Ludlow South

Ludlow South Division elects one Councillor.

Candidates:
Division Name Party Survey
Ludlow South PARRY, Viv LD  
Ludlow South PENN, Michael John Lab  
Ludlow South PIZZONI, Fiona Margaret Con (Did not respond)
1. Will you support sufficient funding to enable all Shropshire’s Public Health programmes to continue, and to allow the development and implementation of new programmes to improve the health of Shropshire people?

Name Party Q1
PARRY, Viv LD Yes
PENN, Michael John Lab Yes
Comments and explanations: None
2. Will you support sufficient funding for health visiting in Shropshire to ensure the full implementation of NHS England’s recommended model: ‘The universal health visitor reviews’ – five mandated reviews?

Name Party Q2
PARRY, Viv LD Yes
PENN, Michael John Lab Yes
Comments and explanations: None
3. Will you support Shropshire Council commissioning and subsidising public transport sufficient to enable all patients without their own transport to access health services reliably?

Name Party Q3
PARRY, Viv LD Yes
PENN, Michael John Lab Yes
Comments and explanations:

Name Party Comment3
PENN, Michael John Lab I would however support a variety of approaches this including the use of voluntary organisations as long as a reliable service is able to be maintained
4. Will you support the funding of Healthwatch at a level sufficient to fully exercise its statutory role, and do you agree that it should be able to determine its own programmes of work independent of any Council veto?

Name Party Q4
PARRY, Viv LD Yes
PENN, Michael John Lab Yes
Comments and explanations:

Name Party Comment4
PENN, Michael John Lab I think it absolutely essential that consumer champions within the health service are properly funded and independent of NHS management and local or central government.
5. Do you agree that the Health and Wellbeing Board should only apply the Better Care Fund on programmes that will improve health and wellbeing, rather than transferring the cost of provision from the NHS to the Council, voluntary organisations, and individual patients?

Name Party Q5
PARRY, Viv LD Yes
PENN, Michael John Lab Unsure
Comments and explanations:

Name Party Comment5
PENN, Michael John Lab Only because of the word “only” in the first line of the above. In principle the Better care Fund must be used to improve health and well being outcomes but I am not against these being achieved through partnership working and this must be properly funded – I am certainly against the NHS transferring costs to Councils, voluntary organsiations or individuals.
6. Will you vote against endorsement of the current Shropshire Sustainability and Transformation Plan (STP) in which Shropshire Council is a partner?

Name Party Q6
PARRY, Viv LD Yes
PENN, Michael John Lab Yes
Comments and explanations:

Name Party Comment6
PENN, Michael John Lab I certainly do not support the current proposals which largely seem to be about saving money and would vote against them if I was in a position to.
7. Will you vote against endorsement of future versions of the STP if it does not meet the following red lines: (a) no reduction of provision or access to in-County secondary care, including emergency care; (b) no reduction of hospital beds in either RSH or PRH unless bed occupancy rates have been running at 85% consistently for 12 months; (c) no reduction in acute/secondary care services that are being transferred to the community without high quality evidence based community provision being in place, fully operational, and proven to be successful; (d) no reduction in beds and service provision at our community hospitals; (e) a real increase in community mental health provision; (f) the continued provision of accessible Midwife-Led Maternity Units, in line with national guidance and with no reduction in current services; (g) a real improvement in ambulance provision to ensure NHS England target response times can be met across the County; (h) no increase in the fragmentation or privatisation of services?

Name Party Q7
PARRY, Viv LD Yes
PENN, Michael John Lab Unsure
Comments and explanations:

Name Party Comment7
PENN, Michael John Lab I agree all the above are desirable benchmarks for future operation of health services in Shropshire and would want any STP to address these issues particularly around mental health provision. I would probably on that basis as a Councillor not vote to endorse an STP which didn’t meet these benchmarks but in all honesty I’m not sure what I would do if I was in a position where my vote might provoke a complete collapse in local health provision.
8. If a member of the Health and Adult Social Care Scrutiny Committee, or the Joint Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee, will you ensure that there is full public consultation on any proposed changes to NHS service that might negatively impact any patients, and if such proposals are subsequently agreed by the relevant NHS body, will you vote to refer the proposals to the Secretary of State for Health?

Name Party Q8
PARRY, Viv LD Yes
PENN, Michael John Lab Yes
Comments and explanations:

Name Party Comment8
PENN, Michael John Lab I think the fullest scrutiny of any such proposals should be a given and subject to as wide a consultation as possible – my only hesitation in referring a proposal to central government would be if it was likely to result in a worse outcome for the county though even if then if it is a matter of unrealistic funding then responsibility should be seen to be taken where it really belongs.