After a turbulent few months, I am now back in the constituency for the summer. This is one of my favourite times of the year – spending time in Cornwall meeting with residents, businesses and organisations.
In my first week back, it was vital that I visit Treliske to meet with senior management and front-line staff, doctors and nurses.
I try to visit Treliske as often as possible, so it was nice to be back up there last week for a tour and to meet hospital staff. The hospital has been facing significant challenges of late, which is evident with the ambulances queuing outside. In my inbox, I see emails from frustrated relatives and family friends most days, telling me of their experiences with family members stuck in ambulances for hours.
There are two important points to note. One, when an ambulance arrives at Treliske, they are brought into the Emergency Department straight away for an assessment by doctors and nurses. Once they have been assessed and triaged, it is at that point then they are returned to the ambulance to wait for a bed to be free. Secondly, there hasn't been a surge in demand for access to the Emergency Department. Users of the Emergency Department are still similar to pre-COVID.
The main issue now, as most know, is that we have so many people in Treliske who do not need to be there – waiting for care packages and social care they need to be discharged. The number of people in Treliske who do not need to be there is staggering. We continue to give Treliske the resource it needs – even going so far as the Government writing off its historic debt of £42 million.
If we are going to solve the queuing ambulances outside of Treliske, we need to tackle the situation with adult social care in Cornwall – a point I stressed to the Government in the Parliamentary debate I held on this issue a few weeks ago. In response, the Minister of State for Health affirmed the Government’s commitment to tackling this issue by investing in the hospital, improving patient flow and boosting staff recruitment and retention. I am also pleased the Trust is expanding the use of virtual wards whereby patients are monitored remotely at home rather than being admitted to hospital.
We now have the Integrated Care Board in Cornwall, which held its first meeting on 1st July. This has been established to bring the hospital and social care heads together to tackle this issue once and for all. Time is not on our side, and I will continue to do everything I can to ensure that our loved ones have the care that they need and, for whatever reason should they need an ambulance, that one is with them in good time and that they are seen as soon as possible upon arrival at Treliske.
It was also a pleasure to welcome Baroness Vere, Minister for Buses, to Truro last week to show her the excellent bus fare pilot we have in Cornwall, thanks to a £23.5 million investment from Government. The scheme is part of a four-year trial and will mean adult bus passengers pay, on average, one-third less for their fares. The Make Big Savings By Bus campaign has been described as a "UK first" and aims to increase bus travel across the whole of Cornwall at a time when the cost of living is rising. Many of Cornwall's buses are among the newest in the country and stops throughout Cornwall feature Real Time Passenger Information displays to give passengers up to the minute information about their journeys. Customers can also use contactless cards to pay for fares with all tickets interchangeable between Cornwall's bus companies under an "any ticket, any bus" system.
At a time when many people are feeling the pinch, every potential saving matters. With unlimited travel on Cornish buses, via any route, capped at £5 a day, and for a family it is £10 a day. For unlimited travel for a week for an individual, it's just £20. This offers extraordinary value for money for locals. With the cost of fuel still high, I can't recommend hopping on a bus enough. The brilliant Tap & Cap pilot will not only help reduce travel costs for people across Cornwall, but will also help encourage greater use of more sustainable ways of transport, while helping create a truly integrated local bus network.
At the last general election, I stood on a manifesto that promised to level up and improve transport connections across Truro and Falmouth, and this boost to our local bus services will help to deliver on that promise.
As ever, if you need my assistance with anything then my team and I are here to help. Please get in touch with me by email at Cherilyn.mackrory.mp@parliament.uk , or by telephone on 01872 229698. My regular constituency advice surgeries are held in a covid-safe environment at my office, so please do get in touch should you wish to meet me about any matters that I can be of assistance with.
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