Exclusive: Harrogate Hospital Trust projects £11m funding gap

Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust has projected an £11 million hole in its funding this year.

A report from the Board of Directors seen by The Stray Ferret revealed how the Trust is trying to balance its books.

The Trust looked over its expenditure, top-up payments, and coronavirus funding before coming to the conclusion that it had a shortfall.

It will approach NHS centrally to ask for more money long term and, in the meantime, the Trust will request additional funds each month.

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Financial directors at the Trust are looking at ways it can reduce its capital spending and the report says that they will have to reassess priorities over the next few weeks.

The report does not indicate what could be dropped but it does say that they have a June deadline for any proposals.

What has the Trust blamed for the expected shortfall?

The Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust has not blamed coronavirus for the £11 million gap in its funding.

Here are some of the bigger sums from the report:

Council Stray repairs contract given under ‘urgent circumstances’

A controversial council decision to bring in Lancashire based contractors to restore West Park Stray was made under “urgent circumstances” – seven months after the UCI World Cycling Championships.

Details seen by The Stray Ferret show the six-month contract handed to Glendale Services is worth an estimated £40,926.29 and was a direct appointment by the council in April, meaning it was not put out to competitive tender.

At the time, the decision to outsource to Glendale was met with fierce criticism from local contractors who said they were “absolutely disgusted” that they weren’t invited to tender for the work.

Harrogate Borough Council brought in the Chorley-based company to restore the Stray which was left with a £130,000 repair bill following the cycling championships.

Glendale have since started reseeding work, which council bosses say will be complete by September.

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Liberal Democrat county councillor, Geoff Webber, who asked the borough council through a Freedom of Information request about the contract, said he was disappointed that there was no competition for the work.

He said: “It is particularly disappointing to see this contact go to an ‘out of area’ company when the county council has been running a campaign for individuals and businesses to ‘shop local’.  

“I understand that there were at least two reputable local companies who could have carried out this work, possibly cheaper, but were not even given the chance to tender.”

 

Aerial shot of The Stray taken recently yet to be seeded.

Mark Smith, Managing Director of local contractor HACS, described the urgent decision as “rubbish”.

He told The Stray Ferret:

“I’ve never heard of such rubbish in my life. How could an event that happened last Autumn be urgent?

“They had six months from when the damage was done to appoint a contractor. We’ve had the driest spring on record so if a contractor had been appointed earlier they could have hit the ground running and seeded it earlier. Now, they’ve missed the optimum Spring sowing date for grass seed.”

The council expects the overall works to the Stray to cost £129,971:

Yorkshire 2019, the organisers of the UCI, has agreed to pay £35,500 to help restore the Stray.

Harrogate Borough Council has been approached for comment on the urgent decision, but had not responded at the time of publication.

Less than a half of Yorkshire dental practices re-open today

Less than a half of dentist practices in the region will open today despite the lifting of restrictions- many only providing a skeleton service.

However the British Dental Association (BDA) have conducted a poll which reported that only 42% of Yorkshire’s dentists will re-open.

Amongst those opening is Swan Dental Practice in Harrogate, their principal dentist Richard Bannister said:

“We won’t be running a full service straight away as we will only have one surgery open at a time. We will be focusing on the people who have had problems in the last three months, but right now we will be unable to do big procedures such as root canals as anything that uses aerosol sprays has been severely limited under the guidelines.”

Further data from the BDA has said that 54% of practices in Yorkshire don’t have the necessary PPE to resume face-to-face care. At the Swan Dental Practise, Mr Bannister said:

“We were very slow in receiving guidance from the government about PPE, but we have adequate supply for now unless the guidance changes. It has been challenging for us as there have been increases in the price of equipments, masks for example have gone up approximately 500% in price”.

Dental practices in the district have opened today, with a limited capacity for appointments.

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The BDA Chair Mick Armstrong warned:

“Those expecting dentistry to magically return on Monday will find only a skeleton service. Practices reopening across Yorkshire and the Humber now face fewer patients and higher costs and will struggle to meet demand. Dentists returning to work still lack the support offered to our neighbours on the high street, and even clarity on key worker status when it comes to childcare. Ministers must change tack if dentistry is going to survive the new normal.”

 

Silent protest in Harrogate supports Black Lives Matter movement

Members of the community showed their solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement this afternoon in Harrogate.

Unlike other protests seen around the world, in Harrogate it took the form of a five-minute silence, maintaining social distancing.

Individuals and families gathered near Harrogate’s war memorial at 3pm this afternoon. Once gathered, each took a knee and fell silent for five minutes from 3.15pm. The protest ended with applause at 3.30pm.

Organisers Bill Rigby and Shan Oakes said:

“We, the residents of the Harrogate district, want to express our great sadness at the murder of George Floyd, and our solidarity with black and other oppressed groups in communities worldwide.”

Dozens of home-made posters and banners were on display

Protestors spread along West Park after the area around the war memorial became full

Individuals and groups of family members joined the protests

Black Lives Matter protest near Harrogate war memorial June 7 2020

People of all ages gathered to protest, kneeling in silence for five minutes

Total coronavirus deaths at Harrogate District Hospital reaches 70

A distressing milestone was reached this afternoon with two further deaths recorded at Harrogate District Hospital of patients who tested positive for covid-19 – bringing the total number of deaths in the hospital to 70 since the pandemic started.  Both patient’s deaths were reported yesterday.

A further 72 people, who tested positive for the coronavirus have died in hospital in England. 17 were in the Yorkshire and North East region. The total figure for UK deaths stands at 40,465.

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Patients were aged between 45 and 96 years old and all had known underlying health conditions.

On Thursday, the hospital reported that it had discharged 118 patients who tested positive for coronavirus – an increase of nine on the previous week.

Strayside Sunday: Harrogate needs to know about NHS Nightingale’s future

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

In the days after Boris Johnson introduced lockdown on March 24th, I wrote in the Yorkshire Post and Stray Ferret in praise of the Prime Minister’s leadership and in praise of the substance and effectiveness of government communication at the time. 11 weeks later the PM’S moral leadership is under threat and the Government’s initial clarity of communication has been lost.

This week, hot on the heels of the credibility-sapping Cummings affair, the government has asked for, and succeeded in bringing, all members from every constituency in the land back to parliament.  Observing social distancing requirements, it took MPs 90 minutes to make their way through the queue to vote for a measure that disenfranchises any MP with an underlying health condition, or who is isolated for family reasons. This cannot be sustainable.

As parliament will soon be rehoused to make way for the pending multi-billion renovation of the Palace of Westminster, the Government should have grasped the opportunity for a continued virtual parliament, embracing technology in circumstances that make it both possible and advisable: Saving money for the taxpayer; repatriating MP’s to spend more time in their constituencies; closer and more accountable to the people they represent.  Little wonder that Harrogate and Ripon’s own ‘virtual’ MPs, Andrew Jones and Julian Smith, both voted to return to Westminster.

Now that both MPs are back in the capital, perhaps they could ask ministers for urgent clarification about the future of Harrogate’s Nightingale Hospital, thankfully under-utilised for covid cases, which, from Friday past, was being used to provide CT scans for non-covid patients. In the “Before Times” Harrogate relied greatly on the income from conferences and attendees.

The NHS’s contract to use the Convention Centre ends on June 30th.  Given the centrality of the centre to Harrogate’s economic future we need urgent information from the council about the plans for it. It may well be that the Department of Health and Social Care is hedging specialist beds capacity against a covid ‘second wave’ spike. It might just be that a decision is pending. Either way, any plan to get the town’s economy back on its feet needs the Convention Centre convening again, not least to generate some proportion of the £57m economic benefit it claimed to bring to the town in 2017/18.  Even the public acknowledgement of uncertainty by Harrogate Borough Councillors Cooper and Swift is better communication than saying nothing at all and signals to the local business community that they need to make contingent plans for a much straitened economic future.

No political column this week can fail to mention the killing of George Floyd.  As of writing, the charge against Minneapolis policemen, Derek Chauvin, has been elevated to second-degree murder and the other three officers face counts of aiding and abetting murder. Mr Floyd’s death was caught on video and, thanks to social media ‘shares,’ has now been seen by millions around the globe.

On Tuesday, activists asked us all to post a “Blackout Tuesday” black disc in place of our social media profile pictures and asked that we spend our time understanding how to combat the innate and institutionalised racism that the organisers say we are all guilty of, because we were born into white privilege.  While it is undeniable that the good and, let’s face it, mostly white burghers of genteel Harrogate cannot in any way appreciate the lived experience of an urban black Minnesotan, to extrapolate from that to a blanket charge of racism is wrong headed and dangerous.

Which is a clue for those of you who’ve asked why I won’t participate in discussion on social media.  A battle of ideas fought on social media can’t possibly have the space, tolerance and reasoned discourse needed if we are to bottom out loaded subjects like race and make progress toward real equality together.

I don’t believe it is possible or even wise to attempt to substantiate reason and complexity in 280 characters or, as Twitter says ‘less’ (when of course it should say ‘fewer’).  Titbits of virtue signalling, local bores, selfie whores, moaners and the ‘let’s all pile on kicking of those who made mistakes years ago, in contexts long forgotten’, are not of interest and gladden neither heart nor soul.

I celebrate the power of social media to reveal acts of criminal violence such as the killing of George Floyd but I also denigrate its dumbing down and silencing of real public discourse.

Some things are as simple as black and white; it’s just that most things are not.  Things in the public realm are and should be difficult. Reaching agreement and achieving compromise asks the best of us, while, IMHO (sigh), social media amplifies the worst.

That’s my Strayside Sunday.

No further coronavirus deaths at Harrogate District Hospital

Harrogate District Hospital has reported no further coronavirus deaths, keeping the total number of deaths at the hospital to 68.

A further 75 people in England, who tested positive for the coronavirus have died, bringing the total number of confirmed reported deaths in hospitals to 27,359.

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This week the hospital reported that it had discharged 118 patients who tested positive for coronavirus – an increase of nine on the previous week.

Patients who’s deaths were reported today were aged between 43 and 100 and all had known underlying health conditions.

Harrogate district girlguides spread a little sunshine during lockdown

Volunteers across the district have been maintaining girlguiding during lockdown with a Sunflower Challenge.

Created as a way to keep in touch with local girlguides, the sunflower challenge involves making a sunflower out of whatever materials you can find,  from house hold objects to paints and crayons. These sunflowers are then shared on facebook and have also been made into a video on YouTube.

Sunflower created by a girlguide from 4th Bilton Brownies

The Sunflower Challenge aims to spread happiness and fun to girlguiding members during lockdown. Over 1,000 girls across the County and the UK have taken part in the challenge with numbers growing daily.

County Commisioner for Girlguiding North Yorkshire West said:

“Our volunteers are so committed to encouraging, inspiring and building confidence in our members right through the Girlguiding sections, from Rainbows at age 5 up to our teenage Rangers, while having fun at the same time!

Their continued dedication to Guiding for all our members during this time is something we’re very proud of.”

 

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As well as creating their own sunflowers, girlguides are also given a sunflower seed in order to grow their own, with the ultimate challenge being to grow the biggest sunflower.

Sunflower drawn by Megan, young leader at the 28

Mia aged 7 who is a rainbow said:

“The Sunflower Challenge has been really fun. I’ve planted my seed and looked after it. I’ve been watching it grow and hope it might be the tallest!”

Members of all ages have taken part in the challenge with volunteers varying widely form students, stay at home mums and adults who work.

 

If you would like to take part in the challenge, more details can be found on the Girlguiding North Yorkshire West website: http://www.girlguidingnyw.org.uk/sunflower-challenge

 

COLUMN: Businesses still face months of change and challenge

This column is written for The Stray Ferret by Jacqui Hall, non-executive director for CNG, a commercial based gas supplier in Harrogate, and regional chair of the CBI Yorkshire and Humber district:

Coronavirus and its impact has crept into every part of our lives. The world of business looks a very different place to what it did just a few months ago, and as it starts to reopen and begin its road to recovery, it will not look how we knew it.

The economy was hit hard by the necessary shutdown at the end of March, and recent data suggests the full impact of that difficult decision is still yet to come. Temporary closures and reduced operations have led to financial concerns with many business having faced or facing reduced income.

As businesses start to reopen, the Government has released some guidance on how to do so. The CBI has worked closely with the TUC and the Government to deliver a plan that works for employers and employees. All this builds on the good proactive plans many firms have developed during lockdown. Excellent employee engagement, fast workplace innovation and transparency have helped many companies support livelihoods. The financial support has been a lifeline for businesses and as the economy restarts and situations continue to change this is ever adapting to become more individual sector specific.

But even with all this support – the battle is not necessarily over yet. Businesses still face months of change and challenge as they navigate through the recovery phase, operational costs are higher, overheads are increasing and most businesses are having to operate at a reduced capacity in order to adhere to government guidelines.

Most businesses look extremely different to what they did prior to lockdown, with many of their operating models changing completely. We’ve seen B2B businesses move to B2C, restaurants become takeaways and innovators stimulating new technology adaption or bringing technologies already in place to the forefront of their businesses. As we move toward the ‘new normal’ these business are now faced with a new challenge – do they revert back to old ways or continue with the new model they’ve adopted? Customer habits and needs are changing and it is hard to predict where the next six months will go.

It’s not all doom and gloom though, it is an opportunity for businesses to adapt and change – there is an appetite for them to learn from others, adopt new strategies and build back better.

At CBI we are committed to this effort to ensure Yorkshire and every region across the UK is positioned to bounce back from this crisis as quickly as possible whilst making investments in skills, infrastructure and technology needed to sustain inclusive growth.

It’s not going to be easy, but it is just as important now than ever that we pull together – this is a long road, but one we aren’t on alone.

 

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Local artists invite you on an armchair tour of their studios

Each year artists from across the county open their studio doors to the public for two weekends in June. Despite the arrival of coronavirus, North Yorkshire Open Studios have remained optimistic and are instead bringing this exciting event online this weekend.

Artists across Ripon and Harrogate who were set to invite people into their studios have instead created films of their artwork and techniques in order to stream online.

Harriette Rymer painting in her studio in Harrogate.

These films will be made available from this weekend and will continue next weekend with the full schedule available on North Yorkshire Open Studios Website. The films are shared every 20 minutes on their Facebook page.

Debbie Loane, committee member and painter at North Yorkshire Open Studios has noticed the importance of keeping this event running:

“Many artists plan their calendar around this event and for some it represents a substantial proportion of their annual income, so to lose this event overnight would have been a huge blow to many of the participating artists.

For these artists, who derive their living from creative practice, it was important not to postpone until next year…since lockdown the appetite for buying art online has been strong and I am feeling very optimistic.”

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Jo York – Brimham Rocks

Harrogate based artist Anna Whitehouse noticed that the appetite for art has been particularly strong since lockdown, telling The Stray Ferret,

“Lockdown has turned out to be a positive time for artists, people are finding ways to reach out more. Even though it feels quiet there are lots of people in their studios being very productive.

A lot of our artists have never really delved online. It’s making the best of a bad situation.”

From textiles and painting to metalworking and printmaking, this event allows for the appreciation of creative processes as well as the chance to get to know local artists.

This event celebrates work created from all corners of the county, covering coastal spots to scenic national parks as well as picturesque villages and vibrant market towns.

Find all the information you need across North Yorkshire Open Studios website and facebook page.