Caught on camera: Worried patients film their treatment at Tameside Hospital because of its bad reputation

First Published by: Manchester Evening News

Worried patients are using camera phones to film their treatment at a troubled hospital – because its reputation is so bad.

Chief executive Christine Green said Tameside Hospital was battling to improve standards after a catalogue of shocking incidents dating back more than a decade. But she admitted: "Staff says they are fed up of people coming into the hospital saying ‘we understand such-and-such so we’ve brought our camera phones in to monitor everything’." She said most staff felt demoralised because of a few letting standards slip.

She said: "Ninety-nine per cent of our staff feels distressed and demoralised by the actions of this minority [of staff not meeting standards]." And she said workers were now under ‘unprecedented’ levels of scrutiny in a battle to drive up standards.

Ms Green said nurses and doctors are being urged to report poor performance by colleagues to managers. And she said staff who reported the mistakes of their seniors would be ‘celebrated’. Speaking at a Tameside Council health scrutiny committee 

Ms Green said: "Doctors and nurses might see something that is wrong but instead of challenging their colleague they leave it unsaid. We are really pushing that if you see something wrong, you have to act on it. "We have staff brave enough to report serious incidents for some of the highest people in the organisation and we will always celebrate that." She was speaking as bosses at the hospital – heavily criticised in a succession of reports for poor patient care – told of new plans to change working culture.

They include the introduction of weekly ward audits to check record keeping by nurses and inviting staff from other hospitals to carry out inspections. Tameside

Hospital NHS Foundation Trust Chair Paul Connellan said: "The message that has gone out across the hospital is that it’s not about doing average but about the highest standards. "We can’t give an unconditional guarantee but I can say the amount of scrutiny across the hospital at all levels is unprecedented."

Are you paying too much Council Tax?

Council tax freeze plan 'flouted', its all lies

First Published by: The BBC

More than 40% of English households face a council tax rise despite the government offering a grant in return for a freeze. The Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy figures show of an average increase of £4.39 a year.

The rise is because police and fire authority precepts which form part of the total tax demand are going up. There is a bigger average increase in Wales of £25 a year, but bills are expected to be the same in Scotland.

Last year, every council in England agreed to freeze Council Tax in return for a share of hundreds of millions of pounds from central government. However 15% of English councils, including 8% of "principal" local authorities (county councils, London boroughs and metropolitan and unitary authorities), are increasing council tax.

The institute's Ian Carruthers told BBC Radio 4's Today programme this survey provided the first overview of the situation. He said this was because it was based on "local decisions taken on the basis of local priorities by councillors in those authorities."

Principal authorities

According to the survey 43% of households will see their annual bills go up, often by a few pounds. In setting the council tax this year - they will be looking to maintain frontline services” Ian Carruthers Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy

That is because the requirement of local police and fire authorities - called the precept - is added to the bill. Of those authorities increasing tax, none are raising it by more than 4%.

Mr Carruthers said: "What the figures are showing is that 85% of authorities have actually accepted the council tax freeze grant - which is a one year grant only."That contrasts with last year where the freeze was built into base line funding."

Mr Carruthers said the central government grant under offer was equal to 2.5% of the council's own revenue base.

'And the Kick in teeth is'

He added: "You are seeing more increases amongst police authorities. This is a particular issue they are facing - as during the year they will be replaced by police and crime commissioners.

They also suggest that across England, the average Band D council tax bill will increase by £4.39 (0.3%), compared with last year's average which was a decrease of 35p.

The largest average increase for a Band D bill is in the North East where it will rise by or £13.43 (0.3%) while London will see a decrease of £4.19 (0.3%).

Last month, Communities Secretary Eric Pickles said raising council tax would be a "kick in the teeth" for hard-working households. He blamed Labour-controlled local authorities for increasing bills despite the money on offer to councils that promised a freeze.

But several Conservative councils also said they would put up council tax to avoid an even bigger increase next year. A Labour spokesman said: "Eric Pickles' plans actually mean that council tax will increase for low-paid workers next year.

"And this year Tory citadels like Surrey, Peterborough and Chelmsford are already putting up their council tax."

Are you paying too much for your Council Tax?

Ilminster Town Council states no rules broken in 39% increase

First Published by: Ilminster News

ILMINSTER Town Council has reassured residents it is playing by the rules, following on-line suggestions that the 39% increase in the town's Council Tax precept broke a recently implemented law.

A blog was published last week by former Chard resident Carter Magna, which suggested that since December 2011, any council tax rise above 3.5% has to be put to a referendum. Under the plans which were unveiled by Local Government Secretary Eric Pickles, councils losing a referendum would have to revert to a lower increase in bills. 

Mr Pickles argued that those seeking to raise bills in difficult economic times required a democratic mandate to do so. However, the new legislation only applies to county and district authorities - and therefore the people of Ilminster are not required to go to the ballot box to have their say on the precept.

Explaining the situation, Ilminster town clerk Julia Thorne said: “This is only the case for district and county council - hence they are also being given a monetary incentive to it at 0%” “We are not being offered any such incentive so we have to put ours up. They might implement it to town and parish councils in the future, but they are not at the moment.”

Money from the increase in Ilminster's precept is being used not just towards a new skate park and multi use games area, but also to minimise the effects of funding and service cuts from the district and county councils.

WHAT'S yourview? Would you like to see the decision to raise the council tax in Ilminster put to a referendum or do you trust the authority to spend your money wisely?

Are you paying too much for your Council Tax?

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