Calvin Robinson Chief Reporter, Author at The Stray Ferret

Four covid deaths at Harrogate hospital

Four further deaths from patients who tested positive for covid have been reported at Harrogate District Hospital.

According to NHS England figures today, two deaths occurred on Friday, one on Saturday and another yesterday.

It takes the covid death toll at the hospital to 146.

Meanwhile, Public Health England today confirmed a further 14 coronavirus cases in the Harrogate district.

The total number of cases since March now stands at 7,042.

The seven-day infection rate in the district has fallen to 97 per 100,000 people.

North Yorkshire’s average now stands at 99, while the national rate is 141

Killinghall and Hampsthwaite is still the sub-district with the most cases, having recorded 25 in the last seven days.

Harrogate East and Starbeck have the second most with both areas reporting 15 cases.

Contactless payments for Harrogate trains and buses to be scrapped

Plans to introduce contactless pay-as-you-go payments on train and bus services in the Harrogate district are set to be scrapped.

Transport for the North (TfN), the regional transport body for the north of England, had planned to roll out the contactless payment systems on rail, light rail and buses in Yorkshire and across the north.

TfN bosses said contactless payments were key to restoring confidence in public transport after the pandemic.

However, the organisation has now proposed scrapping the roll-out of the scheme, which is already implemented on some transport services, due to a lack of government funding.

Last month, the Department for Transport cut funding for the organisation and withdrew funding for smart travel schemes.

In papers due before a board meeting on Thursday, Jeremy Acklam, programme director for integrated and smart travel, will recommend winding down the scheme.

In his report, he says:

“TfN have tried a variety of approaches to DfT to see if even limited funding could be made available for quick wins and we continue to have discussions with DfT’s acceleration unit to look at in-year opportunities.

“However, as yet, no funding has been secured, and any such funding if agreed would be on much more limited basis.

“Therefore, this paper seeks the board’s agreement to wind down the IST programme.”

Government officials decided last month to cut core funding to TfN from £10 million to £6 million. They also withdrew funding for contactless payment systems, of which TfN requested £33 million for the year.

At the time, Ian Craven, finance director at TfN, said the proposal fell “substantially short” of what the organisation needed for its infrastructure projects.

TfN had proposed a phased introduction of smart travel schemes, which included smart cards for season ticket holders, disruption information for bus passengers and eventually a contactless pay-as-you-go system.

Discounted smart tickets were introduced last year for passengers traveling between Harrogate and Leeds.

The tickets were designed to be flexible and gave passengers 10 unlimited travel days for the price of nine valid for six months.

It was part of the £150 million integrated and smart travel programme. The next stage was to deliver more contactless payment technology across the north.

EXCLUSIVE: Great Yorkshire Showground can give 1,800 vaccines in a day

Harrogate’s Great Yorkshire Showground vaccine site can carry out up to 1,800 vaccinations a day.

The site, which opened its doors on December 22, is among four centres which are currently offering vaccines to people in the district.

In an interview with the Stray Ferret, Dr Chris Preece, a GP partner in Boroughbridge and Knaresborough and clinical director of the Knaresborough and Rural District Primary Care Network, said he spent the weeks leading up to Christmas working on the blueprints for the centre.

He said the site had slowly cranked up its numbers, but added there was “a lot more work to do” to vaccinate everyone.

Dr Chris Preece, a GP partner in Boroughbridge and Knaresborough, who helped to draw up the site plans.

Christmas planning

Discussions about the site started in late November after GPs were told they would need to set up vaccination centres.

Seventeen GP practices in the district and the Yorkshire Health Network, the federation of GPs, came together to look for a suitable venue to carry out vaccinations.

Officials scouted sites in Harrogate, Ripon and Knaresborough including halls, swimming pools and supermarkets.

They settled on the showground because of its size and the need to keep batches of the Pfizer vaccine refrigerated on site.

Dr Preece and his colleagues spent weeks drawing up protocols, job descriptions and plans for how the site would look.

While others were out Christmas shopping, the team were mapping out and drawing chalk lines on the floor of the hall to mark where dividers would be placed.

Dr Preece said:

“I slept like I’ve never slept before on Christmas Day, because it was my first day off for a month.

“It was a lot of work building it up to that. We were in here [the hall] in whatever the weather getting it all ready and sorted out.”

‘A small army of volunteers’

The site runs on hundreds of staff and volunteers who have given up their time to help with what has been described as the biggest vaccination programme in British history.

GP surgeries from all over the district send staff to the site every day on a rota system.

Some clinical staff have come out of retirement to help with the vaccine effort.

Staff at the Great Yorkshire Showground site helping with the vaccination effort.

Alongside the doctors and nurses is a “small army of marshals” who help to signpost people into the car park and into the centre.

Dr Preece said the vaccination centre would not have been able to operate well without them.

He said:

“All the voluntary organisations have all come together to help marshal this which has been incredibly useful, I don’t quite know how we would done it without them.

“We are very grateful to them.”

Ramping up vaccinations

While the centre runs on the availability of vaccines, it can give up to 1,800 vaccinations a day at maximum capacity.

It’s taken time for the numbers to reach those levels, Dr Preece said, and is dependent on the supply they have.

He said:

“The maximum is about 1,800 now, so we’ve got really big numbers coming through when it’s going at full capacity.

“We are driven by how many vaccines we have got available to us at any one time.

“So, we can have 1,800 in here and 600 in a day at Ripon. We’ve got a good number coming through.”

Alongside the centre, clinical staff started to vaccinate care homes in January after batches of the Oxford-Astrazeneca vaccine arrived. In one weekend, 50 homes were vaccinated.

A total of 175,000 first doses of the coronavirus vaccine have been given in North Yorkshire and York so far.

Last week, surgeries also paid visits to those that are housebound.

As the site presses ahead with first doses, those requiring their second vaccine will begin to filter through gradually.

Dr Preece said he expects it will offer “more work in the short term” as they overlap with first doses.

“Again, it depends on vaccine supply how quickly we can do it.”

Meanwhile, Amanda Bloor, accountable officer at North Yorkshire CCG, told journalists at a press briefing earlier this week that 175,000 first doses have been carried out in North Yorkshire and York so far.

While the numbers continue to increase, health bosses are still urging those over-70 who have not had the vaccine to come forward.

More work to do, but a sense of optimism

As the year goes on, the centre will continue to make its way down the age cohorts until everyone is offered the vaccine.

Dr Preece said the operation is the biggest undertaking of his 18-year career and joked that it was like “putting on the Olympics after a village fete”.

However, he said he was still optimistic about the future but added there was still more work to be done.

He said:

“We have done those first four cohorts of people and we’ve managed to do that on time and on target, which is incredibly pleasing.

“It does give me some optimism and some hope for where we go next with this.

“There is still a lot of work to go, we’ve got all of those to do twice and all the other groups yet to come.

“So, we can’t sit back and relax yet unfortunately. But it is still looking optimistic at the moment.”

Villagers battle weary as fourth inquiry into A1 service station starts

Residents in Kirby Hill have said plans for a motorway service station have been “a burden” on the village for the past 25 years.

Kirkby Hill Residents Against Motorway Services (RAMS) have campaigned against four applications on the site on the A1 northbound, which is just 500 yards from the village.

In a saga which has spanned a quarter of a century, the application has been before multiple council planning committees, faced three public inquiries and been turned down twice by the Secretary of State and the High Court.

Now, residents are set for a fourth public inquiry tomorrow after Applegreen, the latest developer to have submitted a proposal, has appealed against another rejection by Harrogate Borough Council.

Gareth Owens, chair of the RAMS since 2002, said the village is tired of fighting the proposals and expect them to come back every five years.

He said:

“The thing people say to me is ‘when will no mean no?’.

“This is the fourth public inquiry in 25 years and it’s a burden on the village.”

The motorway service station site, as proposed by Applegreen, on the A1 northbound near Kirby Hill.

Mr Owens and his team will once again mobilise for the inquiry tomorrow.

Twenty-two residents will give evidence to the inquiry, which is being held online due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Residents are expected to argue that there is no need for another service station on the A1 and that the development would do more harm than good.

In evidence due before the inquiry, they will say that the Secretary of State refused permission for the Kirby Hill site twice in favour of a station at Wetherby in 2003 and an upgrade to Leeming Bar in 2012. They will also say that the development is contrary to the newly adopted Harrogate district local plan.

Gareth Owens, chair of the Kirby Hill RAMS, speaking against the application at Harrogate Borough Council’s planning committee. Picture: Kirby Hill RAMS

While the last quarter of a century has been difficult for residents, Mr Owens said they are determined to see off another attempt to build on the site.

He said:

“It’s taken up a large amount of time and effort.

“One of the things we say is what we could have done to benefit the community if we were not fighting this.

“But we are determined to see this off. That been said, it has brought the community closer together.”

The Stray Ferret contacted Applegreen for comment, but did not receive a response by time of publication. The company said previously that it would not be appropriate to comment until the appeal had been heard.

Tears of relief at Harrogate vaccination site

People have been left relieved, in tears and very emotional after receiving their first vaccinations at the Great Yorkshire Showground.

Dr Chris Preece, one of the GPs that helped to set up the site, told the Stray Ferret that some were left “very emotional” in the early days of the site.

It comes after health bosses confirmed this week that 175,000 first doses of the vaccine have been carried out across North Yorkshire and York so far.

Vaccinations are expected to move onto those over 65-years-old from next week.

For those groups who were among the first to get their vaccines, Dr Preece said it was an emotional experience.

He said that for some, the staff and the volunteers were the first people they had seen “in months”.

Dr Preece said:

“It’s been really positive and really nice, from our point of view.

“The first couple of weeks especially was very emotional for some people. We have had tears and things like that as people came into the site.

“For a lot of people who come here, particularly in the first couple of cohorts, it’s the first time they’ve left their house for months and months.

“It’s been really emotional for a lot of those people who are coming in.”

Dr Preece said that emotion has been reflected in those working and volunteering at the site too.

He added:

“There’s a tangible feeling that we’re doing something important here.”

Anne from Harrogate was among the first to be vaccinated at the Great Yorkshire Showground.

Among the first to get their vaccine at the showground was 83-year-old Anne, who thanked the health service and hoped it would make “her feel safe and will be the start of the end of isolation”.

Others marked their vaccines in line with special occasions.

Chris and Joan Jackson, aged 81 and 80, went to the showground a week after their 60th wedding anniversary.

At the time, Chris told the Stray Ferret:

“It was a very easy process and we were done in 45 minutes. It was managed quite well.

“It was no different to the flu jab.”

The showground is set to carry on offering first doses to the remaining cohorts, as well as the second doses to those that have had their first jab and completed the 12-week wait.

Health bosses have urged any of those over-70 who have not been offered the vaccine to contact the NHS to book an appointment.

Harrogate district records a further 23 coronavirus cases

A further 23 coronavirus cases have been confirmed in the Harrogate district.

It takes the total cases since March up to 6,983, according to today’s Public Health England figures.

Meanwhile, the district’s seven-day covid rate stands at 111 per 100,000 people.

The North Yorkshire average is 116, while the England rate is currently 166.

No further deaths have been reported at Harrogate District Hospital.

Watch out this coming week on the Stray Ferret for interviews from the Great Yorkshire Showground vaccine site.

Harrogate hospital records further covid death

A further patient who tested positive for coronavirus has died at Harrogate District Hospital.

It takes the death toll at the hospital up to 142.

The death was recorded on February 9, according to NHS England figures.

It comes as statistics from the trust show that 65 patients are currently being treated for covid at the hospital.

The hospital has also discharged a further 25 people in the last week.

Meanwhile, a further 32 cases of coronavirus have been confirmed in the Harrogate district.

It takes the total number of cases since March to 6,960, according to today’s Public Health England figures.

The district’s covid rate has fallen to 121 per 100,000 people.

Elsewhere, the North Yorkshire average stands at 123 and the national rate is 186.

Harrogate council backs council tax hike

Councillors on Harrogate Borough Council have backed a £5 increase in council tax for this coming year.

The hike will see the council’s share of council tax rise to £250.92.

It means taxpayers in the district could see their overall bill, which includes rates for county council and police and fire services, increase to more than £2,000 in 2021/22.

Councillors voted for the increase at a full council meeting tonight as part of the authority’s budget plans.

Cllr Graham Swift, cabinet member for resources on the borough council, said the budget was put together despite coronavirus impacting on the council’s finances.

Cllr Swift said:

“There is no doubt for all people, whether you are a council member or a council staff officer or a member of the public, that 2020 and 2021 are time periods of incredible change caused predominantly by the coronavirus.

“It is because of the coronavirus that Harrogate Borough Council have had significant impact to our budget and significant changes to way in which we are financing the budget.”

It comes as council has forecast a cost of £5.9 million this year due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Officials said the authority had lost income in car parking, sport and leisure and the Harrogate Convention Centre.

Meanwhile, councillors also voted for an amendment to the budget to increase pay for the lowest employees to £9.50 per hour.

A breakdown of the potential council tax bill for Harrogate district in 2021/22.

Elsewhere, North Yorkshire County Council is set to decide on a 3.49% increase in their share of council tax next week.

It would see the authority’s share rise to £1,411.05.

Cllr Carl Les, leader of the county council, said the move is one of the most difficult decisions for the council in recent years.

He said:

“I don’t think there has ever been a more difficult time for us to do this exercise.

“Never have our services been more needed, but equally never has the economy and society been under such pressure.

“So we really need to get the balance right between what we need to deliver in services and what the community of North Yorkshire can afford to pay for those services.”

Over 70s in Harrogate district urged to contact NHS for covid vaccine

Over 70s in the Harrogate District who have not been invited for their covid vaccination are being urged to come forward and arrange an appointment.

It comes as the health service is aiming to vaccinate all those in the top four priority groups by February 15.

North Yorkshire health officials have previously said that they were confident of achieving the target.

Amanda Bloor, accountable officer at North Yorkshire CCG, said:

“Healthcare colleagues across North Yorkshire and York and in the wider Humber, Coast and Vale area have been doing a fantastic job to vaccinate people in the first four priority groups, but we want to ensure that all those who are eligible, have been offered the jab.

“We know that people over 70 and those on the shielded patient list are particularly vulnerable to coronavirus. It’s important they come forward if they haven’t had their vaccine yet.

“I urge everyone to check with their parents, grandparents, relatives, neighbours and friends who are 70 years old and over if they have been vaccinated. If they haven’t had the vaccine yet, please help them book an appointment as soon as possible.

“If you have previously turned down the opportunity to get the vaccine but have changed your mind, please also come forward now. We are determined that nobody should be left behind.

“The vaccine is safe, simple, and will offer you and those around you crucial protection against this virus.”

Those who are eligible for the vaccine can book an appointment through the national booking system at www.nhs.uk/covid-vaccination.

Those who cannot book online can call a free 119 telephone number, anytime between 7am and 11pm seven days a week. The national system allows patients to pick a convenient location and time.

Health bosses said those who receive a letter from the NHS to book with the national system, but already have an appointment booked with their local GP practice, should ignore the letter and keep the existing appointment.

Vaccinations are currently being offered at the Yorkshire Events Centre, Askham Bar in York and at Elland Road in Leeds.

Harrogate district records 26 further coronavirus cases

A further 26 cases of coronavirus have been confirmed in the Harrogate district, according to Public Health England figures.

It takes the total number of cases since the start of the pandemic to 6,910.

Meanwhile, the district’s seven-day covid rate has fallen to 123 per 100,000 people.

The North Yorkshire average stands at 121, while the England rate is 193.

A further death of a patient who tested positive for coronavirus has been reported at Harrogate District Hospital.

The death was recorded on February 8, according to NHS England figures.

It takes the death toll at the hospital since March to 141.

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Christmas planning

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‘A small army of volunteers’

Ramping up vaccinations

More work to do, but a sense of optimism

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