TAG Farnborough Airport Report published

TAG Farnborough Airport Preliminary Public Consultation Report – September 2008

Go to: http://www.farnboroughairportconsultation.com/

Advice from a local father

Most of the populace thinks it improper to spank children, so I have tried other methods to control my kids when they have one of 'those moments.'

One that I found effective is for me to just take the child for a car ride and talk.

Some say it's the vibration from the car, others say it's the time away from any distractions such as TV, Video Games, Computer, IPod, etc.

Either way, my kids usually calm down and stop misbehaving after our car ride together. Eye to eye contact helps a lot too.

I've included a photo below of one of my sessions with my son, in case you would like to use the technique.

American Campaign Song

This is priceless .....


www.peteyandpetunia.com/VoteHere/VoteHere.htm

How beer works according to the NHS!!

How Beer Works

Click Here

Cllr Clifford does not drink beer,

or make any judgements on the women that appear in this alleged NHS advert!!

Government response to petition I signed about Military Medical Facilities

We received a petition asking:
“We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to create a dedicated Military & Veterans Hospital within the UK.”
Details of Petition:

“With the growing numbers of wounded personnel repatriated to the UK and with continued growth in medically discharged personnel since the Falklands war to current conflicts and operations, our service men & women and veterans of previous operational service are owed the best medical care possible. The existing facilities are falling short and the NHS are not meeting the needs of veterans who still need treatment for their service related conditions. A dedicated Military & Veterans Hospital will greatly help resolve this National scandal since the complete closure of our military hospitals that has proved to be total folly.”

Read the Government’s response

The Government is entirely committed to providing excellent medical care for the members of the Armed Forces and for veterans and we share the aspiration of the petitioners to see Servicemen and women and veterans receive the best medical care possible. However, we do not believe that this would be achieved by attempting to create a separate military and veterans hospital in the UK.

This position has been stated many times, and indeed by the MOD’s Surgeon General who said:
“I am adamant that the interests of sick and injured Servicemen, both in peace and on operations, is best met by the current partnership between the Defence Medical Services and NHS Hospitals and that a return to Service Hospitals would be to the detriment of the increasing quality of care provided.”

This view was supported by the cross-party and independent House of Commons Defence Committee in a report on ‘Medical care for the Armed Forces’ published in February this year. It found that:

“The principle behind the decision to move from stand-alone military hospitals to facilities which co-operate with the NHS was the right one, from a clinical, administrative and financial point of view.”
The former UK military hospitals, which have been progressively phased out from the mid 1990s, increasingly failed to offer the range and volume of cases that military doctors, nurses and allied health professionals needed to remain at the leading edge of their professions. This is a pre-requisite for providing the best possible operational medical care which is at the heart of the Defence Medical Services.

That is why, in addition to the Royal Centre for Defence Medicine with its links to NHS hospitals in Birmingham, we now have arrangements with five major NHS Trust hospitals. They have all agreed to host MOD Hospital Units (MDHUs) to provide training, development and maintenance of the clinical skills of Defence medical personnel. The NHS hospitals that host the MDHUs are also close to military population centres, and so can offer local secondary care facilities for military patients living or working in the region.

It is precisely because our military medical personnel keep their skills at the forefront of increasingly advanced medical techniques by working in major NHS hospitals that our troops receive such unprecedented levels of medical care in our field hospitals in Iraq and Afghanistan. And, of course, our medical reservists who play such a significant role in our field hospitals have developed their life saving skills in the NHS.

We fully appreciate the need for Service patients to feel part of the military family, which is why we have already created a Military Managed Ward in the trauma and orthopaedic department at Selly Oak. When their clinical condition permits, our casualties are treated on this ward by a combination of military and civilian medical personnel. A survey of the military patients at Selly Oak in 2007 showed that almost all respondents rated their treatment highly.

The current military arrangements at Selly Oak will be developed further when the new NHS hospital in Birmingham starts admitting patients in 2010. The Chiefs of Staff strongly endorse this plan for the future, which builds Defence medical care into Europe’s largest and most modern critical care teaching hospital. The new layout of the hospital will enable the MOD, with the full co-operation of NHS Trust authorities, to introduce a Military Ward within the Trauma and Orthopaedics Division of the Trust. It will have special features for the exclusive use of military patients. The ward will have a quiet room for relatives, a communal space for military patients to gather and facilities for exercising. A dedicated military physiotherapy area will also be provided close to the ward.

Once the crucial hospital phase is over, and patients have received the most appropriate clinical care, we provide rehabilitation for military patients in a wholly military environment. Many go on to the Defence Medical Rehabilitation Centre at Headley Court in Surrey, which is a military establishment providing advanced rehabilitation for military patients in an environment that is inspirational and where comradeship abounds. In May, the Government announced an additional £24 million for the Headley Court site to be spent over the next four years to maintain and enhance the establishment’s capabilities. Other less serious cases may go on to one of MOD’s 15 Regional Rehabilitation Units in the UK and Germany. These military units provide accessible, regionally based assessment and treatment, including physiotherapy and group rehabilitation facilities.

In terms of providing a dedicated hospital for veterans, it is worth noting that since 1948 it has been the policy of successive Governments that the NHS should be the main provider of health care for veterans. The range of general medical treatment required by veterans is in most cases no different from other civilians, and it would be wrong to expect them to travel large distances to receive treatment at a single hospital, especially when excellent care is already provided closer to their home and families.

So while we fully appreciate why your concern for the welfare of our armed forces has led you to sign this petition, we hope you appreciate the reasons why we believe the current provision of hospital facilities for injured personnel is the right one.

The real magic of Family History

Dad 1931 - 2001 - who inspired my love of family History research

I just got this today from someone we were related to in Australia. I have removed the surnames to protect the innocent! I share it not to boast, but to illustrate how family history is not just about linking together dead people.

" Words are not enough to thank you for making your family tree public. Through your work I have been able to unite my 80 years old father with a full sister (81 years old) that he has never met.

Florence, (daughter of William & Rosina), was my grandmother's (Vera) half sister. Vera's parents were Rosina & her second husband Arthur. My aunt was sent to Florence and her husband John for adoption when she was 3 years old. Family circumstances were such that I did not know who had adopted my aunt and I did not know her surname after adoption. I never knew any of my fathers family. My father & aunt are the last 2 of 8 children left.

Your trail of marriages for Florence assisted me greatly. In fact Florence married yet again after John died. You have helped to make two elderly people very very happy in their twilight years. Thank you again."

Government response to petition re Red Arrows.

Thursday 18 September 2008
RedArrows2012 -epetition response

We received a petition asking:

“We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to allow the Red Arrows to Fly at the 2012 Olympics.”

Details of Petition:

“The Department of Culture, Media and Sport have deemed the RAF Red Arrows as Unsuitable for the 2012 Olympics because they are too British. This is a ridiculous decision and should be overturned in the name of common sense.”

Read the Government’s response:

We’re glad to tell you there is absolutely no truth - and never has been - in the idea that the Government has banned the Red Arrows from the London 2012 Olympic Games.
The Prime Minister was delighted to see the role the Red Arrows played in the celebrations on the Mall after the Beijing Games, and they have always played a significant part in great festivals of celebration in Britain in recent years. Indeed, the Red Arrows played a memorable role when they flew over Trafalgar Square in 2005 to mark London winning the Games.

Decisions on the nature of the Olympic opening ceremony are a matter for the 2012 organising committee, and with four years to go, they have not made their decisions yet. However, the Prime Minister has made clear he would be delighted to see the Red Arrows perform in the celebrations in 2012.

We asked Tessa Jowell, the Olympics Minister, to pass on her comments as well: She said:

“I am delighted that so many people have shown how important the Red Arrows are to them by signing this petition. To their millions of fans, the Red Arrows demonstrate all the best elements of being British of which we are so rightly proud. As we have made clear on many occasions, it is just not true that the Government has in some way banned the Red Arrows from being involved in 2012. Nothing, in fact, could be further from the truth.

The Red Arrows flew over London the day we won the Games in 2005 - and they took to the skies again in August, on another special day for London 2012, as we marked the end of the Beijing Olympics and the start of the run-up to our Games. I know Gordon was as delighted as I was that the Red Arrows were able to play such a prominent role, a fitting end to an Olympics that had been such a triumph for Great Britain. While it is up to the 2012 Organising Committee to decide what form the ceremonies in 2012 should take and who should participate, I am very clear in my own mind that the Red Arrows should be part of London’s welcome to the world in four years time. And I know Seb Coe shares my view.”

Burglaries

Overnight from 16/09/08 to 17/09/08 there have been two reported dwelling burglaries on Empress Ward.

One burglary was in Abbey Way and the other was in St. Michaels Road.

It is believed that these burglaries may be linked to several others that have occurred on Wards surrounding Empress over the last couple of weeks..

It is thought that the burglaries have occurred due to residents leaving windows or doors open to the rear of their properties.

Please would you inform all your residents, to routinely secure all doors and windows prior to going to bed or when leaving the house.

In addition, if you do not have PASSIVE INFRA RED lighting to the rear of your property it may be a good investment to do so, as this lighting is fairly cheap and will come on when intruders walk within the area of the sensor.

Mexican Night in Empress

... just got in from a fantastic evening of good food, drink and music. A big thank you to the three seniorettas of Empress who organised it, Debbie, barbara and Sue. And a big thank you to big bad gringo Alan our mean DJ. Blackmail pictures to follow ......

... desperate to fly!

.. I want a refund on the summer weather. I blame Gordon Brown.

I have spent the weekend at the beautiful Olivia's fifth birthday party in Maidstone, and working far too long on the new Motor Sport Association's website for work, which needed to be completed this weekend. Just did it in time. A big thank you to Chis for burning the midnight oil with me sorting out the clever bits. You can see the masterpiece at www.linkupltd.com/msa

.. maybe I will get to fly next weekend!