Agenda item

At this point in the meeting, members of the public who have registered their wish to speak regarding an item on the agenda or an issue within the Committee’s remit can do so. The deadline for registering is Friday 17 February 2012 at 5:00 pm.

It was reported that there had been eight registrations to speak under the Council’s Public Participation Scheme. All of the speakers spoke on Agenda Item 5 (Voluntary Sector Funding).

The Chief Officer of York Blind and Partially Sighted Society (YBPSS) spoke about the proposed cut in funds to their service from NHS North Yorkshire and York. She circulated 26 letters against the cut in funding from all those involved with YBPSS. She raised concerns that the cut in funding of voluntary services was being carried out at a time of increasing need, and felt that important services would be closed without proper consultation. She stated that York had excellent sight services and that this was partly due to working jointly with the NHS over the years to develop these. She felt it would be very detrimental to users if the services were to end.

The Volunteer Manager for YBPSS spoke about the organisation’s Home Visiting Service and how their role would be affected by the cut in funding. She spoke about the sharing of expertise from specialists to volunteers in order to provide greater level of care and support to users of the YBPSS’s services that would be lost due to the withdrawal of funding.

A Member and Volunteer from YBPSS told Members that she felt that nurses would not have sufficient time to deal with blind and partially sighted patients, and that this could lead to an increase in levels of depression and entries into care homes. She felt that the loss of services would mean that blind and partially sighted people would not be able to maintain their independence, as they currently do, with the support of these services.

A Consultant Ophthalmologist from York Hospital spoke about her concerns at the withdrawal of funding for an Eye Clinic Liaison Officer (ECLO). She outlined the role of the ECLO, who provided immediate advice for recently diagnosed patients. She added that the ECLO could identify other problems that those from a clinical side might not do such as if the patient had fallen or felt that they were losing their independence.

The Chair of the YBPSS spoke about NHS North Yorkshire and York’s own five year strategy plan, and referred to its aim to work closely with partners to create seamless care and recognise the role of the voluntary sector in developing services. He felt that by the removal of funding, NHS North Yorkshire and York had abdicated its responsibility towards patients. Further to this, he felt that if they could show a decline in the use of the services that they funded, then this could give them some justification for the withdrawal of funding.

A representative from the Royal National Institute for the Blind (RNIB) spoke about the ECLO who was situated outside of clinical care. He felt that NHS North Yorkshire and York wanted to demarcate this instead of allowing for partnership working.

A Governor of York Teaching Hospital spoke about how the excellent sight services at the hospital had helped him to recover his sight. He questioned the reason that had been given (services were duplicated elsewhere) by NHS North Yorkshire and York for withdrawal of funds to the YBPSS. He felt that the YBPSS fitted perfectly into the new local health partnerships model, and that daily pressures always existed at the hospital in dealing with patients with sight problems. However the hospital could not afford to lose the supporting role that YBPSS played. .

A teacher of Visually Impaired Children spoke about how the funding changes would affect children with visual impairments. He stated that visual impairment was rare in children, but that most were in mainstream education. However, support for teachers and visually impaired children needed to be properly resourced and that this would not be as effective without the role of an ECLO, or the equipment base in York.

Following the last public speaker, the Chair of YBPSS requested that his gratitude to all those who had spoken under Public Participation, be noted in the minutes.