August 2023

8 Buckden Roundabout August 2023 Church and Healthcare News Weekly Prayer Roster Each week during the year the Churches, in their prayers, remember the residents of particular streets in the village, those who work in the parish and village organisations. Those to be remembered this month are: 6th August Farming communities, Taylor ’ s Lane (West), Hardwick Lane, the residents and staff of Hardwick Dene, Great North Road, Brampton Road, Perry Road, Buckden Wood 13th August High Street, Ivelbury Close, York Yard, Lion Yard, George Lane, King George Court, Taylor ’ s Lane (East), Wolsey Gardens, Charles Court 20th August Hunts End, Copes Close, Monks Cottages, Hunts End Court 27th August Manor Gardens, Manor Close, Glebe Lane, The Grove Buckden and Little Paxton Surgeries Patient Participation Group (PPG) I must first bring to your attention our imminent Annual General Meeting, scheduled for Tuesday the 19th of September, at 7:00 P.M. On this occasion, and following the usual practice of rotating the loca- tion, our A.G.M will be held in Little Paxton, at the Hub, having been held last year In Buckden. More information will be provided in the September edition of the Roundabout, as well as featuring on noticeboards in the surgeries, and advertised on posters, to be placed in various locations around the villages. Can I encour- age you to attend and in so doing support our surgeries. One of the purposes of the A.G.M. is to reelect the Committee for the Patient Participation Group, and we are eager to recruit new members to represent the patients in each of the villages. If you require any further information relating to our Group, please do not hesitate to contact me, on the contact number listed below. The centre piece of the meeting will be a presen- tation by some of our G.Ps , similar to last year's A.G.M., which was thoroughly appreciated by the audience. One of our most recent initiatives has been to organise defibril- lator training sessions, with one already having taken place at Buckden Primary School, and another planned to be held at the Village Hall in Buckden. The latter will be advertised in the near future. I must acknowledge the efforts of Magpas, who lead these sessions, for no charge, and specifically thank Nicola Cooper, the trainer from Magpas. Personally I found the ses- sion in which I participated massively increased my confidence in using a defibrillator. Currently there are 2 defibrillators locat- ed in Buckden, with a third to be installed at Buckden School. Within this article, I wish to provide a brief update on North West Anglia Foundation Trust, from my perspective as a Public Governor. This will contain a mixture of good and bad news. Focusing on the positive, I can report, as many of you will be already aware, that the Trust has been successful with its appli- cation to the New Hospital Programme. Therefore we will be gaining a new hospital, to be built on the present site in Hun- tingdon. This is urgently required, with Hinchingbrooke suffer- ing grievously from deteriorating R.A.A.C. Panels (or to give them their full title , Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concrete Panels). The new hospital is scheduled to be in place by 2030. Of course, we are also expecting the new theatre block at Hinchingbrooke to be open for business in December of this year. Turning to the not so good news, we are now awaiting a series of industrial actions, some of which will have already occurred by the time you are reading this article. As from the 13th of July the junior doctors will be taking action for five days, fol- lowed on quickly by the consultants taking action for 2 days, on the 20th and 21st of July. The Trust will be endeavouring to continue operating as normally as they can, and unless notified please attend any appointments already booked. This is the message the Trust will be seeking to communicate in the next few days and weeks. The Trust is unveiling a new website on the 20th of July, the result of workshops with and feedback from patient groups and staff. More information can be ob- tained there. Finally, returning to more local issues, we will be focusing in next month's article on our surgeries and the current activities of our Patient Participation Group. And again reminding you about our A.G.M. Rob Gardiner Chair of P.P.G. 01480 812383