Hope - and frustration - as final hospital decision moves closer
Southport is expected to be confirmed to host children's and adult's A&E departments
Hello and welcome to The Southport Lead.
Next week, health bosses will meet to reach a final decision on whether Southport or Ormskirk should be chosen to host both Adult’s and Children’s A&E Services when both are moved to one site.
On Thursday, a scrutiny committee meeting of Sefton and Lancashire County Councillors met to grill the NHS chiefs about the plans and hear feedback from the consultation - once again The Southport Lead was the news only outlet to attend and cover what happened.
You can read all about that in today’s meeting - including questions about the consultation process, an angry walkout from a member of the public, and the call for a delay from a prominent West Lancashire councillor.
As well as being the first to report on the proposals, we’ve been there at each stage of the process and will be again when the decision is reached on Friday - but we can only do this with your support. To enable us to keep publishing in-depth, independent, local journalism free of ads and clickbait, please consider a paid subscription.
Southport briefing
💔 A Southport man who died in a car crash in North Lincolnshire has been remembered as a beloved son, brother, uncle and boyfriend. Dean Corbett, 34 suffered fatal injuries when his Ford Transit crash with a HGV and a car transporter on the A15 pm Wednesday. In a tribute, his family said: “Dean always had a smile on his face, had the funniest jokes to make people laugh, and would always have time for anyone no matter where he was in life. Dean was kind, caring and funny with a big heart. His passing has left a massive void in all of us. He will be extremely missed.”
🍎 Aldi has announced plans to build a supermarket in Ainsdale. The budget retailer has outlined a £7m plan to build its latest store off Sandbrook Road on a site which has long faced calls for regeneration. The proposed site is currently occupied by a mixture of housing and retail units which are largely vacant and in poor condition. Sefton Council has now acquired most of these properties and is working with Aldi to redevelop the site. Aldi has launched an online consultation on its plans and says it will create 40 jobs at the new store. A spokesperson said: “This is an ideal site for a new Aldi food store, which would significantly improve the local retail options available to residents in the community and transform this brownfield site. We’d like to encourage all those in the local area to let us know what they think about our plans and look forward to working with residents and stakeholders to deliver a new Aldi food store for the area.”
🧑⚖️ A drug dealer who was spotted selling to a vulnerable missing person has been jailed for 40 months. Nathan Slemen, of Newby Street, Liverpool, was spotted by officers from Merseyside’s County Lines Taskforce on February 3 as they targeted drug dealing in Southport. The 48-year-old was seen carrying out a suspected drug deal and was detained by officers before a search uncovered crack cocaine and heroin packaged and prepared for supply. Following an investigation as part of Operation Toxic, Slemen was charged with possession with intent to supply Class A drugs and has now been convicted. The person buying the drugs was also detained and identified as a vulnerable missing person and was returned to staffed accommodation with appropriate drug referrals made. Inspector Stephen Morris from Project Medusa said: “Slemen believed he could supply drugs within our communities, but thanks to the vigilance and proactive work of our officers he was quickly stopped and brought to justice. This case demonstrates our continued commitment through both the County Lines Taskforce and Operation Toxic to disrupting organised criminal networks, protecting vulnerable people, and reducing the harm that drugs cause in our communities.”
Southport expected to be A&E choice - but opposition will be strong
By Jamie Lopez
Southport is expected to be confirmed as the choice to host both children and adults A&E services next week - but opposition is likely to be loud and defiant in West Lancashire.
The Shaping Care Together (SCT) programme has been reviewing emergency care in Southport and West Lancs and decided A&E departments for all ages should be located in a single site - either Southport or Ormskirk.
Southport has been named as the preferred option - being significantly cheaper and quicker to implement - since the start of a consultation and a final decision is due to be announced at a public meeting on Friday (March 13).
Pending approval of the decision, a £33m expansion programme will take place to help support the moving of children’s services and ensure improvements to existing adult care services as well. In addition to this, up to 350 new car parking spaces are set to be announced to help accommodate new visitors to the hospital.
However, one West Lancashire councillor is calling for that meeting, and more crucially the decision, to be delayed amid concerns over the consultation process. Cllr Adrian Owens, who represents Our West Lancashire at borough and county council level, believes there are questions over whether people in West Lancashire were adequately consulted and whether feedback showing a preference for Ormskirk among clinical staff was properly considered.
Cllr Owens made the call after a meeting in which health bosses presented the outcome of the consultation and a scrutiny committee of Sefton and Lancashire County Council councillors were given one last chance to ask questions. The scrutiny committee is not involved in any decision making but gives elected officials an opportunity to inspect and query the process in detail.
The SCT programme - which is being overseen by a joint committee made up of the integrated care boards (ICB) of NHS Cheshire and Merseyside and NHS Lancashire and South Cumbria - has defended its engagement and pointed to high response rates as well as its own extensive efforts across different media and public sessions.
Reporting on the consultation, Mersey and West Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust Rob Cooper said responses had been received from more than 7,800 people equating to 3% of the population in the catchment area, a figure welcomed in comparison to the 1% considered a good response rate under national guidance.
Mr Cooper said that, unsurprisingly, the feedback showed a clear geographical preference with those from Southport and Formby wanting to see the Southport option chosen and those in Ormskirk and Skelmersdale favouring Ormskirk.
He also explained that a far greater number of responses came from Lancashire, likely in response to the number of campaigns which were launched once Southport was named as the preferred option. On the point, he noted that purely in terms of numbers, the Southport population was underrepresented and Ormskirk’s overrepresented.
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