Mobile: 0794 120 1995
'Where Everybody Matters'? Don't make me laugh...
The latest penny-pinching at County Hall has to be one of the meanest yet.
The press release is short and unapologetic.
'The decision was taken by the council in February 2014 to reduce the funding available to run the Hopper service.
Last year the council worked with the CCG and NHS so it could be funded through the Better Care Fund until April 2016 to provide enough time to develop a longer term solution.
Wiltshire Council has been investigating a sustainable joint funding solution, however this could not be agreed and as a result the Hopper will stop running from May 2016 (exact date to be confirmed).'
The fight will continue as, to be fair, the other parties involved have not been at all helpful and hardly covered themselves in glory. But, of course, they are unelected quangos answerable to no one.
With the benefit of hindsight, perhaps the people of west Wiltshire would have been better served if the new hospital planned for Semington had been built instead of the money going to the RUH. I am sure that part of the 'deal' to use Wiltshire mony to enlarge the RUH was to provide transport - but my memory must be wrong...
There is a WC Cabinet meeting next Tuesday, and yet the Hopper is not on the agenda! The matter will be raised by Independent councillors at the February WC council meeting.