Underdale

Underdale Division elects one Councillor.

Candidates:
Division Name Party Survey
Underdale BELL, Charlie Grn  
Underdale LIEBICH, Peter John Lab (Did not respond)
Underdale VASMER, David George LD (Did not respond)
Underdale VINE, Ken 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
BELL, Charlie Grn Yes
Comments and explanations:

Name Party Comment1
BELL, Charlie Grn Sufficient funding is vital to ensure NHS services can swiftly meet the needs of all residents and be free at point of use.
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
BELL, Charlie Grn 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
BELL, Charlie Grn Yes
Comments and explanations:

Name Party Comment3
BELL, Charlie Grn Yes, but public transport commissioning in Shropshire needs improving across the board to benefit all residents, including NHS patients.
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
BELL, Charlie Grn Yes
Comments and explanations:

Name Party Comment4
BELL, Charlie Grn Yes, Healthwatch needs the financial security to be able to fulfil its statutory role of listening to the views and needs of NHS service users and advocating on their behalf. To properly fulfil this role, it needs to be able to act independent of the political agenda of local authorities.
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
BELL, Charlie Grn Yes
Comments and explanations:

Name Party Comment5
BELL, Charlie Grn Whilst the role of voluntary organisations in providing services which benefit physical and mental health should be acknowledged, the cost of this should never fall to the NGOs themselves. Individual patients should not bear the cost of their care – this leads to a two tier system of care. Services should be free to patients at the point of use.
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
BELL, Charlie Grn Yes
Comments and explanations:

Name Party Comment6
BELL, Charlie Grn It is important to keep two A&Es for Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin. Whilst I appreciate that some of the issues involved can only be resolved on a national level, e.g. NHS funding, NHS staff contracts and training provision, the STP does not represent a good choice for Shropshire residents and we should fight against it. However it is important to see the bigger picture and ensure that these concerns and issues are raised at a national level. We need to continue to pressure our national elected representatives to change the way NHS services are resourced in England.
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
BELL, Charlie Grn Yes
Comments and explanations: None
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
BELL, Charlie Grn Yes
Comments and explanations: None