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Harrogate NHS dentist to move to ‘membership only’ patient scheme

A Harrogate dentist has announced it will only see patients on a membership only basis from December.

Chatsworth House Dental Clinic, which is based on King’s Road, announced it will move to a monthly payment scheme once its NHS contract comes to an end.

The move comes as concern has been raised about the lack of access to NHS dentistry within the Harrogate district.

In a letter to patients seen by the Stray Ferret, Chatsworth House said it made the decision to “reduce appointment waiting times” and “improve prevention of dental disease and decay”.

It said:

“After careful consideration, we have decided that from 1st December 2023 we will be seeing patients on a membership basis only.

“We know this decision will allow us to spend more time with you, reduce appointment waiting times, improve prevention of dental disease and decay, and offer you a greater choice in the variety of treatments we are able to deliver in a much more relaxed environment.”

The letter adds that patients will be offered a membership plan of £21.45 per month – or 70p per day.

The practice had previously proposed plans to refer NHS patients to Starbeck Dental Centre in August 2020, but later dropped the proposal.

The Stray Ferret approached the clinic for comment on its plan, but had not received a response by the time of publication.

NHS dentist fears

It comes as politicians have raised concern over the lack of access to NHS dentistry in Harrogate and Knaresborough.

Daisy Cooper, MP for St Albans and Liberal Democrat health spokesperson, raised the issue in the House of Commons in February.

She said only half of children in North Yorkshire managed to see an NHS dentist last year, adding:

“In Harrogate if you are lucky enough to find an NHS dentist taking on any new patients you face a two-and-a-half year wait to see them. This is a shocking state of affairs.”

Meanwhile, Conservative Cllr Andrew Lee, chair of North Yorkshire Council’s health scrutiny panel, wrote to the government’s health and social committee in February with evidence over “extremely problematic” access to dentists.

A review of NHS dentistry published in August 2021 found that there was just one NHS dentist practice per 10,000 people in the Harrogate district.

Cllr Lee said:

“Radical reform is absolutely needed. The solution lies in the management of dental services. Recruitment and retention remain difficult, and dentists themselves are frustrated with the service they can provide.

“The problem does not lie with recruiting dentists, the problem lies with a broken and dysfunctional dental contract with severe underfunding. Dentists themselves cannot rectify this and it is creating by default a two-tier system whereby those that can afford to go private do so and others struggle to access any kind of care.”

Harrogate hospital trust paid £4.9m in compensation claims since last year

Harrogate District Hospital has paid out £4.9 million in compensation claims in the last 12 months.

Figures obtained through a freedom of information request by law firm Legal Expert show Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust made the payments during the period July 2022 to July 2023.

The claims covered medical negligence complaints, which occur when a healthcare professional provides substandard care to a patient that falls below the standard expected of any healthcare professional.

However, the trust said some of the payouts were historical claims and were not necessarily claims resolved within the 12 month period.

In total, the trust paid £4,914,799.05 in compensation payouts. In the same time period, the hospital received 28 new letters of claims.

A spokesperson for the trust said:

“In the event that the care we provide falls below our expectations or those of our patients, we have procedures in place to investigate what has happened, so that we can learn and continuously improve patient safety.

“We treat a large number of patients across the year and the vast majority are positive about the treatment we provide – the number of claims we receive reflects an extremely small percentage of the patients we care for.

“It is important to note that the compensation figure is not only for claims which were resolved over the 12 month period in question, but also includes payments for historic claims which have been ongoing for several years.”

Harrogate hospital to increase visitor parking charges under new system

Visitor parking charges at Harrogate District Hospital are set to increase from next week.

Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust will introduce a new car parking system at the hospital on Wednesday.

Automatic number plate recognition will replace the current parking barriers, which the trust says will improve traffic flow. The first 20 minutes will be free then it will cost £4 for up to two hours.

It comes as patients and visitors complained of long queues on Lancaster Park Road, particularly during visiting times in the afternoon.

The new system, which will be managed by Lancashire-based Parkingeye, will identify cars on entry and exit using automatic number plate recognition.

Queues outside Harrogate District Hospital on Lancaster Park Road.

Visitors will then be able to pay when they leave by entering their car’s registration number into the parking validation machines in the front entrance of the hospital or via a dedicated app.

A spokesperson for the trust said:

“The new barrier less system will provide a better experience for our patients and visitors as it will improve the flow into and out of our hospital car park and reduce the queues on Lancaster Park Road.

“This will help improve road safety, ambulance access, reduce noise pollution that can affect local residents, and remove paper waste produced by our current ticketing system as the new system will be paperless.

“Working with Parkingeye we believe we have developed a system of fair parking for all, which is both clear and transparent and allows our trust to concentrate on our patients, whilst Parkingeye supports us by managing our car parks.”

Increased charges

Currently, visitors have 30 minutes free parking. Drivers then are charged £2.60 for up to 90 minutes, £3.80 for up to two-and-a-half hours and £6.10 for up to four-and-a-half hours.

Those staying for six-and-a-half hours or more are charged £9.10.

Under the new arrangement, parking will be free for the first twenty minutes, then will cost £4 for up to two hours, £6.50 for up to four hours, £8.50 for up to six hours and £11 for up to 24 hours.

Parking terminals will be available across the hospital and at main reception for those who are eligible for concession or free parking, for example blue badge holders, patients receiving cancer treatment and parents visiting the paediatric ward or special care baby unit.

A trust spokesperson added:

“With the introduction of the new car parking system we will also be increasing our car parking charges for visitors.

“Increasing charges is always a difficult decision, but we need to do this to ensure our car parks can continue to be well maintained. It will also allow the trust to re-invest the revenue from the car parks back into supporting the delivery of patient care.”

Local Lib Dems call for investigation into ‘mass exodus’ of ambulance staff

Harrogate and Knaresborough Liberal Democrats have called for an investigation after figures revealed a rise in staff vacancies at Yorkshire Ambulance Service.

Figures obtained by the party show the number of employees leaving the service annually had increased by 28.3% since 2019/20.

According to the data, in 2022/23 alone, 892 staff left the ambulance trust and its vacancy rate was 17% – the highest in the country.

By comparison, South Central Ambulance Service had the next highest with 16%.

Tom Gordon, the Liberal Democrat parliamentary candidate for Harrogate and Knaresborough, called on the government to investigate the ‘mass exodus” of staff.

He added that a recruitment drive should be launched to retain, recruit and train paramedics and other ambulance service staff.

Mr Gordon said:

“This is deeply disturbing and there needs to be an investigation immediately.

“We are fortunate to have a great district hospital, and fantastic ambulance staff, but paramedics and our hospital are feeling the strain of years of Conservative neglect.”

A spokesperson for Yorkshire Ambulance Service said the vacancy figure included vacancies for all service lines including emergency operations, non-emergency patient transport service and the NHS 111 urgent care service.

They added:

“While these figures look stark in isolation, it’s important to remember there is natural attrition in every organisation and many reasons why people choose to change jobs. Yorkshire Ambulance Service is committed to increasing its workforce, including the number of frontline clinical roles.

“The nature of our work is diverse and very much focused on providing high quality patient care, and we are committed to supporting colleagues in a positive workplace environment.”

Martin Flaherty, managing director of the Association of Ambulance Chief Executives, added:

“There is no doubt that recruitment and retention of all grades of frontline staff ranks foremost in the priorities of the boards of each of our member services so of course it is worrying to see an increase in those leaving the ambulance service.

“However, it is important to note that the data that was requested includes all ambulance staff groups, not just paramedics, including wider clinical roles and also non-clinical such as 111 call handlers and administrative staff.

“There is also natural attrition in every organisation and many reasons why people may choose to move on in their careers. This is not unique to the ambulance service, and indeed there are recruitment and retention issues across the wider health and social care arena.”

Harrogate hospital to review emergency department security staff

Harrogate District Hospital is set to review security arrangements at its emergency department.

Officials at the hospital commissioned T3 Security, which is based in Newcastle, to provide security officers overnight on a trial basis in May 2022.

The move came as staff reported receiving abuse and aggressive behaviour from patients and visitors.

At the time, Jonathan Coulter, chief executive of Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust, said the trust made the decision reluctantly.

However, the trust is now set to review the measures despite describing the trial as “successful”.

A spokesperson for the trust said:

“The service aim has been to provide a visual deterrent to those who may seek to be violent and aggressive, and create a more secure environment for patients and staff.

“While the security trial has proven to be successful and helped reduce instances of violence and aggression, we now need to review the temporary arrangements and formalise the service in line with our longer term plans.

“A security service will be in place within the next week to ensure the continued safety of visitors to our emergency department and the staff who work within it.

“We will not tolerate violence, or physical or verbal aggression towards our staff or patients and abuse of any kind may lead to prosecution.”

Security staff were in place at the emergency department between 7pm and 7am.

The move came amid complaints that staff had been abused by patients and visitors when they were asked to wear face masks.

Speaking at a council meeting in November last year, Mr Coulter said it was “a bit of a shame” that the trust had been forced to appoint its own security officers.

He said:

“We were always reluctant to have our own security service on the hospital site because we felt we were a health service, not anything else. I know other trusts went much more quickly into having dedicated security personnel on site.

“We have in the last six months introduced, between 7pm and 7am overnight, our own security service, which is a bit of a shame that we’ve had to do that, but it was something that made the staff feel safer, particularly in the early hours with the emergency department where Harrogate has never had a problem before, but has had an increasing problem.

“I wouldn’t say it’s anything like we get lots of these incidents, it’s a handful of incidents but they don’t need to happen very often for it to be disturbing and for people to get concerned about it.”

Harrogate hospital braced for four-day strike by junior doctors

Harrogate District Hospital is set for a further round of strikes tomorrow as junior doctors stage a four day walkout.

Members of the British Medical Association will take industrial action from 7am on Friday (August 11) until 7am on Tuesday (August 15).

The strike comes amid an ongoing dispute with government over pay.

Dr Robert Laurenson and Dr Vivek Trivedi, co-chairs of the junior doctors committee at the BMA, said:

“It should never have got to the point where we needed to announce a fifth round of strike action.

“Our message today remains the same: act like a responsible government, come to the table to negotiate with us in good faith, and with a credible offer these strikes need not go ahead at all.”

Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust has warned that appointments and elective surgery may be cancelled as a result of the walkout.

In a statement, the trust said:

“We are working hard to prioritise resources to protect emergency treatment, critical care, neonatal care, maternity, and trauma, and ensure we prioritise patients who have waited the longest for elective care and cancer surgery.

“Patients should continue to attend appointments as planned unless contacted to reschedule. We will only reschedule appointments and procedures where necessary and any postponed appointments will be re-arranged as a priority. We appreciate this situation is frustrating for patients affected and apologise for any inconvenience caused.

“Regardless of any strike action taking place, it is important to know that people with life-threatening or severe illnesses or injuries should continue to dial 999 and come forward as normal.”

Meanwhile, consultants are also set to stage a 48-hour walkout later this month.

Members of the British Medical Association will strike from Thursday, August 24, until Saturday, August 26.

Officials at Harrogate hospital have warned the consultants walkout is also “likely to impact the trust”.

Special touches help Vida Healthcare residents feel at home

This story is sponsored by Vida Healthcare.

Anyone who has supported a loved one living with dementia knows how much time, energy and understanding is required to maintain their wellbeing and quality of life. A dementia journey can vary from person to person and symptoms can also change over time, therefore caring for someone living with dementia can be incredibly complex.

James Rycroft, Managing Director at Vida Healthcare, discusses why specialist care is crucial for people living with dementia and how care home operators can ensure they protect the health and wellbeing of their residents.

About Vida Healthcare

He said:

“Vida Healthcare was established in 2010 with the aim of transforming the care available to people living with dementia. It was clear at the time that the majority of traditional residential care homes simply didn’t have the resources or the expertise to fully support their residents as they progressed on their journey with dementia.

“We set about challenging perceptions and practices in dementia care, with an emphasis on reducing the use of medications and to instead provide bespoke environments and alternative therapies to improve wellbeing and quality of life.”

Vida Healthcare now operates three specialist dementia care homes in Harrogate, which are all rated ‘Outstanding’ by the Care Quality Commission as of June 2023.

Vida Hall in Starbeck.

Creating the right environment

When creating a care home, there are lots of aspects to consider. The choice of textures, colours, lighting and multi-sensory equipment can all actively promote a sense of stimulation, while innovative layouts can help to reduce anxiety, frustration and stress.

Memories are extremely precious, particularly for people living with dementia. Every environment and item can be specifically designed to trigger memories and encourage residents to share stories with staff, family and friends.

Different places are important to encourage residents to keep active and improve their mental and physical wellbeing. Gardens and terraces which have been incorporated into our three homes provide safe spaces that can be freely accessed.

Daily life

Care home residents should be encouraged and supported to make their own choices about how they spend their time to maintain independence and wellbeing. We encourage our residents to pursue their own interests and hobbies, socialise with their neighbours and treat the home as their own.

Where residents feel at home.

The passion, positivity and enthusiasm of staff is a key aspect of creating the right environment. Every staff member at Vida has the skills, knowledge and confidence they need to provide the best possible care and help people lead happy and fulfilling lives. We do this through training and practice which is rooted in creative connections.

Friends and family are a big part of life at any care home and communication with families is essential. Vida developed an in house app which offers a digital platform for families to see pictures and videos of their loved ones and life inside our care homes on a daily basis.

Wellbeing & life enrichment

Mr Rycroft added:

“We know that giving people a sense of purpose and self-worth is vitally important to their wellbeing. Whilst we do have wellbeing facilities, it is en-grained in our staff that it is all of our responsibilities to help our residents live a joyful and fulfilled day.

“We are focused on maintaining the independence and dignity of our residents. That might be just helping someone make their own cup of tea, or promoting someone to do simple house tasks like washing up and setting the table. Sustaining those every day tasks that sometimes we take for granted.

“We support our residents to remain a part of the local community and encourage them to get involved in a range of activities. Regular outings to the local town, parks and gardens is a fantastic way of getting residents to socialise and keep active.”

Vida Court opened in 2021.

For many people, a key factor when it comes to choosing a care home is the food. It’s important to offer a choice of delicious meal options that take into account dietary needs and preferences. Offering flexibility is important, from serving residents at regular mealtimes to giving them the choice to eat at different times in their own room.

For more information, please visit www.vidahealthcare.co.uk or contact admissions@vidahealthcare.co.uk. You can view the life inside Vida by visiting us on our social media pages.

Operations and appointments at Harrogate hospital to be cancelled amid consultants strike

Operations and appointments at Harrogate District Hospital look set to be cancelled after consultants announced strike action.

Members of the British Medical Association voted on Tuesday to walk out for 48 hours in a dispute over pay.

The strike by consultants will take place on July 20 and will follow a five-day demonstration by junior doctors.

Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust said it will have to make changes to outpatient and theatre services on the days of industrial action.

Consultants will carry out what is described as Christmas Day cover, meaning most routine and elective services will be cancelled but full emergency cover will remain in place.

The move come as the BMA urged the government to come forward with a credible offer in order to avert strike action.

Dr Vishal Sharma, BMA consultants committee chair, said:

“Consultants don’t want to have to take industrial action, but have been left with no option in the face of a Government that continues to cut our pay year after year.

“However, it is not too late to avert strike action and the Government simply needs come back to us with a credible offer that we can put to our members.”

In response to the decision, a spokesperson for Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust said the hospital will draw up plans to ensure “essential services can be maintained on strike days”.

However, they added that some outpatient appointments and operations will have to be rearranged.

The spokesperson said:

“To prioritise emergency care and to keep all our patients safe we will have to make changes to some of our outpatient and theatre services on the days of industrial action.

“As we have during previous strikes we will have to cancel outpatient appointments and elective operations, however we will be re-arranging any postponed appointments as a priority.”

Calls for urgent action to stop North Yorkshire children vaping

Calls have been made for urgent action to tackle children vaping across North Yorkshire amid an “explosion” in young people using e-cigarettes.

A meeting of North Yorkshire Council’s children and young people’s scrutiny committee heard the authority’s annual health and wellbeing survey concluded more than one in three of children aged 13 to 15 years old had at least tried vaping, while 9% said they used them regularly.

Smoking of traditional cigarettes was continuing to decrease and the use of illegal drugs remained low, the meeting was told, but some children were starting to vape while still at primary school.

The study found some 5% of 10 and 11-year-olds pupils responded that they had at least tried vaping.

However, councillors were warned the vaping statistics in its Growing Up In North Yorkshire study were “woefully out” and the actual prevalence of vaping was likely to be much higher.

Earlier this year Dr Mike McKean, of the Royal College of Paediatricians and Child Health, said vaping was becoming “an epidemic” among teenagers.

He said if the growth of youngsters vaping continued at the same rate, almost all children would vape within five years.

Dr Tom Cavell-Taylor, who is a governor at Ripon Grammar School, told the scrutiny meeting:

“I don’t think young people appreciate the dangers of vaping.

“Vaping was seen as a better alternative to smoking, but there is a bit of a health time bomb going on with vaping and I don’t think that message is fully appreciated with young people.”

Cllr Kirsty Poskitt, who is also a youth worker, added it was “not unusual for year five and six pupils to be vaping”.

She said:

“What I’m really concerned with is how fast the public health is getting out. I have conversations daily with young people that vape that have no clue that it is in any way dangerous.

“The parents see it as a much better, they taste and smell nice, they’re trendy, you’re not going to have that first hacking experience of cigarettes.

“It’s a huge explosion and it’s one of my biggest concerns with young people.”

The meeting heard councillors call for the government to step up campaigns to raise awareness of the dangers of vaping in the way that it has highlighted the risks of smoking tobacco and drinking alcohol or ban the sale of single-use vapes.

Councillors said by looking at the images in the windows of vaping shops alone, it was obvious children were being targeted.

The authority’s director of children and young people’s services, Stuart Carlton, said while he appreciated the immediate need to raise of the risks of vaping, it would be worse to launch a campaign that wasn’t accurate.

He said one of the issues with tackling vaping was that “the market moves really quickly”, so it was important to get messages precise.

Mr Carlton said:

“I would just ban them. I think they should only be available on prescription as part of a smoking reduction programme to adults only. That’s how you get them out of the system.

“Some of the things that are giving us the most concern aren’t the ones sold in shops, it’s the illegal market. These are black market vapes with cannabinoid additions which are causing horrendous incidents to children who experiment. You can do something about vaping, but then miss the thing that’s doing to most damage.”

The scrutiny committee was told public health officials were teaming up with a range of bodies, including the NHS and Trading Standards, to tackle the issue in a coordinated way.

Harrogate junior doctors: ‘We are prepared to continue to strike’

Junior doctors on strike in Harrogate have pledged to continue to stage walk outs until the government comes to the negotiating table.

Members of the British Medical Association are striking for 72 hours as of today after negotiations with ministers over a pay increase broke down.

Doctors based at Harrogate District Hospital set up a picket line on Wetherby Road this morning.

The move comes as the BMA described the latest government pay offer of a 5% increase for junior doctors as “in no way credible”.

It has called for a 35% pay hike in order to meet successive years of below inflation rises.

Junior doctors from the British Medical Association on strike in Harrogate.

Antony Antypas, one of the junior doctors on strike in Harrogate this morning, said some of his colleagues were considering leaving the profession due to pay.

He said:

“We have got to a position where we have lost a lot of our pay.

“There are staff that want to leave their job and go somewhere else. But we do not want to get to that point.”

He added that staff were “constantly fire fighting” against operation waiting lists and emergency department waiting times. He called for a better offer for junior doctors in order to “retain staff”.

Mr Antypas, who studied at University of Nottingham and is a second year foundation doctor at Harrogate hospital, added that junior doctors would be “prepared to continue to strike” until their demands are met.

The move comes as officials at Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust has urged patients to attend appointments as normal unless contacted to reschedule.

However, the trust warned that some outpatient appointments may be cancelled at short notice during the three-day strike.

A spokesperson said:

“We understand this may cause our patients and their families to worry about how services will be delivered during this period. The safety of our patients is our primary concern and we have developed plans for the proposed action and its impact on our services, patients and staff. We are working hard to prioritise resources to protect emergency treatment, critical care, neonatal care, maternity, and trauma, and ensure we prioritise patients who have waited the longest for elective care and cancer surgery.

“To prioritise emergency care and to keep all patients safe, we are having to make changes to some of our outpatient and theatre services on the days of industrial action. We are aiming to keep as many outpatient appointments and elective activity across the three days of strike action, but there is a risk that these may be cancelled at short notice.

“Patients should continue to attend appointments as planned unless contacted to reschedule.”

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NHS dentist fears

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Increased charges

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About Vida Healthcare

Creating the right environment

Daily life

Wellbeing & life enrichment

For more information, please visit www.vidahealthcare.co.uk or contact admissions@vidahealthcare.co.uk. You can view the life inside Vida by visiting us on our social media pages.

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