Monthly Archives: July 2022

New bin collection arrangements for Avon Dassett

The new bin collection day for Avon Dassett from 4 August 2022 is THURSDAY.

Refuse (grey bins) will be collected every three weeks

Recycling (blue bins) and garden waste (green bins) every two weeks

Food waste (green caddies) every week

Please see our events calendar with details of which bins will be collected each week.

Stratford District Council have created an app which will prompt you to put the correct bins out. For more details see: https://www.stratford.gov.uk/waste-recycling/waste-and-recycling-app.cfm

Triathlon at Compton Verney

Do3 operates the open water swimming sessions held at Compton Verney each Tuesday and Thursday night as well as on Sunday mornings.  We are a triathlon coaching company that also does pool based swim squads.

We are organising a triathlon that takes place on Sunday 31st July at Park Farm, Compton Verney.  There are two races of different distances, as follows:

On The Edge – https://www.do3.co.uk/on-the-edge-triathlon c70 participants

A middle distance race featuring a 1.9km swim in the lake at Park Farm, an 86km bike ride around the Warwickshire countryside and a 21km run around Compton Verney/Combrook, on the trails and local roads

A zoomable map for the routes can be found here:

Bike https://www.strava.com/routes/2783747359314340432

Run https://www.strava.com/routes/2927244529547543890

Compton Verney Sprint Triathlon – https://www.do3.co.uk/compton-verney-sprint-triathlon c210 participants

A sprint distance race featuring a 400m swim in the lake at Park Farm, a 21km bike ride around the Warwickshire countryside and a 5km run around Compton Verney/Combrook on the trails and local roads

A zoomable map for the routes can be found here:

Bike https://www.strava.com/routes/2819955789911069372

Run https://www.strava.com/routes/2923924748954485966

We have sought permission from the landowners where we will be using the public footpaths, and the local highways agency for the use of the roads, as well as farmers whose livestock may be affected.

There will be marshals on the routes to assist, we have a private first aid company with two ambulances and a bike breakdown vehicle.  There will be signage for where a marshal isn’t required.  The race is being overseen by British Triathlon and we will have a technical official present at the event.

Changes to the appointment system at Fenny Compton Surgery

Change to the appointment system from Monday 1st August
Due to the ongoing demand for appointments and services at present we feel it is necessary to change our appointments system.
A combination of the pandemic and increasing pressures across the NHS has made it increasingly difficult to maintain short waiting times. With hospitals overwhelmed post-pandemic, our clinical staff are near breaking point. We are finding increasing responsibilities, long hospital waiting times and the associated administrative tasks placing increasing strain on primary care. In addition to this, our receptionists are dealing with increasing abuse on a daily basis. This abuse is not acceptable and whilst we recognise this comes from a minority of our population, we feel we have to take action now to maintain the service we offer. We have always prided ourselves on our ability to help patients quickly whilst maintaining a high level of care and we strive to maintain this going forward.
For this reason we will now be offering a split appointments system across the morning and afternoon. The morning will involve on the day appointments ONLY whereas the afternoon will continue as routine appointments. We know this will lead to some frustration but we are doing this in the best interests of our patients to maintain the most complete service we possibly can.
Therefore, from 1st August, the following changes will be made:
  • If you need to speak to a doctor we ask you call between 9am – 11am to be added for a same-day telephone appointment.
  • The Doctor will then be able to manage your needs via the telephone, or arrange to see you face to face if required.
  • We would ask for this reason you specify to reception which is your closest surgery (Fenny Compton or Shenington).
  • For on the day calls you will be unable to specify which doctor you wish to speak to.
  • After 11am (or when the morning appointments are filled) only urgent calls can be accommodated and it will be at the GPs discretion how and when patients are contacted. If the problem is deemed non-urgent by the GP you will be asked to either make a routine afternoon appointment or call back the following morning for an on-the-day appointment.
  • Home visits must be requested before 10.30am and will only be provided for those patients who are eligible.
  • There will still be routine pre-bookable appointments, both face to face and on the telephone and these can be with the GP of your choice and will be offered in the afternoon on the next available date. You can call to book these after 11am.
  • Individual GPs can choose to see patients in the morning following consultation if they choose.
You can help in other ways too:
  • Please call after 10.30am if your reason for calling isn’t urgent. This system will increase demand on our receptionists between 9 – 10:30am and therefore we must prioritise on the day appointments during these hours.
  • Have your diary to hand to speed up our ability to help you.
  • Remember that 1 slot = 1 problem. If you have more than 1 issue, please prioritise the most urgent problem.
  • Please don’t abuse the receptionists if they can’t offer what you request – they are doing their best and it’s not their fault if they cannot give you exactly what you need. Our telephone calls are recorded and we will not tolerate any abuse towards our staff.
  • To improve our delivery of test results it is very helpful if we have an up to date mobile telephone number. We can then send SMS messages with any important information and any actions that are required with regards these results.
Finally we recognise we are not perfect and that a perfect appointment system does not exist. Some patients in other parts of the country are waiting up to 6 weeks to speak to a GP or only able to submit an electronic request to contact a GP despite their problem being urgent. We do not want to let patient satisfaction slip and the above changes are our attempt to offer a good mixture of urgent and routine care. We will continue to monitor and review any changes that are necessary to optimise our service further.
We care a lot about our patients and are trying to provide the best service we possibly can.
Thank you
Drs Marshall & Sharples

Prime Foundation’s Grants for Local Projects

Foundation welcomes applications for £10k grant to fund community projects in Warwickshire

Organisations and community groups in Warwickshire are being encouraged to apply for a grant of up to £10,000 from the Prime Foundation to help towards local projects or initiatives.

The Foundation invests in communities where Prime has built new facilities by utilising a proportion of profit generated, ensuring that money is invested locally for good causes with each new build.

Prime has developed the 1,600-space surface level car park at University Hospital, Coventry and is now accepting applications from all Warwickshire postcodes. Warwickshire-based projects matching one or more of the foundation’s aims – advancing education outside the classroom, promoting good physical and mental health and/or furthering the enhancement of social wellbeing through recreation – will be considered for full or part funding.

This will be the Prime Foundation’s first grant rolled out in Warwickshire. In 2020, Grosvenor Road Studios (GRS) in Birmingham received funding to update their community-accessible recording suite. Carol Pemberton MBE, Managing Director at GRS, said, “The Prime Foundation has enabled Grosvenor Road Studios to upgrade its resources to improve and widen access for young people who create music outside of mainstream routes and where there is little or no provision for their urban genres.

“Following a free training session, the young people can use our updated facilities to develop their knowledge, skills, and values. This equips them for new opportunities and increases their confidence to meet the challenges they face in life”.

Most recently, the Prime Foundation funded sensory and musical equipment for a local Special Education Needs School in Worcester, where Prime is based. Margaret Jones, Grant Administrator, said, “We were desperately in need of upgrading and adding to our musical instruments across the whole school. We were able to purchase enough equipment to provide all 21 classes with a selection of new percussion instruments.

“For our children who are non-verbal, music opens up a new range of techniques that can be used to encourage their communication skills, where they can have fun and begin to articulate and mimic sounds”.

Hannah Cashmore, spokesperson for the Prime Foundation, said: “We look forward to hearing from the Warwickshire community and to donating funds to local projects and initiatives that dedicate their time to helping others.”

Applications for funding are open from now until the 1st of September 2022. For more information or to make an application visit www.primeplc.com/foundation/apply.

About Prime

Prime plc enables health and care providers to make the most of their spaces so everyone can experience better care. We unlock complex estate management challenges with leading industry-specific legal, financial and property planning solutions, and work with your partners to see the projects through master planning to delivery. For more information, please see www.primeplc.com

Tackling Loneliness – Events at Mid-England Barrow

Mid-England Barrow have been awarded a grant from WCC from the loneliness and social isolation fund.

They have donated the use of our business space, ’The Safari Tent’ so that they can run 2 hour sessions where people can come along to very informal groups for a chat, cuppa, slice of homemade cake, and, if they wish to, to learn a new skill. It’s situated in the beautiful English countryside, is very pretty and peaceful.

They are hoping that the group will evolve to cover topics of interest to those who come along. The first group will incorporate paper flower making, and jigsaw puzzles, so that they can then tailor-make future sessions.

Places are limited, so booking will be essential.

The proposed dates are:

7th July
14th July
4th Aug
1st Sept
8th Sept
15th Sept.

The sessions are run 1-3 at ’The Safari Tent’, Fenny Compton Road, Farnborough OX17 1FA, and people are welcome to book for all or some of the sessions.

For further information contact:
Sarah Smart
Director, Mid-England Barrow Ltd
Tel: 07791807970
www.mid-englandbarrow.co.uk
info@mid-englandbarrow.co.uk