The Waverley Web has been studying the very informative Exel- spreadsheet provided to Waverley councillors and the public by Farnham Residents’ Cllr Jerry Hyman. We have linked it into the page below as it shows in detail, town by town and village by village the spread of COVID-19 – 31 December.
We believe that any light that can be shone upon the rates of infection by any Waverley councillor has to be appreciated by the public. We found the in-depth statistical information very useful, as it revealed the hotspots in the borough. We have heard on private e-mails that many Farnham and some Cranleigh and eastern villages residents have found it very helpful. Let’s hope it makes us all very wary of what we do and how we do it -doesn’t it? We are not aware that on the official WBC website there such detailed information. Well done Cllr Hyman for the hard work this must have entailed.
Farnham Residents’ Cllr. for Firgrove.
Attached is my spreadsheet of the latest PHE Covid case data for the Waverley and surrounding MSOAs, covering tests to Boxing Day.
Farnham, and particularly the North Farnham areas of Upper Hale, Hale, Heath End, Weybourne and Badshot Lea, do appear to be suffering due to spread from Aldershot and perhaps visitors from Guildford (and the train connection to Woking, a recent hotbed of infection).
South Godalming is bucking the trend, being the only Waverley MSOA with a 7-day rolling Case Rate less than 200.
Of course, the south Godalming folk should not rest on their laurels, as the mutant virus may have since caught up with them. The cases reported today are people infected between 7 and 10-14 days ago, and with the effect of pre-Christmas Tier 4 visitors and Christmas Day family mixing yet to be seen, the current situation may be somewhat different.
You will see the light orange and darker orange hotspots for the period under Cllr Jerry’s microscope a few days earlier. These include – Farnham – to be expected in view of shoppers flooding in from Tier 4 areas when Waverley remained in Tier 2. However, the higher infection rate in small villages such as Witley and Wormley – are not easily explained. Could this be as a result of schools – such as `King Edwards – or perhaps Surrey County Council’s decision to send everyone from the eastern villages to the Witley dump? Cranleigh’s recycling centre is only open for certain materials on a Monday and at weekends so it’s off to Witley they all are forced to go?
The infection rate in Cranleigh is growing, as is Godalming where its popular shops had a burst of activity shortly before Christmas.
Judging by some of the comments coming from junior doctors – remember the guys and gals our MP Jeremy Hunt had a fight with a while back when he was Secretary of State for Health? Here’s what one told us.
“Just spoke with a junior doctor. She’s broken. Physically and mentally exhausted. Her hospital is on the verge of not being able to cope. Strongly believes that without public support and people sticking to the rules the NHS isn’t going to be able to save you.”#Covid19UK
And if the message below doesn’t keep us all here in Waverley away from meeting up with your friends or family tonight, for a New Year’s Eve celebration – nothing will!
SW Surrey’s Hunt chump will never get over losing out to Boris the Bulldozer will he?
The former UK health secretary has proposed taxing the over-40s to cover the costs of social care for the elderly.
He says “it’s now – or never” – to fix a social care system that is broken. Hunt broke ranks on Tuesday to propose a “tax surcharge to people over 40,” a measure introduced in Germany and Japan. He said the taxes were “only a small amount extra, but as you get older you start to pay a little bit more.”
Buy to Let landlord and multi-millionaire MP Jeremy Hunt who came under fire for setting up a buy to let property business – and snapping up seven flats in one town. Mr Hunt has set up Mare Pond Properties with his wife Lucia and used it to buy the apartments in the upmarket marina Ocean Village in Southampton. The Cabinet minister says the money he makes from the business will be used to make donations to charities and good causes.
Our MP Jeremy Hunt, Conservative chair of parliament’s health and social care committee, called for “boldness” from prime minister Boris Johnson, his rival for the party leadership last year. Because of course, he knows what the word boldness means – having upset every young junior doctor in the country on his watch – the very same guys who are now heading-up the teams fighting COVID-19. Some of whom have lost their lives in the process!
Hunt says Boris should ‘seize the opportunity’ created by his large majority in the Commons and the public mood in the wake of the coronavirus crisis.
“I just think the year after the pandemic, if we don’t do it now, it really is now or never. Because the public has never understood better how important our care system is.
Wake up, Mr Hunt! The public knows only too well how important the care-system is? They have been paying for their elderly parents and other family members down to their last penny. What rubbish you talk about down to their last £23,000 down to their last couple of pounds more like!
Under your watch, many of your residents were refused any NHS contribution towards their care, despite needing nursing-care input, for long-term health conditions whist in nursing homes. Appeals ignored, as families dug deeper into their own pockets. And now you suggest, they should be taxed more forevermore?
Mr Hunt says the current funding model for social care is widely seen as unfit for purpose, leaving huge bills for many who need care and significant pressure on cash-strapped local authorities and providers.
Perhaps he hasn’t read the new model of care proposed by Surrey Heartlands NHS Trust. The Trust that runs healthcare on his patch in Waverley?
Perhaps he should read it now? Because this is what the local health bodies have told Cranleigh Parish Council what health care will look like in the future.
Having discussed your concerns with colleagues across the Guildford and Waverley Integrated Care Partnership (ICP), we can now more clearly explain our joint position on our future plans.
‘Whilst we recognise the importance of local nursing home provision for those who need it, because of the rapidly changing nature of the way care is provided in the community, it is simply not possible for the CCG or SCC to make a firm commitment to purchasing a specific number of beds for NHS-funded care in the future. As an ICP it is our responsibility to ensure the best health outcomes for our local communities; with a Parish Council Meeting 17 December 2020 Page 5 of 7 significant shift away from bed-based care for older people – due to patients having better outcomes if they are recovering or being cared for in their own place of residence – we will continue to invest in enhanced community services and support to allow more people to be cared for at home wherever appropriate. This investment includes the creation of community-based multidisciplinary teams, aligned with the local geographies of our Primary Care Networks, creating a much more personalised and locally-based service. These expanded neighbourhood teams will include GPs, pharmacists, district nurses, community geriatricians and Allied Health Professionals e.g. occupational therapists. This approach means that community-based care in Guildford and Waverley will be in line with the NHS Long Term Plan and is where we want to focus much of our future investment for older people.
In conclusion, whilst there will always be a need for some level of NHS funded care home beds, the landscape is rapidly changing; in line with the NHS Long Term Plan, we are putting much more focus on community-based care, supporting people in their own homes for as long as possible, which is evidenced to improve outcomes and quality of care. We appreciate that the position explained earlier this year was different and we again apologise for this. We are, however, obliged to consider our current operating position and ensure our plans are aligned with best practice evidence and national strategies.
In light of this, we consider that it is not, therefore, appropriate for us to make a long-term commitment to purchasing additional bed-based care as this would be contrary to our overall direction of travel as a local health and care system. In the meantime, as I’m sure you will appreciate, our focus now has to be on responding to the pressing demands of the continuing COVID-19 pandemic. We hope this helps to clarify our current position more clearly.
He says efforts to fix the system have repeatedly hit a wall, with ministers shying away from reform as many proposals have sparked a fierce backlash.
So says the longest-serving Health Minister in the history of this country?
Former health secretary Jeremy Hunt who this week proposed a tax on the over-40s to fund social care.
Hunt broke ranks on Tuesday to propose a “tax surcharge to people over 40,” a measure introduced in Germany and Japan. He said the taxes were “only a small amount extra, but as you get older you start to pay a little bit more.”
The MP, a cabinet member for much of the past decade including as health secretary between 2012 and 2018, said both countries had avoided “public pushback” with the measures.
“I think the biggest battle now is with the Treasury because the sums of money are eye-watering. We were even more bankrupt as a country after the Second World War and then we had the imagination and vision to set up the NHS, and I think this is another 1948 moment.”
Johnson promised to “fix the crisis in social care once and for all” on the steps of Downing Street in his first speech as prime minister last year.
Oh, dear! As we said before – Hunt’s having a Trump moment!
If you were mixing on Christmas Day then this is really important as cases of the virus in Surrey continue to grow.
It may shock you to know that if you’ve been in contact with someone that has COVID-19, you will be most infectious around New Year’s Eve or Hogmanay as it is known in Scotland. You also may have no idea you’ve even caught it!
Here at the Waverley Web, we know of residents in the borough who have mixed with family members who are known to have tested positive for the coronavirus but are not themselves seeking tests. Simply because they cannot be bothered!
WHY?
They may be utterly unaware that they are infectious as they drop into their local garage for petrol, go to work or call at the supermarket for a few groceries, to celebrate New Year.
Unless they are tested, they may never know!
Hospitals are now under extreme pressure with some London hospitals reporting that they are running out of oxygen. They cannot believe they are in the same position they were in early on in the pandemic!
There have been 825 new cases of coronavirus recorded across Surrey in the last 24 hours, according to figures released on Monday (December 28).
The largest number of new cases was recorded in Reigate and Banstead with 116, followed by Guildford with 106, 81 in Tandridge and 75 in the borough of Waverley.
Latest NHS England data reveals another 14 new Covid-19 related deaths – six at Frimley Health NHS Foundation Trust, seven at Surrey and Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust and one at Royal Surrey NHS Foundation Trust.
One nurse follower has asked?
If the NHS is at breaking point, why has the government abandoned the £100m Nightingale Hospital at London’s Excel centre? Department of Health couldn’t even tell us what had happened to it, a week or so ago!
The Waverley Web understands – there simply aren’t enough staff! And as we write, many nursing staff, who have not been vaccinated, are testing positive, and are therefore forced to leave their posts and their patients.
By now it will not have escaped your notice that Waverley has now moved from Tier 2 to Tier 4 which has no doubt brought many of our residents close to tears!
Everything you need to know – and instructions you should heed are in the link below: This includes a message from John Ward, the Leader of Waverley Borough Council
However gloomy you may feel- and however anxious you are about the future. Just take a moment to reflect on what Christmas Day 1914 was like for these guys.
Let us all hope for a brighter 2021. The shortest day is now over, minute by minute light will return and Spring is not so far away now? So let’s hang on in there. Let’s get through Brexit, get vaccinated and let 2020 become a salutary lesson on the importance of Infection Control.
Here at the Waverley Web, we wish you all a very Happy Christmas and a healthy, safe and happier New Year.
