Royal Liverpool Philharmonic's Music Room to host Blick Bassy's Liverpool date

THE Cameroonian Singer, Songwriter, Blick Bassy, will be performing along with his 3 piece band, at the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic's Music Room this September. Bassy's Liverpool date follows the acclaimed release of his album 1958; a defiant tribute to the heroes who fought and died for the independence of his native Cameroon. The album's focus is specific, but its themes, the bondage of neo-colonialism, the need for heroes, the relevance of history and the search for the true identity, are universal. In addition to The Guardian, Bassy has received rave reviews from the likes of The London Evening Standard, The Observer and Songlines Magazine, as well as being played by Lauren Laverne, Gideon Coe and Cerys Matthews on 6 Music and by Max Reinhardt and Mary Anne Kennedy on BBC Radio 3. His music was also chosen by tech giants Apple for a worldwide ad campaign. "Imagine an African artist with the tenderly subversive touch of Bon Iver, the haunting falsetto of Skip James, the razor like mind of Akala, and the inventiveness of Moses Sumney. You've just imagined Blick Bassy."

The show in Liverpool comes ahead of Africa Oyé's 30th Anniversary celebrations in 2022, with many more events due to take place across the City Region, alongside their flagship festival in Sefton Park; scheduled to return after what will be a 2 year absence due to the Pandemic. Blick Bassy will perform at the Liverpool Philharmonic's Music Room on 19th September, 2021. Tickets are on sale now and can be bought from the Philharmonic's website. Please note that customers that had previously booked tickets for the cancelled concert, on Monday, 25 May 2020, will need to re-book their tickets. Tickets for May 2020 concert will not be valid for this event.

Final call to take part in consultation on local stroke services

THE NHS is reminding people in Knowsley, Liverpool, Sefton and West Lancashire that it's still not too late to share their views on a proposal to establish a Comprehensive Stroke Centre, at Aintree University Hospital. The proposal aims to improve hyper acute stroke care, which is the Hospital care provided in the critical 72 hour period immediately after someone has a stroke. A 12 week public consultation was launched on 22 November 2021, so time is running out to share their views. People can take part until 14 February 2022 by filling out an online questionnaire at:- LiverpoolCCG.NHS.UK/Stroke. To request a paper version of the questionnaire, or information in a different language or format, they can call:- 0151 2476406, text:- 07920206386; or email:- CSC.Consultation@NHS.Net.

Currently, there are hyper acute stroke services at the:- Royal Liverpool University Hospital, Aintree University Hospital, and Southport Hospital, which makes it difficult to ensure that patients get equitable access to the specialist staff, tests, equipment and procedures they need in a timely manner. The proposal has been developed by stroke specialists from each of the hospital trusts involved, with the aim of giving every patient the very best chance of accessing specialist stroke treatments as soon as possible within the 1st 72 hour window, which is so critical for their care. If the proposal went ahead, it would mean that in the future all suspected stroke patients would be taken to Aintree University Hospital for the 1st 72 hours of stroke care; even those who may have previously been treated at the Royal Liverpool University Hospital or Southport Hospital. After this time, up to ˝ of patients would be able to leave hospital to continue their recovery at home, with help from an early supported discharge team. Those patients who weren't ready to go home, would be given further care at either Aintree University Hospital, Broadgreen Hospital or Southport Hospital, depending on which was closest to where they live. The proposal does not involve any reduction in NHS funding for stroke care locally. In fact, it would see an additional one-off investment of ₤4m to develop the new Comprehensive Stroke Centre at Aintree University Hospital, and an extra ₤1.9m invested into running the service year on year.

Dr Claire Cullen, Stroke Consultant at Liverpool University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, which runs Aintree University Hospital, Royal Liverpool University Hospital and Broadgreen Hospital, explains:- "We want to encourage everyone to take part in this public consultation on the future of local hyper acute stroke services; especially those who have experienced a stroke themselves, or have a friend or family member that has used stroke services. As staff who care for stroke patients every day, we want to ensure that everyone gets the very best care possible, and that's what we think that this proposal for a new, specialist stroke Centre based at Aintree University Hospital will achieve. But it's important to highlight that no final decision has been made about this yet; we need to hear what patients and members of the public think about the idea 1st."

Dr Paddy McDonald, Stroke Consultant, Southport and Ormskirk Hospital NHS Trust said:- "This is an approach that we know has already been shown to improve care for stroke patients in other parts of the country, and we believe that it could do the same for our patients too - but we really want to make sure that local people agree. We've had a really good response back on this consultation so far, but we want to make sure that everyone's views on the future of local stroke services get a chance to be heard; so please take a few minutes to complete the survey if you haven't already done so.'"

For more information about this proposal for changes to hyper acute services, please visit:- LiverpoolCCG.NHS.UK/Stroke.

Those who would prefer to talk through their feedback, can call:- 0151 2476406, Monday to Friday, from:- 9am to 5pm.

The public consultation is being managed by NHS Liverpool Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG), on behalf of 5 local CCGs - Knowsley, Liverpool, Southport and Formby, South Sefton, and West Lancashire.