quad bikes and a Land Rover, however there was no ranger. They were going on the land and it had been ok. It was a fantastic piece of heritage. Cllr Ellis said it hadn’t been manned for one or two years. Cllr Ellis joked they should brick up the Mersey Tunnel to reduce crime.

The Inspector said they would be getting British Transport Police officers on the trains. Leonora Brace said she was glad about this following an incident on a train on her birthday. Inspector Blease said there was CCTV on the trains of a high quality.

A member of the public asked if the police were able to go to groups using foul language in public places? The police said they could but it wasn’t a criminal offence to be abusive to the police. He said if it was done in a member of the public’s sight or hearing they could do something about it. He joked and said he was used to abuse from his wife.

West Wirral Area Forum – 29th June 2011 – Part 11 Merseyside Police

In Cleveley Road (going back to May) a thief had stolen a laptop and escaped by train. Two lads had been identified who were from Liverpool. These were good stories. It was mainly people travelling into the area from the likes of Tranmere and Birkenhead that were causing the problems. He asked people with uPVC doors to secure the door by lifting and turning the key, then taking the key out. Inspector Blease also implored people not to leave property visible in their cars. In Thurstaton and on the beach there had been thieves who had smashed a car window with ladies being the main victim. Also if a satellite navigation system was put away in the glovebox, it was best to remove the leads too.

An offender from Liverpool called Anthony had been banned from Wirral, he hoped he would never return. Onto sheds and bikes there had been eleven stolen. He asked people to record the serial number of their bikes which was found on the axle between the pedals. If they did this there was a good chance they’d get it back, bikes could be expensive to replace with some costing thousands.

Shed alarms were cheap at £6 and made lots of noise. Antisocial behaviour incidents had dropped from 119 to 48 and it had not been bad the past month. They had seven people trained for quad bikes in Hoylake. The traffic bobbies were training more people to ride them. Alcohol had been confiscated by the police from the parks and beaches.