Harrogate Nightingale hospital put on standby

Harrogate’s NHS Nightingale has been asked to “mobilise over the next few weeks” to be ready to accept patients.

In a government coronavirus news conference today, NHS England medical director Professor Stephen Powis said the Nightingale hospitals in Harrogate, Manchester and Sunderland were preparing for the next phase.

Prof Powis said: “We are asking them to mobilise to be ready to accept patients if necessary.

“We are asking those in the high risk areas to go into a high state of alert and readiness. We will do that with other Nightingales if necessary.”

Prof Powis also said that there would be regular testing for NHS staff in high-risk areas “even when they don’t have symptoms”.

It comes after rising coronavirus infections levels and ahead of the government’s new three tier lockdown system to be announced later today.

This is a breaking news story. We will update this page when we get more information.

Harrogate hospital unveils LGBTQ+ rainbow crossings

Harrogate District Hospital has unveiled rainbow crossings to welcome LGBTQ+ patients, visitors and staff.

The hospital has painted three crossings so far and plans to add a further two crossings.

It hopes the crossings “act as a visual symbol of inclusion” and “enhances the work we’ve been doing” to better support LGBTQ+ people.

During the last year Harrogate hospital has launched three staff networks for LGBTQ+, BAME and disabled staff.

We’re delighted with our freshly painted rainbow Pride crossings (the first three of five) at Harrogate District Hospital.
They send a message that the hospital – and the Trust as a whole – is an open, inclusive and non-judgemental place for LGBTQ+ patients, visitors and staff. pic.twitter.com/z69vEUTmQo

— Harrogate NHS FT (@HarrogateNHSFT) October 11, 2020

Stonewall, which campaigns for LGBTQ+ rights, found that LGBTQ+ people face widespread discrimination in healthcare settings.

Some NHS trusts and national NHS bodies have made it onto Stonewall’s top 100 employers over the past decade.

Harrogate and District NHS Trust hope its launch of rainbow badges and the appointment of its first equality and diversity lead will help it make it on the list.

A Care Quality Commission inspection in 2019, which rated HDFT as good overall, found a lack of diversity at senior level and said senior leaders “were aware that they need to undertake more work”.

A spokesperson for HDFT said:

“We’re delighted with our freshly painted rainbow Pride crossings at Harrogate District Hospital. They send a message that the hospital – and the trust as a whole – is an open, inclusive and non-judgemental place for LGBTQ+ patients, visitors and staff.”

Harrogate survey: Parking is ‘biggest frustration’ for 70% of residents

Parking in the town centre is the “biggest frustration” for 69% of Harrogate residents.

The Stray Ferret worked with Your Poll by Judge Service to survey nearly 1,500 people in Harrogate.

All surveys with more than 1,000 respondents are statistically valid. Thank you to everyone who took the time to fill it out.

What are your biggest frustrations with Harrogate’s town centre?

By far and away, parking came out on top for frustrating residents.

48% (678) of respondents said that parking was too expensive and a further 21% (295) said there are not enough spaces.

“Get rid of the stupidity of parking charges or we will have a ghost town that nobody will visit and it will bring no money in to the town.” – anon.

“Horrified how the smartest town in Yorkshire is now full of empty shops with very few iconic shops left to attract visitors. Free parking is a necessity.” – anon.

Next on the list came the growing frustration with the town’s choice of shops. 51% (734) said there wasn’t a good enough range.

What is your biggest frustration?

17% said the town’s environment is poor, 11% said their favourite shop or restaurant had closed, 5% said public transport is an issue and 3% said there are not enough bars or restaurants.

“Free parking will simply be used by employees of shops. Or it will be used by people like me, who will simply park my car up by the station and go into Leeds.” – anon.

“I would probably visit the town more if it were cheaper to park. Parking cost makes us rush and less likely to stop and eat.” – anon.

The survey also asked where people park. Despite complaints about parking charges, 361 of respondents pay to park on street or in multi-storey car parks.

Disc parking was the next most popular option at 317 respondents and then came parking outside the centre at 101 respondents.

Pedestrianisation still divides the town

As social distancing came into place local councils accelerated pedestrianisation but it’s an idea that still divides in Harrogate.

The clearest divide is by age. 40% of those over 66-years-old said they disagreed or completely disagreed with pedestrianisation. None above the age of 86-years-old agreed with pedestrianisation.

In contrast, nearly 50% of those in the 36 to 45 age bracket agreed with pedestrianisation. Those younger than 36-years-old also answered in a similar fashion.

Another clear divide was between business owners in Harrogate, of which just under 30% agreed with pedestrianisation, and restaurant and pub owners, of which close to 80% agreed with pedestrianisation.

There was little difference between answers on pedestrianisation of James Street, Princes Square and Albert Street.

We will publish the full results to our survey and send them to the council and the MP on Wednesday

Harrogate bars warn further measures could ‘finish us off’

If further restrictions are announced on hospitality, Harrogate bar owners have warned they could “finish us off”.

Bars and restaurants across the country are currently under a 10pm curfew in an attempt to deal with the rise of coronavirus cases.

Harrogate hospitality owners say any further restrictions would be hugely damaging to the industry – and the effects of the curfew have already impacted trade immensely.

A full closure in hotspot areas and a limit on household mixing are speculated to be announced today.

Martin Greenhow, managing director of MOJO bars, said:

“Hospitality has been hit with a sledgehammer. We are currently taking 20% of what we were pre-covid. We were just about managing before the curfew but now we have lost 60% of our trading hours.

“We are currently sat on a precipice and we are going to fall. Things are so bad now, more measures would be inconsequential – we may even be better off closed. It is that dire. But we don’t want to close because we want to keep our staff in employment.”

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Hales Bar is the oldest bar in Harrogate and previously relied heavily on the tourist trade. Owner Amanda Wilkinson said:

“We aren’t open Monday to Wednesday because I just don’t think it’s financially viable. If they close us in the evening at 6pm we will have to close temporarily because we don’t do a lot of daytime trade. How long we survive this all depends on pub landlords and if they continue to charge rents of businesses that aren’t operating.

“If we do close temporarily, we are talking about six months. This could finish us off.”

On Friday, the Chancellor announced an extension to his job support scheme with the government paying two-thirds of wages for companies forced to close due to restrictions.

The county was described to be at a at a “tipping point” amid increased infections, by North Yorkshire Local Resilience Forum.

The continual rise in cases within Harrogate and its surrounding areas has forced council leaders to call for the public follow the guidelines in an effort to avoid the restrictions placed on nearby cities such as Leeds.

Another 42 coronavirus cases in Harrogate district

A further 42 cases of coronavirus have been confirmed in the Harrogate district, according to the latest Public Health England figures.

It takes the total number of cases in the district since the start of the pandemic to 1,412.

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Earlier this week, Harrogate Borough Council was allocated £57,951 as part of government attempts to enforce coronavirus restrictions.

The government has awarded £60 million to councils and police forces across the country.

North Yorkshire’s Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner has been allocated £291,987 as part of the deal.

Councils are expected to use the money for compliance and enforcement, such as recruiting covid marshals, carrying out inspections, issuing fines and closing premises in the case of non-compliance.

Although covid marshals will not have any enforcement powers, government guidance says they should “engage, explain and encourage best practice and national covid secure guidance”.

COLUMN: Are you married to a narcissist?

This legal column is written by family lawyer, Laura Mounsey. Laura is a partner at Harrogate Family Law. She specialises in dealing with divorced couples and people who have been in abusive relationships. Her role involves protecting her clients’ assets and income if they want to live with someone or get married and resolving disagreements about children. In this column, she discusses the red flags to look out for that indicate you may be married to a narcissist and how to get out.

I have experienced the trauma of divorcing a narcissist first-hand. I am now a lawyer who specialises in helping people who are terrified of standing up to them.

Typically, I find that many of my clients have been conditioned to think that they have no self-worth. They have been controlled and bullied for years. They believe that any wrongdoing is their fault and that they do not deserve any better. The idea of saying “enough is enough” paralyses them with fear; so worn down, they feel trapped with no way out.

Over time, I have heard many people who sit in front of me say that their ex is:

They tell them what to do and what not to do. They are scolded for “stepping out of line”. However, the rules always change, and they never win. Instead, they live their lives walking on eggshells.

They think they are superior and expect that others cater to, and admire, them. Even though they have inflated self-esteem, beneath it, hides crippling insecurities which cause them to lash out.

They are obsessed with what other people think about them. They will put others down to make themselves seem better than they are. They are obsessed with attention and will often play the victim if needed.

They will often lie and pin people against each other. They will isolate people and are prepared to do anything to get what they want. Often, they undermine others around them so much that they start to question their own judgement, not their ex.

Does this ring any alarm bells?

Leaving a narcissist is daunting. A client once told me that her ex would do everything in his power to destroy her so that she ended up in a shoe box on the Stray with nothing but her children.

But she held her nerve and took the plunge, broke free and now has a very comfortable life that is all hers.

If, like her, you know deep down that you need to leave but you do not know what to do, the best thing that you can do is get specialist advice from a divorce lawyer who knows what you are dealing with.

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Strayside Sunday: A whole new meaning to “keeping up with the Jones”…

Strayside Sunday is our weekly political opinion column. It is written by Paul Baverstock, former Director of Communications for the Conservative Party. 

We all need a break every now and again. In my case I managed to convince my editor to grant me a Sunday away last week. It was most welcome and I return refreshed, if not renewed.

During my time away, Harrogate MP Andrew Jones has been uncharacteristically visible in the Mother of Parliaments; first during the Covid debate in the last week of September and, this week, popping up at PMQ’s to ask BoJo for a recovery bung for the Harrogate Convention Centre and other constituency exhibitors. It’s hard to keep pace with this newly Whirling Dervish of a pol – it brings a whole new meaning to “keeping up with the Jones’.”

As the Covid era grinds on – we are now well into the eighth successive month of restrictions upon our lives and liberty – the effects on our individual and collective health and wellbeing, especially our mental health, are beginning to weigh heavily upon us. Being told with whom we can or cannot socialise, foreshortened and proscribed hospitality hours (a curfew in all but name), masks and hand sanitiser, interminable Zoom meetings, interminable Zoom drinks and, worst of all, enforced separation from loved ones. This is now spoilt fruit.

Harrogate is famously home to a significant number of the reasonably well to do blue-rinse set. What demographers call an ageing population, or what AJ might consider his core vote. Many of whom reside in care homes across the constituency, isolated from loved ones by the government’s insistence on the restriction of visits by relatives. Mr. Jones was absolutely right to say in debate that “balancing wellbeing and isolation is very difficult but the emotional consequences of no visits are absolutely profound.”

When I eventually meet my maker I hope I will be able to say that I arrived at the pearly gates (whether St. Peter lets me in or not) with the touch and caress of those who are dear to me fresh in my memory. That’s the stuff of living. A few extra days of life achieved by quarantining myself from loved ones or, worse still, being quarantined by my government, is not a bargain I would make. Surely this has to be a family decision, made in possession of the knowledge of who and what is important, enabled of course by full information, skilled and professional care home staff, protective equipment, sensible hygiene measures and visitor scheduling. The visitor screens suggested by our MP feel somehow cold and distancing, reminiscent of prison visits or a transaction at a high street bank branch (if you can still find one). And anyway people are already improvising and attempting to wave to their relatives through windows, but this is scant substitute for human contact. Hugs are what is needed, you might say, rather than mugs.

In the end, what jars for me about current care home visitor policy is that it is illiberal, runs counter to the claim made by the Conservative Party that it is freedom loving, that it celebrates personal responsibility and, worst of all, that it is simply inhumane. I know of course that Covid cut a swathe through care home populations and I hear the ongoing policy rationale for standing in the way of long overdue reunions. I just happen to think it’s wrong. Ideologically, politically and practically. I’m with Andrew on that.

Those merry few who have read these columns in the past twenty weeks will know that ‘hens teeth’ best describes the compliments I’ve heretofore felt able to offer the Honourable Member for Harrogate and Knaresborough. I don’t consider myself generally bilious in nature, so my criticism is offered (mostly) in the spirit of sorrow rather than in the flush of anger. It is in this dejected vain that I refer to Wednesday’s “questions to the Prime Minister” during which our duly elected asked, cap in hand, for a not so modest consideration for the town’s conference and exhibition businesses.

This must be a tale of two halves; one the Harrogate Convention Centre, the other, the Great Yorkshire Showground. The HCC, like the errant and spendthrift heir to the family fortune, in need of a bailout for council mismanagement sins far predating the current effects of the Covid crisis. The second, the more deserving and always well behaved second child, a perennial success now fallen on hard times, through no fault of its own.

The state has, so far, stepped in admirably with vast sums of financial support for both the public and private sectors. In his 2019 general election debate with Jeremy Corbyn, Boris Johnson accused Labour’s erstwhile leader of being in possession of a forest of magic money trees, if he were to fund his extravagant policy promises. In office, Johnson has been forced by tragic circumstance on a spending spree worthy of Viv Nicholson. The time has surely come to make tough decisions about on what we spend our dwindling resources. All claims are not equal and should not be treated as such. To do so risks propping up enterprises that were failing long before the effects of Covid took hold.

That’s my Strayside Sunday.

33 new positive covid cases reported today

A further 33 cases of coronavirus have been confirmed in the Harrogate district, according to the latest Public Health England figures.

It takes the total number of cases in the district since the start of the pandemic to 1,370

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Dr Lincoln Sargeant, director of public health at North Yorkshire County Council, has urged people to stick to the rules in order to keep cases down this weekend.

He said:

“I know that many people are making a concerted effort and I am grateful for their sacrifices but unfortunately not everyone is sticking to the guidance that we know makes the difference.

“This is not about blaming or finger wagging. This is about fighting the virus, supporting our businesses, keeping our schools open and saving lives. I want to be very clear that while many people experience minor symptoms, for some residents who become infected they will sadly not recover. We will see more lives lost and I appeal again for everyone to show real restraint to help avoid that.

“This weekend people may be tempted to get together or meet at pubs and other places in larger groups to socialise. covid-19 thrives on a crowd and is easily transmitted when your guard is down. Please play your part and protect your friends and family.”

‘Mindless vandals’ damage trees on the Stray

Several trees on the Stray have been damaged, believed to be by vandals.

Sgt Andy Graham from North Yorkshire Police tweeted that he saw the trees, which are on the York Place section of the Stray, when walking to work this morning.

https://twitter.com/KnaresPolice/status/1314819033053757440?s=20

Responding to Sgt Graham’s tweet, the Stray Defence Association tweeted:

“What motivates these mindless vandals? Why would anyone destroy their local environment?”

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It is not the first time this year trees have been damaged on the Stray.

In June, two young trees were pulled up following reports of large gatherings.

Harrogate Samaritans urges public to connect with each other

As part of this year’s World Mental Health Day, the Harrogate Samaritans is asking the public to look out for one another. This comes after a long six months of social distancing, leaving many people isolated. 

This year’s theme is ‘mental health for all’. 

The charity will be sharing advice today to help spot the signs of someone that is struggling on social media, and asks that you join in the conversation using #WMHD.  

Other resources can be found on the Samaritans website. These supply information on how to help someone having suicidal thoughts, and provide advice on looking after your emotional wellbeing. 

Branch director at Harrogate Samaritans, Liz Wilson said: 

“As the pandemic continues and we face potential new restrictions, we must remember to prioritise our mental health and stay connected with others. The age of social distancing has meant people are having less face to face contact so it can be much harder to spot signs that someone might be struggling.”

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Meanwhile, Yorkshire Water will be marking World Mental Health Day by placing signs at Fewston and Thruscross reservoirs that encourage mindfulness.

The signs include a quote that explains how “mindfulness is about being in the present” and offers an example of a mindfulness exercise for visitors to try.