500 signatures reached
To: Wakefield Council
SAVE THE WAKEFIELD HEALTH TRAINERS!
We the undersigned call upon Wakefield Council to maintain the Health Trainer service, Community Food and Health service and the Safe at Home service in their present form - until March 2017 and to consult properly about the future of these services.
Why is this important?
Wakefield Council is now responsible for ‘Public Health’ in the district. It contracts with NHS providers like the Mid Yorkshire Hospitals Trust and South West Yorkshire Partnership Foundation Trust (SWYPFT) to deliver services such as Health Visiting.
At the end of July it told SWYPFT it wants them to stop running the Health Trainer Service, the Community Food & Health service and part of the Safe at Home (domestic violence) service by 30th September. The jobs of around 40 NHS staff will go.
We know that the Government is cutting the money it gives to local Councils for these services but this decision has been taken without proper consultation with the health professionals (such as GPs) who refer people to the services, the people who provide them, or the public who use them.
The service was recently rated ‘Good’ by the Care Quality Commission and no discussions have taken place about how the cost of the services might be reduced or about winding down the service (people are still be referred to groups that should run until after the service is due to close).
