Letter to the Editor:- "Damien Moore given petition about NHS being privatised"

"WHEN the NHS was founded there were 7 Hospitals in Southport. Now we have ½ a main Southport Hospital and the small mental health Hartley Hospital with space for 40 patients which replaces the old Greaves Hall which had 1000 staff and over 700 patients. ½ a Hospital because Southport was planned to be built in 2 phases with the entrance in the middle, but when austerity left the Hospital facing huge debts the land was sold off for new housing. As well as selling off the land the Hospital has cut services; maternity, children's A&E, breast care, physiotherapy and surgery. It's closed the therapy pool and has given notice to the laundry staff. Last month it consulted on closing its stroke services so it looks like these are to be stripped away too. How many more services can our Hospital lose before the whole Hospital is deemed "unviable" and closed? And it's not just the Hospital services that are in jeopardy. Churchtown Medical Centre closed and hundreds of patients were forced to find another GP practice to look after them at a time when there is a nationwide shortage of GP's and GP's are overwhelmed with patients struggling with health issues while they wait on ever extending queues for Hospital treatment. And all this is because the NHS is being run down in preparation for a new Government bill currently going through Parliament that will replace our NHS with a privatised American style healthcare system where profits are prioritised over patients. This bill removes the duty to provide Hospital and eye care on the NHS. Meaning it will become as difficult to get your new hip or your cataract operation as it currently is to get dental treatment on the NHS. The bill also removes the duty to ensure vulnerable patients are safely discharged from Hospital. And because it split the National Health Service into 42 areas patients who fall I'll when outside their own area; like visitors to Southport for example; will struggle to get treatment. This isn't speculation as it's is already starting to happen in Greater Manchester where they are further a long the road of implementing the bill's changes. We are the nation that celebrated our NHS at the London Olympics, who gave ₤ millions for it when Captain Tom walked round his garden, who stood on our doorsteps clapping it during lockdown. What sane person would want to force a major reorganisation of their healthcare system in the middle of a Pandemic, especially 1 that does nothing to address the No1 problem of staff shortages?" Regards, Michèle Martin, Save Ormskirk and Southport Hospitals.

Merseyrail teams up with Rail Ombudsman on campaign to empower young rail users

MERSEYRAIL is partnering with local Schools in the Liverpool City Region alongside the Rail Ombudsman to educate a new generation of rail users on safety when using the network.

The Rail Ombudsman has launched the:- "Young Person's Train Guide" which is a rail byelaw campaign aimed at young people empowering them to use trains confidently.

Since the establishment of the Rail Ombudsman in 2018, young people's lack of knowledge of rail travel, the laws and byelaws that govern it and passengers' responsibilities has been evident.

The campaign seeks to target and address this problem by supplying interactive exercise packs to Schools and youth groups that can either be completed by young adults independently, or as part of the PSHE curriculum through teacher led worksheets, competitions and blog style content.

Merseyrail will be introducing this into the work it does with Schools, such as Maricourt High School, in Maghull, on travel confidence and rail safety; a positive addition to the work the rail operator already does with many Schools across the Liverpool City Region.

The learnings gained from these lessons can directly be implemented onto young people's next rail journey and includes:- content themes such as fares and ticketing, unacceptable behaviour, safety and rail cards.

Jane English, Deputy Managing Director at Merseyrail, said:- "By working with the Rail Ombudsman and some of our local Schools we want to ensure that young people know what is expected of them and what their rights are whilst using our services. We want to instil confidence and the love of rail travel among young people in our Region by engaging with them through their regular PSHE sessions at School. We will be working with Maricourt High School in Maghull in the coming months and hope to replicate that in other high Schools in and around our network. We are delighted to be involved in the rollout of these resources and we will continue to engage with the young people of the City Region to help improve their travel experiences and ensure that they also have a voice in their rail network."

Kevin Grix, CEO and Chief Ombudsman at the Rail Ombudsman, said:- "This national initiative has been designed to educate and empower young people as train travel is returning to pre-Pandemic levels and often relied upon as a key mode of transport for the next generation of rail passengers. We've witnessed 1st hand the impact that lack of knowledge can cause when young people travel by train, often with devastating consequences which could have been avoided, and our aim is to educate and inform young people to travel as confidently and securely as possible."