Over the course of the last few weeks I have received a great deal of correspondence from constituents supporting the Age UK corridor care campaign, and I attended the event the charity hosted in Parliament at the end of last month. Care for the elderly is a recurring issue in my post bag, and following the fire at Southampton General Hospital a few weeks ago I know there has been even more of a push locally to get elderly patients discharged where at all possible.
That is not always easy and I was pleased to hear from the new Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care and Public Health at HCC, Cllr Zoe Huggins. I did know Zoe anyway, but she is new to this role, and I am certainly flagging to her the issues there have been locally with older people unable to secure a safe discharge to home with the required care in place. I am conscious that Hampshire has a rapidly aging population, and finding the right solutions around care and support are not easy.
Sticking with a Hampshire County Council theme, over half term I have heard from residents in Shootash, the Frenches, Embley and Ryedown about the inconvenience caused to them by the Southern Water works on the A27. A huge thank you to Cllr Nick Adams-King who has been incredibly helpful, working with Parish Councils, residents and Southern Water to find practical solutions. I think we all warned that the measures being implemented would cause too much disruption, and that has proven to be the case. I heard late on Wednesday that the works were being postponed and the traffic restrictions being lifted by the end of Thursday. I know that will be a relief to many, not least the parents who had grave concerns as to how their children were going to get to school after Southern Water had failed to inform the bus company of the road closures.
It is very exciting that the Royal Marines Band is in the Abbey this weekend and I am very much looking forward to that, but prior to that I will be at Hedgefest, learning the art of hedge laying. I am not sure it is necessarily my skill set, but a beautifully laid hedge really is a work of art. I am also visiting Sultan, the Greek takeaway, and a finalist in the annual kebab awards next week. Although voting is now closed I am keeping my fingers crossed for them!
