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Farming for Wildlife
Farming for wildlife is the topic of the illustrated talk to be given to the Wildlife Trust, Huntingdonshire Local Group,
on Wednesday 9
th
November 2016 at 7.30pm at Brampton Memorial Hall, Thrapston Road, Brampton.
Our presentation will be given by Nicholas Watts, who owns Vine House Farm in Lincolnshire. Vine House farm is
a traditional arable farm in the Fens and has been passed down through the generations. Nicholas will tell us
about the conservation measures he uses whilst farming in order to create and maintain a wide range of habitats
and thereby encourage wildlife.
Nicholas grows seed specifically for bird food and supplies direct to the public, benefiting the Wildlife Trusts with
donations from his profits. In 2013 Nicholas was the winner of the RSPB Nature of Farming award.
Anyone interested in wildlife is most welcome to attend. Booking is not necessary. Entrance charge £2.50
(accompanied children free). Please contact Tim on 01480 457795 for more information
Part of the Wildlife Trust for Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Northamptonshire.
Registered Charity No: 1000412
Letter to the Editor
I am writing to you having read the comments advanced by Julie Wisson in the latest edition of the Roundabout,
regarding recent events involving Hinchingbrooke Hospital. I would like some space in order to provide another
perspective, speaking as a member of the Hands Off Hinchingbrooke Group. To begin with what we are discuss-
ing is not a merger but an acquisition, with the Scrutiny Panel of the District Council arguing for clarity and trans-
parency in language, and criticising the Hospital Board for their lack of care in not explaining that we are not talk-
ing about a merger of equals, but an acquisition or take over, which then raises concerns about the balance of
influence and power. The Panel further detected a “democratic deficit”, represented by 2 facts on the ground.
Firstly, the lack of a clear programme for public engagement, which only recently has the Board sought to ad-
dress, with the publication of the Full Business Case. Secondly, it was pointed out that there was a clear absence
of local representation on the Hospital Board, with only one member of it currently living in our catchment area.
Another concern voiced by the panel was the risk of attempting to do too much in too short a time.
It has to be remembered that mergers do not usually succeed in achieving their aims. The Kings Fund conducted
an in depth study in 2015, examining 20 mergers, with them coming to the damning verdict that they normally fail,
and do not finally solve the problems they set out to address. I note Jonathan Djanogly’s recent comment that he
agrees that mergers have generally been unsuccessful, and that it requires a leap of faith to think otherwise. We
have also had the experience in Cambridgeshire of 2 previous failed experiments in health care, namely Circle
and the Uniting Health Care Contract.
Let’s return to the use of language and assurances we have received about services being retained at
Hinchingbrooke. In the Full Business Case it states that “changes in the future as to how services at
Hinchingbrooke are designed and delivered may happen as a result of other commissioning work.” This implies to
me that the Clinical Commissioning Group could decide on significant changes in the near future. I couple this
observation with the ambiguous language used in the draft document as part of the Sustainability and Transfor-
mation Plan. Within it we read “we can expect maternity services will remain at Hinchingbrooke”, and “we expect
24/7 urgent care services will remain at Hinchingbrooke.” And moreover there is no explanation as to how the pro-
jected deficit of 250 million in 2020 in Cambridgeshire Health Care is to be resolved.
Finally, adding to my disquiet, I am aware of 2 Reports. NHS Providers, which speaks for the Chairs and Chief
Executives of Health Trusts, have just issued a stark warning that the NHS has reached breaking point, with years
of underfunding making it very likely that in the next few months decisions will have to be taken to either close or
downgrade services throughout England. And the Guardian and 38 Degrees have conducted an investigation
revealing that there are plans in process to close District General Hospitals and downgrade services all over Eng-
land.
No one can have confidence about the future, with it being universally agreed that a financial black hole exists at
the heart of the NHS, with recorded hospital deficits totalling 2.45 billion. No one can provide guarantees, in the
current economic climate, as to where we will end up. Remember the government has already closed nearly
10,000 NHS beds and 16% of A and E wards.
Yours, Rob Gardiner