http://leaderlistens.com/2009/04/29/time-running-out-for-barnet-residents/
The link above will take you to the Leader of Barnet Council's blog. He gives some very good advice in it, which if you applied his logic to his proposed scheme to sack Barnets sheltered housing wardens would blow the scheme out of the water.
Mike Freer says " I call into question the validity of their timings, particularly if they have not taken into account traffic flows during peak hours and any major road hold ups."
He's talking about ambulances travelling to far flung hospitals. The same applies to non residential wardens hurtling around the Borough from address to address. As an example, what would have happened to the "roaming wardens" on the day the snow hit and Barnet ground to a halt. A day when the elderly would need reassurance?
Mike Freer says "I will be writing to residents of the borough personally to alert them to the proposals put forward and would urge everyone with an opinion on this issue to take part in the consultation."
He's talking about the consultation to move stroke services to the Royal London hospital. Strangely, when it came to ditching sheltered housing wardens, he didn't write to everyone in the Borough to take part in the consultation. Could this be because he didn't listen to the overwhelming view of the people who did take part?
Mike Freer says "When dealing with strokes, time is of the essence, and the quicker treatment can be started, the better the outcome for the patient"
The elderly are the group most at risk from strokes. That is why on site wardens are the people best placed to help if an elderly person has one. A warden summoned from the other side of the Borough and stuck in traffic, is hardly likely to arrange the rapid medical care required. If a panic alarm goes and the person who pressed it can't speak, a warden on site can be there in minutes. A resident at the meeting last night gave the case where an ambulance turned up to collect a resident and couldn't find the flat till a roaming duty warden showed up.
Mike Freer says "These proposals fly in the face of common sense and would leave the people of Barnet miles away from specialist life saving treatment."
Yes he's right about stroke treatment. How come that he cannot see that exactly the same logic applies to residents of sheltered housing. If "Old Jimmy" is having a cup of tea with "Old Johnny" and he has a Stroke, surely Mike Freer can see that having a resident warden is going to be far better for Jimmy and Johnny than some bloke who will have to drive miles to sort out the problem. What happens if the warden has a crisis at another residents house.
Why is it that Mike Freer can be so insightful when commenting on other people's problems, yet when it comes to his own failings, he just won't listen.
Oh and he gave us some advice at the Cabinet meeting last night. He said "If you don't like our policies, you can vote us out in 2010"
That is the best advice Mike Freer has ever given. If you only ever listen to one piece of advice Mike Freer ever gives you, make it that one.
1 comment:
Rog
The hypocrisy of Freer is nauseating. In a democracy, the public expect political parties to produce a manifesto and enact it if elected, not to implement policies they had never mentioned before and then to say “chuck us out at the next election if you don’t like it”.
As I have mentioned before, this isn’t just a bad policy, it is wicked. Mike Freer won’t care if the Conservatives lose in 2010 because he won’t be standing for council again. It means that other councillors will have to fight a campaign to defend a policy that was not of their choosing, although they have done little to stop it.
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