Visitors asked:- "Please help prevent the spread of flu"

VISITORS with cold and flu symptoms are being asked to stay away from Southport and Ormskirk Hospitals to prevent the bug's spread.

Andrew Chalmers, the Trust Deputy Director of Infection Prevention and Control, said:- "If you have a cough, cold or flu like symptoms, please stay home and get well before you visit Hospital. If your visit is absolutely essential, please call the ward in advance so our nursing staff can safely accommodate your visit. We have recently had a patient who was with us for some days before starting with symptoms of flu. The likelihood is this was passed on from a poorly visitor who came into close proximity with him. This could also pose a risk to other patients. Our main priority is to contain the flu virus and to protect all our patients and ensure they fully recover as soon as possible so they can return home to their family and friends.  People can prevent the spread of flu by thoroughly washing their hands with soap and water - hygiene hand gels are also effective at keeping the flu virus at bay."

3 different strains of flu are circulating in the community which spiking in severity at different times.

Latest figures from Public Health England show flu rates recorded by GP surgeries were 26.1 per 100,000 population and 34.5 per 100,000 in the North West.

Andrew advised people with a suspected flu virus, or family members suffering from one, to visit the NHS Choices website for information.

People are being reminded of the simple message to protect themselves and others from cold and flu this winter:-

"Catch it. Bin it. Kill it."

► CATCH IT – Always carry tissues and use them to cover your nose and mouth when you cough or sneeze.

► BIN IT – Dispose of used tissues as soon as possible.

► KILL IT – Clean your hands with soap and water or hand sanitizer following coughing, sneezing or blowing your nose.

The most up to date and comprehensive national information about flu is here.

PCC and Chief Constable set Merseyside Police budget for 2018/19

MERSEYSIDE'S Police Commissioner, Jane Kennedy, has publicly criticised the UK Government for increasing the burden of paying for Policing on local Council taxpayers as she set the Force's budget for the next financial year.

Jane Kennedy was joined by Merseyside Police Chief Constable, Andy Cooke QPM, for a public meeting at the Commissioner's Office in Allerton Police Station, where they approved a balanced budget for Merseyside Police for the next 12 months.

It follows a meeting of the Police and Crime Panel, the body which scrutinises the Commissioner's work, where members considered and unanimously approved Jane's plan to safeguard Local Policing jobs by increasing the Council precept by ₤1 a month.

The Commissioner's budget plan follows the disappointing announcement in December 2017, that the Police would, once again, receive no new money from the Home Office. Instead, Policing Minister Nick Hurd MP said he expected Police and Crime Commissioners to ask local people to pay more.

Jane reluctantly took the decision to introduce the increase; which works out as 15p a week for Band A property; after a Merseyside wide consultation during which 77% of respondents indicated their willingness to pay the additional money to protect Police Officer numbers. The increase will generate an extra ₤4.35m and protect 87 Police Officer posts.

A further ₤7m of cuts, which have already been identified, will still need to be made to Merseyside Police's budget, while a further ₤800,000 will be used from reserves in order to balance the books.

Jane Kennedy said:- "Setting the budget is never an easy task, but this year was particularly challenging. While the Government recognised and highlighted the need for additional resources for Policing, they once again failed to provide it. Instead, they sidestepped their responsibility by making it clear that local people should be asked to make up the shortfall. This has shifted the burden of paying for the Police service from those who earn the most increasingly on to the shoulders of those who earn the least. It is a regressive step. As the Police and Crime Panel recognised, I have effectively been left with no alternative. Thankfully, local people have once again demonstrated their commitment to supporting local Policing, sadly the same cannot be said for this Government. The Government's promise to protect the Police is broken. By March, the Force will have lost 1,100 Officers and more than 600 PCSO's and staff. We cannot afford to lose any more. I will continue to do everything I can, working with the Chief Constable and the region's MP's, to highlight my grave concerns to ministers and encourage them to better understand the significant and worrying impact these ongoing cuts are having on Merseyside Police."

View the full Budget Report can be acceded via this link.

Please email our newsroom via:- News24@southportReporter.com with your thoughts on this issue.  Do you feel that this shortfall should be paid via local Councils though Council Tax, or should it be paid via Government?